It's shaping up to be one of the most anticipated metal tours of the year: John Bush is finally giving his Anthrax years the spotlight they deserve. Because they're good and any naysayers can just get the fuck out here right now.
Anyway! This December, the legendary vocalist will hit the road for a run of shows dedicated entirely to the four albums he fronted during his decade with the thrash titans: Sound of White Noise, Stomp 442, Volume 8: The Threat Is Real, and We've Come for You All. Bush be backed by his Category 7 bandmates — Phil Demmel, Mike Orlando, and Jason Bittner — with longtime Armored Saint brother Joey Vera stepping in on bass.
Speaking with Eonmusic, Bush said this tour has been a long time coming: "Well, you could be a contributing force, for sure. I've been talking about it and wanting to do this for a long time. It was just a matter of finding the right time to do it. I love those tunes, I want to play these songs live. I've been practicing them, and they sound pretty awesome."
Naturally, the question of guest appearances from his former Anthrax bandmates came up. Bush emphasized that the door is wide open: "My opinion is with those guys, it's their music. It's their songs; they wrote them. They can do whatever they want. If they want to come out for a song, great. If they don't want to come out for any, great. You know, it doesn't matter. If they want to play ten songs, great. The door is open, and they could do whatever they want in conjunction with it, or nothing. As we get closer to the shows, we'll see where people are at with scheduling."
He even revealed that Scott Ian joked about joining in: "Scott asked about being the third guitar player on one of the shows. He had said, ‘Would you like a third guitar player?', and I was cracking up, but I don't know how completely sincere he was about it. I think it was, but he has a conflict with the date in Los Angeles, and that's where Scott lives. He has a wedding in New York, so I was saying, ‘Well, maybe New York?', but I don't know if he's going to be there that long, so who knows?"
At the heart of it all, Bush stresses that these shows are meant to be a celebration, not a competition: "I do want it to feel celebratory. I have a few other people in line to come up maybe and do some songs. I just want it to feel kind of like a party, almost, a celebration of those songs and those records. It's not a competition with Anthrax. I want it to just feel like a fun event to be at."
So far there are only three Bush-thrax shows, which are:
12/13 Los Angeles, CA Whisky A-Go-Go
12/18 St. Charles, IL Arcada Theatre
12/20 New York, NY Racket
