Metal Anarchy

During an interview with The Metal Voice, John Bush discussed his recent “Celebrating The Songs Of Anthrax” shows. He also confirmed that he would be open to a hypothetical Anthrax tour featuring vocals from him, Joey Belladonna, and Neil Turbin.

Bush had the following to say about his Anthrax-era shows, which found him joined by his Armored Saint bandmate Joey Vera (bass) as well as his Category 7 bandmates Phil Demmel (guitar), Mike Orlando (guitar), and Jason Bittner (drums):

“Yeah, it was awesome. The shows were amazing. All three of ’em were great. It was a lot of fun. I got pretty favorable reviews from people. It was cool for me to hear those songs live as well as to hear all those guys play them so well. And I think for the fans, a lot of those people probably felt like they may never hear those songs live again. And so there was a lot of emotion in the crowd from hearing those tunes. It was really, really cool. So it was all a big giant plus, and I’m glad I finally did it. And I wanna do more. It’s just gotta fit in with my schedule. I am playing Milwaukee Metal Fest with it, and so is ARMORED SAINT the day before, so that should be fun. But there’s a lot of territories I would like to play with. It just has to coincide with my life right now. I’m kind of focused on SAINT, and we have a new record coming out. So, I’m kind of distracted, but, yeah, we’ll see.

It’s old material, so it’s not going anywhere — let’s face it. And I don’t think there’s an urgency to have to do it, because I waited so long to do it. So, I think if there’s any urgency connected to it, it’s mostly just because the songs are demanding, so they’re not easy to do. And, unfortunately, with every passing minute. I’m getting older. So it’s more about just being able to do it. And if I’m able to do it physically, then I don’t really have to feel like I have to do it or else I can’t.”

He continued when asked if the concerts were worth all of the preparations:

“It was worth it. It was worth it, for sure. I mean, this isn’t just some big cash cow that I’m making a bunch of money on. I didn’t wanna lose money, of course. It paid for itself. And I think that was the key thing. And I sold a lot of records. I actually contacted Megaforce and [ordered copies of the ANTHRAX albums to sell at the gigs]… I sold all the vinyl — all of it. ‘Cause Megaforce re-released those records. So I sold all the vinyl, I didn’t sell all the CDs, but I ended up buying them anyway. And I have ’em because I signed them. Eventually I’ll sign ’em [and] I’ll sell ’em somewhere. But, yeah, it was pretty amazing that I actually sold all the records.”

He also added the following when asked about a Helloween-style Anthrax tour consisting of sets from him, Belladonna, and Turbin:

“I think it was really cool what HELLOWEEN did with all that. I think it’s a very creative, and it was something that I think I would like to do that. I think that probably the person that would have to be convinced would be Joey, quite frankly. And I understand whatever his perspective is on it, whether he doesn’t or does wanna do it. It’s up to him, really. And the band, of course. But I think everybody would have to feel like ‘I’m in’. Or not. And if you’re not, then don’t do it by any means.”

[via Blabbermouth]