ICED EARTH REISSUES, TRIBUTE: (Press Release) With re-mixed & re-mastered versions of ICED EARTH's Iced Earth, , Night Of The Storm Rider, and Burnt Offerings scheduled for re-release with all new artwork on October 1st, the history of ICED EARTH--one of the prides of the metal underground--will be recirculated. As with everything else in the natural world, everything has its roots. In the upcoming Tribute To The Gods album (due out on November 12th), founding member, songwriter and guitarist Jon Schaffer shares some gems in his ticket stub collection and digs a bit deeper to reveal his very personal stories surrounding the bands he grew up listening to. For example:
"Iron Maiden came through Fort Wayne supporting Number Of The Beast opening for .38 Special, but I was grounded. You won't believe how many cool concerts I missed because I was grounded [laughs]. The next year [1983] with Piece Of Mind, they came through and headlined in Fort Wayne, and that's the ticket stub fans will see in the liner notes. School was already out for summer and whatever it was me and my buddies were doing, we left
early and walked to the venue, The Fort Wayne Coliseum, from our neighborhood. That was quite a hike. We left at 11 in the morning. The crew guys were outside taking a break, they were passing around a bottle of Jack Daniels and playing frisbee. We were hanging out talking to them, doing a couple of shots of whiskey trying to be cool, and then I remember the band pulling up in their bus a few hours later. They all got off the bus and I was having a hard
time speaking. At that point, I was just this gigantic fan, of Steve Harris especially, because with Number Of The Beast, it just intrigued me... Who is writing this shit? As I was reading the lyrics and the liner notes and seeing Harris everywhere, I was like, 'This guy is the fuckin' MAN.' So when it came time to try to speak to him, I just couldn't. I had this homemade shirt on, where I had taken my mom's red fingernail polish and had drawn the Killers logo
dripping in blood on this white t-shirt, and I think I said something like, 'Can you sign my Killers... I mean, my shirt?' I felt like an idiot. I was shaking. It was a big deal to me, getting to talk to him for just a few seconds, shake his hand, get his autograph... it's something you hold onto forever. I was down in the 2nd or 3rd row that night, and I was completely, absolutely mesmerized by him, the way he played and his intensity. I've never been the same since."
The tracklisting for Tribute To The Gods is:
01. Creatures Of The Night (KISS)
02. Number Of The Beast (IRON MAIDEN)
03. Highway To Hell (AC/DC)
04. Screaming For Vengeance (JUDAS PRIEST)
05. Hallowed Be Thy Name (IRON MAIDEN)
06. God Of Thunder (KISS) -- featuring Jon Schaffer on vocals
07. Burnin' For You (Blue Öyster Cult)
08. Black Sabbath (BLACK SABBATH)
09. It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) (AC/DC)
10. Dead Babies (ALICE COOPER)
11. Cities On Flame With Rock & Roll (Blue Öyster Cult)
"Iron Maiden came through Fort Wayne supporting Number Of The Beast opening for .38 Special, but I was grounded. You won't believe how many cool concerts I missed because I was grounded [laughs]. The next year [1983] with Piece Of Mind, they came through and headlined in Fort Wayne, and that's the ticket stub fans will see in the liner notes. School was already out for summer and whatever it was me and my buddies were doing, we left
early and walked to the venue, The Fort Wayne Coliseum, from our neighborhood. That was quite a hike. We left at 11 in the morning. The crew guys were outside taking a break, they were passing around a bottle of Jack Daniels and playing frisbee. We were hanging out talking to them, doing a couple of shots of whiskey trying to be cool, and then I remember the band pulling up in their bus a few hours later. They all got off the bus and I was having a hard
time speaking. At that point, I was just this gigantic fan, of Steve Harris especially, because with Number Of The Beast, it just intrigued me... Who is writing this shit? As I was reading the lyrics and the liner notes and seeing Harris everywhere, I was like, 'This guy is the fuckin' MAN.' So when it came time to try to speak to him, I just couldn't. I had this homemade shirt on, where I had taken my mom's red fingernail polish and had drawn the Killers logo
dripping in blood on this white t-shirt, and I think I said something like, 'Can you sign my Killers... I mean, my shirt?' I felt like an idiot. I was shaking. It was a big deal to me, getting to talk to him for just a few seconds, shake his hand, get his autograph... it's something you hold onto forever. I was down in the 2nd or 3rd row that night, and I was completely, absolutely mesmerized by him, the way he played and his intensity. I've never been the same since."
The tracklisting for Tribute To The Gods is:
01. Creatures Of The Night (KISS)
02. Number Of The Beast (IRON MAIDEN)
03. Highway To Hell (AC/DC)
04. Screaming For Vengeance (JUDAS PRIEST)
05. Hallowed Be Thy Name (IRON MAIDEN)
06. God Of Thunder (KISS) -- featuring Jon Schaffer on vocals
07. Burnin' For You (Blue Öyster Cult)
08. Black Sabbath (BLACK SABBATH)
09. It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) (AC/DC)
10. Dead Babies (ALICE COOPER)
11. Cities On Flame With Rock & Roll (Blue Öyster Cult)
Im going to buy them all! 
I realise you were taking the piss, but: