Social distancing measures seem to be helping slow the spread of COVID-19. While that's great (assuming we're headed toward the downtrend), having shows with strict social distancing measures might be a little unrealistic. Or as Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe tells the Vox & Hops podcast, people are going to want to mosh.
"As far as how shows will be in the future, I don't know if there will be shows until we can have shows normally — in general, for anyone. Because I don't think — let's be realistic; let's be 100 percent realistic — I don't think a bunch of metalheads or punk rock kids or hardcore kids, when they all go to a show, if there's gonna be social distancing, any band starts playing, that social distancing shit's gonna go out the window. It's, like, 'It's time to mosh, motherfucker.' You know what I mean? That's not gonna work for us, bro — that's just not gonna work.
"Can you imagine how weird it would be? I remember seeing Testament and Slayer in, like, fuck, maybe '90, I think it was — '90 or '91; they were on tour together. And they played this venue in Richmond called The Mosque, and it was all seated. It's this beautiful theater and it's all seated. And I was, like, 'This is not gonna work, man.' And sure enough… They had security guards going up in the aisles and trying to keep it calm. But, nah, man — chairs got fucked up. That's not how you do it. And what am I gonna say to the audience? 'Everybody, stand really still. Don't touch anyone. This next song is called 'Walk With Me In Hell'. Two meters, please.' It's not gonna work for Lamb of God, bro. So it's, like, holy fuck.
"I think it would be a mistake to try and have a fucking metal show and space restrictions. What the fuck, man? That just wouldn't do — wouldn't do at all.
"Another thing that fans need to remember is this isn't our decision [as to when we can go back on the road]. And it varies state to state, province to province, municipality to municipality. Local governments have different rules. Everybody thinks that, well, we can just go on tour, and this is how we're gonna do it. No, man. We have to be granted a license to play a show."
As for Lamb of God, they recently pushed back the release of their new album due to manufacturing delays. Lamb of God will now be released on June 19.
Health experts estimate that live events and large gatherings can resume during fall 2021 the earliest, but who knows what can happen in the next few months.
