Report: ANTHRAX Rocks 'Battlestar Galactica' Set

Patrick Lee of SCI FI Wire reports that Scott Ian, the guitar player for the veteran metal band ANTHRAX, and his mates paid a surprise visit on August 3 to the Vancouver, B.C., set of SCI FI Channel's original series "Battlestar Galactica", of which he is a huge fan. "Everyone was so cool to us!" Ian — who made the visit with ANTHRAX bass player Frank Bello, agent Mike Monterulo and Anthrax.com webmaster Brent Thompson — said in an interview. "Not that I expected people to be crabby. I just thought it would be more businesslike. Everyone from the driver that picked us up to Edward James Olmos [Adm. Adama] were so cool. Unbelievable hospitality."

The band was in the Canadian city to perform with ROB ZOMBIE. A fan of the show who knew that "Galactica" filmed locally, Ian called SCI FI Wire to arrange a visit to the show's Vancouver Film Studios set. Sian McArthur in the production office gave them a tour, introduced them to cast and crew and even took photos of Ian with the cast and sitting in Starbuck's Viper. All told, the rockers spent five hours on set.

"When we were on set watching a scene with all the Cylons inside their base ship, we were just trying to stay out of everyone's way," Ian said. "And then we were escorted to chairs right behind director Michael Rymer and given headsets so we could hear the dialogue! Too much. Our guide for the day, Sian McArthur, was perfect, and Katee Sackhoff [Starbuck] and Aaron Douglas [Tyrol] went above and beyond to make sure we were cool. Sitting in Starbuck's Viper was cool, too."

Why is Ian such a fan? Is it the music? "Because it's the best-written show on television," he said. "It's story-driven, and the perfectly cast characters take it to a whole other level that transcends the sci-fi genre. And the Cylons are frakkin' badass."

Check out a photo of Scott Ian and Frank Bello with the "Battlestar Galactica" cast at this location.