Something a little different – Anthrax legend Scott Ian doing a spoken word tour. The first comparison that would inevitably come to mind would be Henry Rollins, but other than the musical background there’s not a lot in common. While Rollins uses his performance to eloquently and vociferously put forward his ideals and to point out what’s wrong with the world, Ian’s show is more about letting fans get to know him and his past.
And, of course, for fans of metal it’s a hell of a past. He’s been in exactly one band for his entire professional career (that is, he’s not jumped ship – there are of course a handful of side-projects) and that’s been since he was 18. He’s now 49. How many people do you know who’ve stuck with one job for one company for anywhere near that length of time?
Mr Not is quite happy to name-drop as he tells his stories, but it never comes across as arrogant or showing off. Of course he knows these people – he’s worked with them.
I don’t want to give away any of the material, although the tour is over, as I gather there will be a DVD (recorded at Glasgow tonight) and I’d not want to spoil it for first-time viewers. The best of his stories – the mushroom story, the Dimebag episode – work as jokes with a punchline.
The Q&A at the end was very forthright with some great questions from the audience. A good mixture of the straightforward (“Who have you ever worked with who wasn’t nice?”), to the revealing (“Do you have any Jeff Hanneman stories?”), to those directed at getting a laugh (“I’ve just shit my pants – what should I do?”).
He’s a humble guy, very happy to admit how lucky he is and how starstruck he’s been over the years. Definitely seems like a guy you’d have a great chinwag with over a beer. I really would have loved to go to the meet and greet afterwards, but the additional cost was just too much.
There’s apparently a book coming out next year and if it’s as interesting and well written as his stand-up material then it’s a must-buy. Oh, also a new Anthrax album which will hopefully, after far too bloody long, result in a UK headlining tour.
This tour was an experiment, as he readily admitted. But as far as I’m concerned it was a very successful one. A reasonably ticket price for almost three hours of real entertainment.
