Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe Addresses Attack at Ariana Grande Concert in Manchester
As you have no doubt heard by now, last night there was a bombing at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. The explosion took place at the conclusion of an Ariana Grande concert, so not only was the place packed, but it was packed with kids. As of this writing, the death toll is at 22, making it “the deadliest terrorist assault in Britain since 2005,” according to The New York Times. ISIS have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe is the first prominent metal musician to publicly react to this tragedy. The vocalist writes on Instagram:
“I am so sick of reading headlines like this. We as a race, THE HUMAN RACE, have to do better than this. A music concert is supposed to be a place where people gather to forget their problems for a few hours, not somewhere to roll the dice with your life. At times like this, I think the only thing a normal person can do is try to be the best, most moral, human they can be- in our jaded era, I believe this is more necessary than ever. For instance, this evening after I read this headline, I ran into a very loose acquaintance at the grocery store & mentioned the news. This person joked ‘Maybe they did it because it was an Ariana Grande show.’ I was too shocked to even say anything- I utterly fail to find the humor in the fact that at least 19 people are dead & many more injured, whatever you may think of someone’s music. I know nothing about Ariana Grande or any of her songs, but I can guarantee that people of many different races, religions, & beliefs were at that show for the same reason- to have a good time. Some of them won’t go home tonight. This is not fucking funny to me. This sort of jaded, joking, mentality is evidence to me of the continual chipping away of our humanity by the pathetically low standards of our era. We are better than this, people. It’s dehumanizing, just like the freakish & twisted beliefs that allowed this asshole terrorist to kill a bunch of people they didn’t know. Everything you do & say has consequences, even if you don’t believe that. Make sure you do your best to think & speak with a moral heart- maybe your kindness will prevent someone from going down a dark path- you never know who you may effect positively. My thoughts & prayers are with y’all in the U.K. tonight.”
It should go without saying that Blythe is 100% right. I’m not even sure what else to say at this point… these past two weeks have been one nightmare after another. To call it “draining” would be to put it very, very mildly.
You can check out Randy’s complete post below.
[via Metal Insider]
