Report: Band Plays On At Alrosa — Just Not As Frequently

Aaron Beck of The Columbus Dispatch reports:

During a recent concert at the Alrosa Villa, owner Rick Cautela carried on a conversation while keeping an eye on two poker-faced security guards aggressively patting down customers at the front door.

"We feel pretty safe in here, but, you know, the same thing could happen all over again — in any place," said Cautela, standing behind the bar he has tended for more than three decades.

"I'd be more afraid to work in a little neighborhood bar. They can't even afford people (security) to search."

Two years ago today, Marysville resident Nathan Gale shot seven people inside the North Side nightclub.

Four died — including ex-PANTERA guitarist Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott.

DAMAGEPLAN, his Texas heavy-metal band, had just started to play when Gale, a former Marine, climbed over a security fence about 10 p.m., walked past a guard on the patio and entered through the door.

He quickly made his way onto the stage, where he began firing a handgun.

Within three minutes, Abbott as well as DAMAGEPLAN crew member Jeffrey "Mayhem" Thompson, club guard Erin Halk and patron Nathan Bray were dead.

Gale, too, was killed — shot by Columbus Police Officer James Niggemeyer.

Two other crew members, Christopher Paluska and John Brooks, and patron Travis Burnett were wounded.

Read the entire article at The Columbus Dispatch.