PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
It seems somewhat weird going to a heavy metal gig that isn’t actually a heavy metal gig – there’s chairs where the mosh pit should be, for feck sake – but, then, it is Scott Ian and there are few more metal than he!
Always known as one of the quieter, or less excessive, members of the metal community – he doesn’t do drugs, drinks in moderation and there have no scandals in relation to his love life – he nevertheless has a reputation for speaking his mind, albeit in a more measured and reasoned way than some of his contemporaries, and it was the content of that mind that the guitarist had chosen to share with audiences across the UK and Ireland on this unique spoken word tour.
Anyone expecting an in depth discourse on the origins of the Anthrax sound, or an erudite analysis of the current state of the heavy metal industry, would have been sorely disappointed: but, the small audience gathered in Belfast’s historic Limelight were clearly hardened devotees, and if Scott has chosen to spend his time reciting the entire canon of Megadeth lyrics, they probably would have hung on his every word and lapped it up!
What we did get was more than two hours of side-splitting anecdotes from the man’s 30 years on the road, obviously carefully selected to maximise the impact of the message behind each story. Now, I’m not going to ruin it for those who haven’t seen this particular side of Scott Ian, but he touches on a variety of subjects, from his first encounter with magic mushrooms (at the age of 33!) to his highly allergic and potentially life-threatening reaction to marijuana – only someone like Ian could evoke howls of laughter about his near death experience after smoking a six-foot long bong with Everlast from House Of Pain – to literally shitting himself after his first meeting with Lemmy, how he took three years to get revenge on his good friend Dimebag Darrell after being pranked in the middle of the night, and discussing how Al Jourgenson thought Stephen Spielberg’s ‘A.I.’ would have made a much better porn movie. Pausing occasionally to sip pints of Guinness – and stopping twice to berate two chattering punters (who turn out to be so-called ‘music journalists’ standing at the bar and more interested in themselves than the legend they had blagged free tickets to ‘review’), he is brutally honest and self-depracating, obviously humbled and honoured to be able to enjoy the lifestyle he does today. He’s also respectful to his fans, answering questions during a brief Q&A session with clarity and more honesty – talking passionately about the late Cliff Burton and revealing how he first met Pearl Lee Aday… and reducing (almost) everyone to tears with a story about how a large fish managed to get Slayer to break their sombre onstage facade.
All in all, an insightful and highly entertaining evening in the company of a highly intelligent and thoughtful individual not afraid to expose his soul to his fans…
