FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH recently completed a European tour on which the band canceled several dates due to security concerns, including one in Milan, Italy that was rumored to be on a list of potential ISIS targets obtained by the hacktivist group Anonymous. That threat came in the aftermath of the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, where 89 of the 129 people killed were slain at a concert by EAGLES OF DEATH METAL.
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan Bathory told The Pulse Of Radio that the November 13 tragedy will probably have long-range repercussions for live shows. “This unfortunately changed the way people go and see concerts probably forever,” he said. “And every time now, we are booking up, you know, next year and all the shows and this is the number one question: security. You know, unfortunately, that’s the reality but, you know, you have to take it seriously.”
Regarding the cancelation of the show in Milan that was allegedly threatened, Bathory recently told Metal Hammer: “We talked with the local security, and then realized that they can’t really provide the security we required for this… Even if it’s 90 percent safe, is that safe enough?”
Bathory also defended other groups — including LAMB OF GOD, PAPA ROACH, FOO FIGHTERS and DEFTONES — who chose to cancel their European tours in the wake of the Paris terror attacks. He said: “Would you [want to] be the band who were warned, were threatened, and you ignored it and you still did the show, and when something happens, then it’s all your fault. So it’s kind of like all these bands are in the ‘I’m damned if I do it, I’m damned if I don’t,’ because if you don’t do it, [people will say], ‘Oh, those pussies.'”
He continued: “The sound guy and the light guy and the merch guy, they’re out there with their backs to the door. I have to ask my sound engineer to sit there. If I can’t promise him an absolute 100 percent safety, how can I ask him to do that? Or any band… PAPA ROACH, LAMB OF GOD — how can they possibly ask their crew to sit out there after we all lost people we knew and we were friends with in Paris? How can I ask them, like, ‘Hey, is it your turn to sit down there and chance it?’ No. it has to be a hundred percent.”
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has been touring behind its most recent album, “Got Your Six”, which came out in September.
The band will headline or appear at several major U.S. festivals in late April and May, including Rock On The Range, Carolina Rebellion, Fort Rock and Welcome To Rockville.
Source: Blabbermouth
