Children of Bodom Announce 2016 Headline Shows, Discuss Touring After Terrorist Attacks

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Children of Bodom have already announced they’ll be supporting Megadeth and Suicidal Tendencies on a North American run in 2016, but they’ve now decided to add nine headlining dates before the trek begins on Feb. 20 in Dallas, Texas. After stepping foot off the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise on Feb. 8, the band will embark on a short headlining jaunt (dates below) before meeting up with their tourmates in Dallas.

The Finnish group just completed their European tour which was marked with headlines. The ISIS terrorist attacks in Paris, and in particular the attack on the Le Bataclan concert venue during a show, created a wedge in the European touring industry. Several artists canceled gigs in Paris, others packed up their things and headed home calling off full tours and there were other acts who continued playing dates despite the shaky touring climate.

Lamb of God were one of the bands to leave their European trek while their co-headliners from their tour, Children of Bodom, vowed to continue. With the tour now completed, Bodom drummer Jaska Raatikainen (above, far left) opened up about why the band soldiered on after Lamb of God exited.

Speaking with Music Interview Corner (in the video above), Raatikainen stated, “We didn’t think [it was] that big of a problem to continue to tour, so we decided immediately to continue after what happened in Tilburg with Lamb of God. There are many bands playing their shows as normal. A couple of bands, they canceled their shows in France, but we already played there before that terrible happenings. Because we were there, and we were there to play shows.”

The Tilburg, Netherlands incident Raatikainen is referring to is the cancellation of one of the shows on the tour five days after the attacks in Paris took place. Due to a security threat at a soccer stadium in Germany, the promoter of the Lamb of God and Children of Bodom gig in Tilburg felt too much pressure about security and opted to nix the show.

The next day, Lamb of God decided to leave the tour completely and head back stateside. The band caught some flak from other metal acts for abandoning their co-headlining tour, but Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe remained steadfast in the group’s decision. The singer released a statement explaining what took place that no longer made them feel comfortable continuing the tour.

“After Lamb of God went home, image-wise, it was special for us,” continued the Bodom drummer. “I mean, of course, people thought that it’s so great that we kept on going and not going home. And, yeah, some people, they told us that ‘it’s good that you guys are playing the shows,’ and people were respecting that a lot.”

Children of Bodom will be sharing the road with Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler in February 2016. Adler joined Megadeth earlier this year and is featured on their upcoming album Dystopia, which is due Jan. 22, 2016. Bodom will be supporting their latest release, I Worship Chaos.

Children of Bodom 2016 Headlining U.S. Tour Dates

2/09 — Tampa, Fla. @ Orpheum
2/10 — Jacksonville, Fla. @ 1904
2/11 — Birmingham, Ala. @ Saturn
2/12 — Nashville, Tenn. @ Exit/In
2/13 — Memphis, Tenn. @ New Daisy Theatre
2/15 — St. Louis, Mo. @ The Ready Room
2/16 — Lawrence, Kan. @ The Granada
2/18 — Corpus Christi, Texas @ House of Rock
2/19 — Austin, Texas @ Scoot Inn

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Children of Bodom Talk I Worship Chaos Album

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Source: Loudwire.com

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