SHINEDOWN guitarist Zach Myers has commented on the events of November 13 in Paris, France, when more than 129 people were killed in seven coordinated terrorist attacks. The greatest number of deaths took place at the Bataclan, a French music venue where EAGLES OF DEATH METAL were performing when terrorists began a siege that ended with 89 people in the club either shot to death or killed in explosions. A number of artists halted their European treks in the wake of the Paris attacks, including LAMB OF GOD, FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES and others. During an interview with Artisan News, Myers was asked if the Paris massacre made him and his bandmates think twice about touring Europe in the future. He responded (see video below): "For me, until that happened, going overseas and playing shows felt like the safest thing to do. The gun laws over there are insanely strict. And it's just something you don't think about. You don't ever think about that. You don't go to work — for us, this is work, this is our job; going on stage is stepping into the office. You don't go into the office thinking that someone's gonna come in and be such a coward. That's not a war. That's being a fucking coward. That's going in and killing people who wanted to have fun, and they didn't see it coming and they couldn't fight back. 'cause they didn't know you were fucking coming. And you're a fucking coward for that. When you go in and do that… It just makes me so mad, because it's these women and these children that wanna come in, and all they wanna do is forget about the shitty week they had of work or whatever, and they wanna watch a band play, and the fact that you took that away from people and you caused this — even if only for a second of doubt… It's ridiculous." He continued: "It's not hindering us from touring. I know we'll be in Europe all of June, so I know that we're gonna be over there. We'll be in the U.K. in January and February, so I'm looking forward to getting back over there. I mean, I think it's a big part of what we do, and I think it's a tragedy." Myers added: "When it hits that close to home, it definitely… When somebody like Nick Alexander [the EAGLES OF DEATH METAL merchandise manager who was killed at the Bataclan], who was one of the nicest kids… I don't know any of the other victims. I'd never met any of them, so I can't say anything about them personally. But Nick was a sweet, sweet person, and he died trying to protect other people. And he shouldn't have. He should still be here, and he should still be being such a joyful person as he was. So it's just sad. It's just a sad thing. It could have been any of us, and that's the hardest part." The attacks in Paris led to a military response by France against the radical Islamic organization ISIS, as French jets bombed a series of targets in Syria. The murders have stepped up worldwide concern over ISIS, as well as a debate in the U.S. over whether to accept Syrian refugees.
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