Randy Blythe has told of the moment he met the family of Daniel Nosek, the fan who died after attending a concert.
The Lamb Of God frontman spent five weeks in prison in the Czech Republic last year after he was accused of murder by injuring Nosek at the show in 2010, leading to his death a month later.
A Prague court acquitted him in March, ending an ordeal during which he was described as “evil” and demonised in the press – even though Nosek’s family refused to raise their voices against him.
Writing on his Tumblr page Blythe says: “Daniel’s family did not point any fingers at me. They just wanted to know the truth of what had happened to their son, so they came to court and listened as I did my best to provide them with what I knew.
“Before the verdict was delivered, the uncle of Daniel (who was the family’s representative in court) told the judge that no amount of money was going to bring their boy back, and after hearing the evidence, withdrew the family’s motion against me for damages. He also wanted me to know that Daniel had died on his father’s birthday, and that Daniel’s mother had been unable to function at her job since Daniel’s death.
That was it. They didn’t want anything from me in that courtroom except for me to understand how this had affected them. There was no malice, just the real, honest, pain that I was already regrettably so familiar with. It was one of the most amazing displays of strength and dignity I have ever witnessed.”
Blythe had agreed to meet family members after the trial, but says that most of the conversation will remain private.
“I cannot tell you what it is like to look into the eyes of a mother whose son is dead as result of attending a concert by your group, his favourite band,” he reports. “I cannot tell you what it is like to hold her tiny hands as she weeps for her dead boy; to hold those hands in your large hands, the same hands accused of killing her son. I cannot tell you in any words what it’s like to feel that grief for her lost only child pouring off of her small frame in a massive dark wave of sorrow, to see that pain again in another, so visceral that your body shakes with the awful power and totality of it. These are things that mere words will never be able to convey.
“As we sat on a couch crying, the first tears I had allowed myself since my arrest, Daniel’s mother asked me if one day I would play a song for him somewhere. I was astounded by the grace with which she asked me this. Her small request was an immense gift to me, a man who was trying to figure out how he would continue to do the only thing he knew how to do after so many years.
“I will sing many songs for him.”
Just as Nosek’s uncle and mother prepared to leave, the uncle said: “Remember – you can be a spokesperson for safer shows. You have that power. Good luck, man. Go live your life.”
That’s why Blythe has launched an appeal to everyone who works at or attends concerts. He says: “Make sure that security is adequate and that barricades are properly placed. A dead fan of my band would still be alive today if those two things had been in place in Prague that night in 2010.
“I never saw that stage before I set foot on it. I wish I could go back in time, inspect that nightmare set up, let the people in charge know that they did not fulfill a vital part of the contract we sent out, tell my crew to pull our gear out of there, and leave that town.
“But I cannot go back in time; I never had the chance to see that stage; Daniel is dead, and I can only warn you band guys and girls to make sure the venue and promoter are holding up their end of the contract. Do not settle for less. This is a matter of life and death, as I can sadly attest.”
-Classic Rock
You must log in to post a comment.