Lamb of God’s Chris Adler Recalls ‘Mix of Emotions’ From Randy Blythe Arrest

There's nothing like being hit with difficult news, but Lamb of God received the one-two punch of first hearing that one of their fans had died at a show followed by the fact that Randy Blythe was being arrested by Czech police.

The group was unaware that there was any issue when arriving in Prague this summer to play a show, so the combination of the news with Blythe's arrest led to a whole lot of confused feelings in a short amount of time for the band. Drummer Chris Adler tells Metal Insider, "There’s a mix of emotions. We were first told that someone passed away at one of our shows. That in itself is pretty devastating news. We certainly don’t go into our shows with any malice or wanting to hurt anybody, we’re having a good time. And the people that come to our shows are having a good time. That’s what it’s all about. I’ve heard about other incidents like these happening before, and I imagine how terrible the family must feel for something like this. But the band, and not just our band, but any entertainer, has to feel terrible, because that’s the exact opposite of why anyone would go there."

He adds, "At the same time, being given the information that it’s your fault, and we’re arresting you, and that could be the end of your career, you’re immediately defensive, like ‘what the f--- are you talking about, how could this be our fault?’ But you want to be sensitive to the fact that someone was hurt or died at a show. Those two emotions don’t mix well together, so it was a very confusing time."

Adler describes the initial arrest situation as scary, revealing that at first it didn't hit them that something was wrong as random checks are part of traveling as a band. However, he adds that things took a more serious turn when they were carted into a room with men wearing ski masks with full body armor and guns and a SWAT team was on hand while they were confronted about the allegations.

As for how the concert death will affect their future, Adler says there was a talk with management where it was discussed what could be done differently. He adds, "What we came up with is that we really are doing everything we can to make sure the situation doesn't happen. In all the contracts the promoters get from the booking agents and management, it includes the need for proper security to put on a safe show. Even at the show we had there, there was security hired."

He adds, "This was just a fluke accident, and I don't know that if we changed everything we did and made everyone that walked through the door sign a waiver and had the band walking around in bubble suits and had the ground padded with foam, I don't think there's anything we could really do that would create an environment something this random couldn't happen again. It really was so far out of the realm of impossibility to begin with that I don't think us changing anything would necessarily fix the situation."