Randy Blythe has hit back at “pissy internet comments” which followed Lamb Of God’s decision to cancel their European tour.
The frontman says in a lengthy post on his Randonesia blog that he finds it “ridiculous” that he has to explain the decision, which came in the wake of the Paris terror attacks which left 130 people dead – 89 of those at an Eagles Of Death Metal show.
After LOG cancelled the rest of their European dates, some fans expressed their disappointment via online comments.
Blythe says: “I feel pretty ridiculous even writing this. Who knew deciding to cancel a tour after venues you have played start getting blown up would require any sort of explanation to anyone?
“I won’t lose any sleep over the inevitable pissy internet comments. That kind of stuff just isn’t significant enough to keep me up at night.
“So here is what I have to say, and it’s all I’m going to say on this matter, period. Those with just half of a functional brain in their heads will easily understand. The rest… well, who really gives a fuck what you (don’t) think anyway? Certainly not me.”
He goes on to explain that the band played two gigs in England and one in Germany before a security alert forced the late cancellation of a show in Tilburg in the Netherlands. They then took the decision to fly home to the US and scrap the tour.
On fans who made comments suggesting cancelling the shows was playing into the terrorists’ hands, Blythe adds: “While we were still on tour, when other bands cancelled their tours immediately after the attacks in Paris, one typical and very widespread online reaction I saw – and was completely baffled by – was, ‘By not playing, they are letting ISIS win.’
“People, do you have any idea of how colossally stupid this sounds? Please crawl out of the hive mind echo chamber for a second and try to use your own head for a change. These are rock bands trying to play a gig without being gunned down onstage, not Navy Seals assaulting a mountain stronghold in the Hindu Kush.
“You aren’t going to stop a bullet with a ripping guitar solo – Jimi fucking Hendrix couldn’t do that, even if he resurrected and came back to rock Europe one more time.”
Read Blythe’s full blog post here.
Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes said in his first interview since the attacks that many of the people killed at the Bataclan died because they refused to leave their stricken friends.
