A shaken Newcastle musician Ben Gumbleton has been able to escape France after being locked in a concert building just one kilometre from the horrific scenes at Bataclan theatre where 89 people were slaughtered.

Amid the chaos, Mr Gumbleton was able to make a frantic call to friend and Benjalu band mate Anthony Morris to let him know he was okay.

Mr Morris said he awoke to the dramatic news of the coordinated attacks and took to social media to check on the safety of his friend.

The pair, with the aid of Facebook, were able to connect via the voice call function on the social media service, briefly chatting, before internet and phone services were compromised.

Mr Gumbleton is now one half of the duo Boo Seeka, which had just finished playing a show at Les Etoiles alongside fellow Australian artist Jarryd James when they heard of the attacks.

“Ben said he had just finished a gig and was loading up the van and the promoter came running out saying guys we have to get back inside, there’s been a terrorist attack – we’re going on lockdown,’’ Morris explained.

“He started to panic a bit, but he said he is OK, but it was only a few hundred metres from where one of the attacks happened. 

‘‘They could hear bombs, gun fire and stuff like that. There was just police everywhere.’’

The pair were able to write a post on the Boo Seeka Facebook page where they assured people they were not injured.

‘‘We have finally been let out of the venue we have been locked in for the last four hours we played tonight in Paris into a city full of sirens and chaos. Seeka and I are safe and have been offered couches for the night by some lovely fellow Aus0sies,’’ the post wrote.

‘‘Our thoughts go out to all the people and families that have been affected by this unforgettable night. Hamburg ... will let you know if we make it in time tomorrow but for now we are stuck with the borders closed. 

‘‘On a lighter note, thanks to Jarryd James for having us tonight.’’

The pair was able to make it across the border and to the gig in Hamburg on Saturday night, where they posted another photo with the line: ‘‘Hamburg ... we are here ... Let’s do this.’’

Morris said the morning’s events showed just how important social media had become, with the service becoming the only way of contacting one another through the chaos.

“That’s the beauty of social media – sometimes it’s not a great tool, but in this situation it worked really well. 

‘‘We used the Facebook call function, and I didn’t even know you could do that.’’