Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe used to get into all kinds of shenanigans back in the day. Having recently taken part in a “Tales From The Metalverse” segment (via Pandora’s Metalverse Station), Blythe shares an outrageous story that involves him and a bunch of fellow metalheads having an intense confrontation with border patrol.
Some years ago, while Randy and his band were touring with Children of Bodom, they were all driving through the desert; Randy said they could have been in either Arizona or New Mexico. Randy is chilling out on Bodom’s bus, and all of a sudden, the bus stops. Bodom’s tour manager runs over to the guys and lets them know that border patrol has pulled them over.
Blythe says that he had some stuff on him that is illegal; as to what he is referring to specifically, he does not provide clarity. Eventually, everyone gets off the bus, and the border patrol people make their way onto the bus. After some time, dogs start to get involved, and this is when Randy starts to panic. However, with the introduction of the dog handler, this story takes a very interesting turn.
As Randy tells it: “The dog handler is starting to walk towards the bus. And right as he gets near the bus, he looks over to our group, he looks over at me, and he goes, ‘Are you from Richmond?’ And I’m like, ‘Yes.’ And he’s like, ‘Did you used to live on the hundred block of South Pine Street?’ and I’m like, ‘Yes I did.’ He’s like, ‘Dude, I lived two doors down from you! I heard you were doing a band now.'”
This dog handler then says that the search seems “unnecessary” and just tells Randy to be safe. The rest of the border patrol people end up leaving after the dog handler leaves. The guys in Bodom had no idea how things ended so relatively smoothly, so Randy told them, “I’m magic.”
“We all get back on the bus and its dead silence. All the guys in Bodom – because they didn’t hear the conversation – just looked at me and they’re like, ‘What did you do that? How did you do that?’ [I said to them], ‘I’m magic dude, I’m magic.’ It was a lucky close call, because I had a neighbor who wound up in the border patrol.”
You can always count on Randy to share a good story or two. During this same segment, Randy also spoke to a time where he was driving a 4-wheeler and drinking a beer, and a cop tried to pull him over; the Lamb of God vocalist did not want to get caught, so he fled the police!