JOHN BUSH Announces First-Ever European Tour Celebrating His Era Of ANTHRAX: 'It Is Finally Time'

Legendary vocalist John Bush will play his first-ever headline shows in Europe celebrating his era of ANTHRAX. John will make stops in six countries in the summer of 2027: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Switzerland, Hungary and Austria. Bush will perform songs spanning all four albums he recorded with ANTHRAX: "Sound Of White Noise", "Stomp 442", "Volume 8: The Threat Is Real" and "We've Come For You All". The setlist will include not only the well-known anthems, but also some deeper cuts that haven't been performed live in years.

John comments: "Europa! I've come for you all!!! It is finally time to bring the John Bush sings the songs of ANTHRAX 1993-2003 show to the heavy metal continent and some of the best fans in the world. Looking forward to playing some awesome festivals and some headline shows as well. Cranking out songs from those four records. Wherever you are, come out, sing loud and let's do it!!"

John Bush 2027 "European Stomp Tour 27" dates:

Jul. 29 - Berlin, Germany  @ Lido
Jul. 30 - Wacken, Germany @ Wacken Open Air
Jul. 31 - Essen, Germany  @ Turock Open Air
Aug. 03 - Budapest, Hungary @Dürer Kert
Aug. 04 - Vienna, Austria  @ Szene
Aug. 05 - Josefov, Czech Republic @ Brutal Assault Festival
Aug. 07 - Kortrijk, Belgium @ Alcatraz Festival
Aug. 08 - Saarbrucken, Germany @ The Garage
Aug. 10 - Zurich, Switzerland @ Plaza Club
Aug. 11 - Aschaffenburg, Germany @ Colasaal
Aug. 13 - Eindhoven, Netherlands @ Dynamo Open Air
Aug. 14 - London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
Aug. 15 - Manchester, UK @ Academy 2
Aug. 16 - Wolverhampton, UK @ KK's Steel Mill
Aug. 19 - Dinklesbuhl, Germany @ Summer Breeze Festival
Aug. 20 - Paris, France @ Bal Chavaux
Aug. 21 - Carhaix, France @ Motocultor Festival

Last December, Bush played three live concerts in the U.S. showcasing the music he helped create during his decade-long tenure singing with ANTHRAX, and followed it up with a June 2026 appearance at the Milwaukee Metalfest. At all four gigs, Bush performed songs spanning all four albums he recorded with the band. Joining Bush on stage were his CATEGORY 7 bandmates Phil Demmel (guitar),Mike Orlando (guitar) and Jason Bittner (drums),along with his longtime ARMORED SAINT partner and best friend Joey Vera on bass (CATEGORY 7 bassist Jack Gibson had a schedule conflict and was unable to make the gigs). CATEGORY 7 also opened the December 2025 shows before returning as John's backing band for the ANTHRAX material.

During a June 3, 2026 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", host Eddie Trunk noted that it was probably "emotional" for John to revisit some of that ANTHRAX material after so long. Bush concurred: "Yeah, it was kind of two sets, 'cause we did the C7 [CATEGORY 7] as the opening band, 'cause they were my backing band, if you will. So then we kind of piggybacked it, and then we did one set of C7. It was a condensed set. And then we took a small break, and then we came back out, and then we did the ANTHRAX stuff. And so they worked very hard, and they learned a lot of material. So, it was a lot of work, but it was fun work. And it was fun to play those songs… It was weird how much they just kind of came back to me, even songs that we didn't play live many times, which we incorporated some of those in it, which was cool. We played the song 'Strap It On' in New York for one particular fan specifically, 'cause he was relentless in requesting it. And ANTHRAX never played that song, ever. So, it was fun to do that. And I was stoked about my memory banks 'cause a lot of lyrics just came back to me, which was funny. So lot of lyrics in my brain."

ANTHRAX has had a number of vocalists — including Bush, Joey Belladonna, Neil Turbin and Dan Nelson — over the last 42 years, with guitarist Scott Ian and drummer Charlie Benante remaining the sole bandmembers who have appeared on every one of the group's studio albums.

Turbin sang on ANTHRAX's debut LP, 1984's "Fistful Of Metal", before getting booted and being replaced by Belladonna. Belladonna performed on four ANTHRAX albums, including the fan favorite "Among The Living" (1987) before he himself was fired over creative and stylistic differences. Bush fronted ANTHRAX between 1992 and 2005 but was sidelined when the band reunited with Belladonna for a 20th-anniversary tour. When that collapsed, and relationships disintegrated with next frontman Nelson, Bush returned for a time before Belladonna took the job back in 2010.

Tour poster below courtesy of Dan DeVita / TKO