Hoochie Toad posted a comment on the "It's tough being an Anthrax fan" thread that really struck home with me and I had to give my two cents. This is an important story to me and I just wanted to talk about it.
Just a bit of info about myself, before you go and judge.....I've been a fan of Anthrax since Among the Living, and love everything they have done no matter who was singing. I think WCFYA is the best album they have put out since Among the Living. I'll always be an Anthrax fan.
I've had two incidents with Scott Ian, and I wasn't impressed at all with him in either situations. My nephew and I drove to Chicago from Northern Kentucky to be apart of the show where Judas Priest and Anthrax played. Scott had mentioned that they were going to record a live album.
We wanted to be apart of the show....whether it was just two fools jumping around in the mosh pit or just random faces in the crowd smiling and cheering. We wanted to be there to support Anthrax. I had bought my tickets right away, since Anthrax weren't coming to Cincinnati that tour, I figured why drive to Columbus when I could go to Chicago and be apart of the live album.
Scott lead us all to believe he was recording the live album in Chicago, then when the weeks leading up to the show came, he never verified one way or another if the live album was going to be recorded. I remember as we stood outside of the venue waiting to get in, several people were speculating whether they were recording a live album or not.
We showed up really early for the show and was standing on the side of the Riviera (I think that's the name of the place they were playing....can't remember for sure). We were standing around where the busses were. I had my camera and a Volume 8 poster I was going to have any of the guys sign who wanted to sign it. We didn't meet anyone from Anthrax standing on the side of the building by the busses for about two hours.
I had met Bush when Armored Saint came to town with DIO and Lynch Mob, and we had some personal time to talk to John, being that there wasn't anyone but me and a buddy out there to meet them. I wasn't particularly concerned with meeting John, although I'm a big fan of his and think he's a cool guy to be around.
I was standing in a group of about seven or eight people, when I noticed Scott Ian walking with a sock hat on his head toward the building. When he noticed that I looked back and saw him, he quickly darted into an alleyway that was on the side of the Riviera.
I moved over to see if he would take a pic with me and my nephew. We caught him as he was approaching the door and I asked if we could get a pic. He stopped and said "Alright I can do a pic but then I have to get inside here real quick". We snapped a photo and he rushed inside, ditching the other five or six people who just wanted an autograph.
I was lucky, and thankful Scott had at least taken (10) seconds of his day to get a photo with us. All I could think about though, was the other five or six people who were ditched. There was only seven of us total, and he didn't take an extra three minutes to sign things for the other people.
I wasn't mad about this obviously.
However....when Anthrax came to Cincinnati in November of 2003, my attitude toward Scott went from a personal hero / influence of mine to just another asshole celebrity.
I emailed Scott a month before the show of Cincy this past year, and said that he should be prepared for a wild crowd. I went OUT of my way to promote this show. I posted notes on local message boards, handed out flyers and called everyone I know. Being involved in the local metal scene of Cincy, I have a way of getting the message out to locals that Thrax is coming.
They played Bogarts and there was a huge turnout. Scott even commented from stage saying that it was "One of the best shows of the tour". I had a crew of boys with me that were keeping the brutal pit rolling on every song, including "BLACK LODGE". I thought for sure Scott would be out back after that show ready to at least sign a "Couple" autographs or something. Everyone from the band was out there afterwords, and everyone was cool. Charlie, John, Rob, and Frank were all there to talk. Scott seemed really happy with the Cincy crowd and vibe of the show.
Scott snuck out a side door, jumped in a car and ducked down, trying to do everything he could do to keep from having to say hi to ANY ONE FAN. As some fans cheered toward the car, Scott yelled, "I'll be right back" out the window, which was good enough to keep some people there a couple hours after the fact, in hope he would return.
If I had to guess, I'd say there was probably about (50) fans outside waiting around that night, give or take. Any one band member could have easily signed an autograph for everyone and gotten on the bus within a 20 minute time frame. If you ask anyone in the band they will tell you the crowd was cool that night.
Scott never returned to the crowd as he promised he would. And if he did, he did it when everyone was gone, because we were of the last fans that waited for him to come back.
All I wanted to do the entire time was take ten seconds and tell him how I was an old school fan who's always wanted to just tell him he's made music I believe in.
I'll always be an Anthrax fan. But Anthrax are not as big as they once were. Now they are having a good show if 1000 people show up to see them. If they were as big as say Linkin Park is now, I'm sure Scott's ego would be even worse, and he'd be ditching fans most likely 1000 times worse.
I watched Dave Mustaine stand in the freezing cold weather in the exact same place, with about 300 fans standing outside. He stood and signed EVERY autograph and snapped EVERY photo he could with every fan that wanted one. We're talking about MUSTAINE. The guy who has one of the biggest reputations in metal for being an asshole. He appreciated his fans.
I only had two experiences with Scott, and both times he came off as being someone who's too busy to talk to a few fans. For that, I'll never try to promote anything Anthrax again.
I'll go see them if they come to town, and I'll buy their CD if it's good.....but I'll never fully support them the way a hardcore fan would.....and would have.
-Don
Just a bit of info about myself, before you go and judge.....I've been a fan of Anthrax since Among the Living, and love everything they have done no matter who was singing. I think WCFYA is the best album they have put out since Among the Living. I'll always be an Anthrax fan.
I've had two incidents with Scott Ian, and I wasn't impressed at all with him in either situations. My nephew and I drove to Chicago from Northern Kentucky to be apart of the show where Judas Priest and Anthrax played. Scott had mentioned that they were going to record a live album.
We wanted to be apart of the show....whether it was just two fools jumping around in the mosh pit or just random faces in the crowd smiling and cheering. We wanted to be there to support Anthrax. I had bought my tickets right away, since Anthrax weren't coming to Cincinnati that tour, I figured why drive to Columbus when I could go to Chicago and be apart of the live album.
Scott lead us all to believe he was recording the live album in Chicago, then when the weeks leading up to the show came, he never verified one way or another if the live album was going to be recorded. I remember as we stood outside of the venue waiting to get in, several people were speculating whether they were recording a live album or not.
We showed up really early for the show and was standing on the side of the Riviera (I think that's the name of the place they were playing....can't remember for sure). We were standing around where the busses were. I had my camera and a Volume 8 poster I was going to have any of the guys sign who wanted to sign it. We didn't meet anyone from Anthrax standing on the side of the building by the busses for about two hours.
I had met Bush when Armored Saint came to town with DIO and Lynch Mob, and we had some personal time to talk to John, being that there wasn't anyone but me and a buddy out there to meet them. I wasn't particularly concerned with meeting John, although I'm a big fan of his and think he's a cool guy to be around.
I was standing in a group of about seven or eight people, when I noticed Scott Ian walking with a sock hat on his head toward the building. When he noticed that I looked back and saw him, he quickly darted into an alleyway that was on the side of the Riviera.
I moved over to see if he would take a pic with me and my nephew. We caught him as he was approaching the door and I asked if we could get a pic. He stopped and said "Alright I can do a pic but then I have to get inside here real quick". We snapped a photo and he rushed inside, ditching the other five or six people who just wanted an autograph.
I was lucky, and thankful Scott had at least taken (10) seconds of his day to get a photo with us. All I could think about though, was the other five or six people who were ditched. There was only seven of us total, and he didn't take an extra three minutes to sign things for the other people.
I wasn't mad about this obviously.
However....when Anthrax came to Cincinnati in November of 2003, my attitude toward Scott went from a personal hero / influence of mine to just another asshole celebrity.
I emailed Scott a month before the show of Cincy this past year, and said that he should be prepared for a wild crowd. I went OUT of my way to promote this show. I posted notes on local message boards, handed out flyers and called everyone I know. Being involved in the local metal scene of Cincy, I have a way of getting the message out to locals that Thrax is coming.
They played Bogarts and there was a huge turnout. Scott even commented from stage saying that it was "One of the best shows of the tour". I had a crew of boys with me that were keeping the brutal pit rolling on every song, including "BLACK LODGE". I thought for sure Scott would be out back after that show ready to at least sign a "Couple" autographs or something. Everyone from the band was out there afterwords, and everyone was cool. Charlie, John, Rob, and Frank were all there to talk. Scott seemed really happy with the Cincy crowd and vibe of the show.
Scott snuck out a side door, jumped in a car and ducked down, trying to do everything he could do to keep from having to say hi to ANY ONE FAN. As some fans cheered toward the car, Scott yelled, "I'll be right back" out the window, which was good enough to keep some people there a couple hours after the fact, in hope he would return.
If I had to guess, I'd say there was probably about (50) fans outside waiting around that night, give or take. Any one band member could have easily signed an autograph for everyone and gotten on the bus within a 20 minute time frame. If you ask anyone in the band they will tell you the crowd was cool that night.
Scott never returned to the crowd as he promised he would. And if he did, he did it when everyone was gone, because we were of the last fans that waited for him to come back.
All I wanted to do the entire time was take ten seconds and tell him how I was an old school fan who's always wanted to just tell him he's made music I believe in.
I'll always be an Anthrax fan. But Anthrax are not as big as they once were. Now they are having a good show if 1000 people show up to see them. If they were as big as say Linkin Park is now, I'm sure Scott's ego would be even worse, and he'd be ditching fans most likely 1000 times worse.
I watched Dave Mustaine stand in the freezing cold weather in the exact same place, with about 300 fans standing outside. He stood and signed EVERY autograph and snapped EVERY photo he could with every fan that wanted one. We're talking about MUSTAINE. The guy who has one of the biggest reputations in metal for being an asshole. He appreciated his fans.
I only had two experiences with Scott, and both times he came off as being someone who's too busy to talk to a few fans. For that, I'll never try to promote anything Anthrax again.
I'll go see them if they come to town, and I'll buy their CD if it's good.....but I'll never fully support them the way a hardcore fan would.....and would have.
-Don
