ANTHRAX Guitarist Says 'Among The Living' Album Sequence Doesn't Work In A Live Scenario

In a February 14 interview with BBC Radio 6 Music's Mark Radcliffe, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Frank Bello spoke about the band's current European tour during which the group is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its classic album "Among The Living" by performing the LP in its entirety.

Scott said: "[The] first half [of the show] is a whole bunch of stuff — new stuff, old stuff — then we have half time, and then we come back and we do 'Among The Living' in full and maybe, depending on how great the audience is, some more stuff after that."

Added Frank: "It's been fun, man. When you say, 'How is it to play it?' it's been a lot of fun to see the reaction we're getting [from the crowds]. And just to see… they're re-living something also, which is really nice to… it's just a fun environment."

Continued Scott: "And for kids, too, who never got to see it first time around… It's not like in '87 we were playing the whole album. When we toured in '87 on that record, we probably played four or five songs off it. So for people who never even got to see that, obviously, I think it's a big deal too."

Said Frank: "And you're getting the deep cuts on this one, because there's stuff we never play off that record, which is really cool to see."

Asked if ANTHRAX is playing the "Among The Living" songs in the same order as they appear on the album, Scott said: "We were. But we discovered that what works in an album sequence doesn't necessarily work in a live scenario. 'Cause not many bands do that. It's not like you record a record and you go out and tour and you play your whole record; it just doesn't work that way. So we discovered after three shows that the album sequence just wasn't working live. So we kind of switched it around more in the dynamic of how it would work better on stage, and we did that last night in Nottingham, and it worked so much better."

Added Frank: "The energy stayed, which is great."

ANTHRAX's February 15 concert at the Barrowland in Glasgow, United Kingdom was filmed for a DVD, to be released later this year via Megaforce. Seventeen cameras, including five GoPros and a full-size camera crane, captured more than two hours of ANTHRAX favorites that were voted onto the evening's set list by fans and included "Madhouse", "Be All, End All", "Breathing Lightning" and "A.I.R.", followed by ANTHRAX's classic 1987 album "Among The Living" performed start to finish. In addition to the live footage, the DVD will include "fly-on-the-wall" interviews and other B-roll shot on the band's tour bus, backstage, in hotels and elsewhere.

The DVD is being produced and directed by Paul Green of the Manchester, U.K.-based Paul Green Productions who has filmed concerts for OPETH, THE DAMNED, Gary Numan, THE LEVELLERS and many others.

ANTHRAX's European tour is scheduled to end in Paris on March 16.