ANTHRAX's SCOTT IAN: 'We've Got No Plans To Hold Bassist Auditions'

ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian has posted the following message on the band's official web site (as part of his regular online column, dubbed "Alpha Mail"):

"Comrades, I've been returning emails at a feverish pace the last few days and so many of them are from Perth and New Zealand. We're coming all the way to Australia and we're not coming to Perth and we're not gonna drop down and pay a visit to Middle Earth? Why?

"Ask your local promoters. We wanted to go to Perth and New Zealand. To come all the way down to Australia and not play Perth and New Zealand is stupid. We couldn't get one offer that would at least enable us to break even. We would've gone to Auckland and maybe even Wellington if we could have at least broken even. We couldn't even pay for flights from Australia with what we were being offered. The promoters don't seem to think we would’ve sold enough tickets to warrant paying us enough to get there. That sucks. Everyone loses. Even the promoters because our Australia shows are doing great. I'm sure a show in Perth would’ve sold out as well and NZ would’ve followed suit. It blows man, I know. All I can say is let the powers that be in your area know that you want ANTHRAX to come play. Maybe next time we’ll be able to. If you can, come see us in Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane or Adelaide. The shows are going to be great.

"Next major topic of your emails is bass auditions. Thank you for all the offers. Thank you for all the kind words of encouragement and the goodwill. Seriously, from my heart it means so much to get so many letters from you, the people that matter, the people that buy the tickets and CDs and DVDs etc. etc, thank you. For now, we've got no plans to hold auditions. If we do, you'll be the first to know.

"Next, my signature pedal from Digitech will be done soon, hopefully by this summer. I'm excited about our June/July/August dates in Europe. Especially the places we've never played before (Greece, Zagreb, Belgrade, Lyon, Salzburg) or haven't been in forever (Belfast, Roma). I think these shows will be amazing. We get to hit the UK again! Our shows there last year were some of the best. I know how good Glasgow will be (sell it out quick and maybe we can move up to the Barrowlands again!) and London will rule (yes, I expect another sellout at the Astoria you crazy fuckers). Wolverhampton, Manchester, Nottingham should all be great. Dublin you should be proud. First show of the tour last year and it was killer. That's why we’re coming back. Belfast, it's been since 1989 I believe. We've got a lot of time to make up. The set should be a good mix of old and new. After doing the re-recording of 'MMA', some of those old songs have taken on a new life. You can be sure we'll be doing some old stuff you’ve never heard us do before. The German festival dates will be sick. We were at Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park last year to see METALLICA and this year we get to play. That rules. And it's our first time at Bang Your Head and the legendary Wacken. And yes, we are coming back to the Czech Republic.

"Speaking of METALLICA, I went to see them with Brian Posehn. Brian had fun. They played 'Dyer's Eve' in its entirety for the first time. At least that's what they said. It was good.

"I'm getting pumped for the Whisky show. I've been rehearsing with Joey V and it's sounding great. I hope this AM answers some of your questions,

"Back to the emails, Scott"