Lamb Of God’s Mark Morton and Chris Adler have discussed how their viewpoints on crowd control have changed since vocalist Randy Blythe was arrested in the Czech Republic on manslaughter charges last year. A couple of excerpts from the chat can be found below.
Speaking with Fuse TV, Morton explained that LOG have been much more safety aware since Blythe was arrested, charged and later cleared of causing bodily harm of the fourth degree, resulting in the death of a fan (Daniel Nosek): “You know, based on that experience, I think it just underscored, probably for all of us, the need for everyone to be safe at shows and to look out for each other. It’s scary that there are situations people can get hurt in.”
However, he added that while Lamb Of God would be more vigilant at shows and would encourage fans to do the same, the band would not be taming down their live show: “Randy mentions it on stage a little more often and just tries to keep everyone aware of it. We’re all there to have fun, it’s not about getting hurt, that’s for sure,” Morton said.
Adler agreed: “We can’t just stop people from stage-diving for the rest of eternity, that’s not what we’re trying to do, but I think [that] when you come to the show, you need to know that you need to be responsible for your actions and you need to think about what you’re doing.”
Blythe himself recently posted a lengthy emotional letter, asking everyone to be safe and be careful at the band’s shows: “Absolutely no one is welcome on the stage if we have not invited you up there, and unless you are a small child or in a wheel chair, that is not likely to happen,” he wrote. “Please respect this.”
Lamb of God is currently touring the US and Europe. Click here for a full list of dates.