John Bush has reflected on the success of his recent “Celebrating The Songs Of Anthrax” shows — and even floated the idea of something much bigger involving multiple eras of the band.
Speaking in a new interview with Jimmy Kay of The Metal Voice, the former ANTHRAX and current ARMORED SAINT frontman looked back on the trio of December 2025 concerts where he revisited material from his time in ANTHRAX. The setlists spanned all four albums he recorded with the band — Sound Of White Noise, Stomp 442, Volume 8: The Threat Is Real and We’ve Come For You All.
For those shows, Bush was backed by his CATEGORY 7 bandmates — Phil Demmel, Mike Orlando and Jason Bittner — along with longtime ARMORED SAINT bassist Joey Vera. The group also opened each night before returning to serve as Bush’s backing band for the ANTHRAX material.
Looking back on how everything turned out, Bush had nothing but positive things to say.
“Yeah, it was awesome. The shows were amazing. All three of ’em were great. It was a lot of fun. I got pretty favorable reviews from people. It was cool for me to hear those songs live as well as to hear all those guys in [CATEGORY 7] play them so well,” John said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “And I think for the fans, a lot of those people probably felt like they may never hear those songs live again. And so there was a lot of emotion in the crowd from hearing those tunes. It was really, really cool. So it was all a big giant plus, and I’m glad I finally did it. And I wanna do more. It’s just gotta fit in with my schedule. I am playing Milwaukee Metal Fest with it, and so is ARMORED SAINT the day before, so that should be fun. But there’s a lot of territories I would like to play with. It just has to coincide with my life right now. I’m kind of focused on SAINT, and we have a new record coming out. So, I’m kind of distracted, but, yeah, we’ll see.”
Even so, Bush made it clear there’s no pressure to rush more performances of this material: “It’s old material, so it’s not going anywhere — let’s face it. And I don’t think there’s an urgency to have to do it, because I waited so long to do it. So, I think if there’s any urgency connected to it, it’s mostly just because the songs are demanding, so they’re not easy to do. And, unfortunately, with every passing minute. I’m getting older. So it’s more about just being able to do it. And if I’m able to do it physically, then I don’t really have to feel like I have to do it or else I can’t.”
Perhaps the most intriguing part of the conversation came when Bush was asked about the possibility of a multi-vocalist ANTHRAX celebration.
“I think it was really cool what HELLOWEEN did with all that,” John responded. “I think it’s a very creative, and it was something that I think I would like to do that. I think that probably the person that would have to be convinced would be Joey, quite frankly. And I understand whatever his perspective is on it, whether he doesn’t or does wanna do it. It’s up to him, really. And the band, of course. But I think everybody would have to feel like ‘I’m in’. Or not. And if you’re not, then don’t do it by any means.”
Such a concept would bring together Bush with current ANTHRAX singer Joey Belladonna and original vocalist Neil Turbin — covering songs from each era of the band’s long and often turbulent history.
Turbin appeared on ANTHRAX’s 1984 debut Fistful Of Metal before being replaced by Belladonna, who went on to front several classic albums, including Among The Living. Bush later took over vocal duties from 1992 to 2005, ushering in a different, more groove-oriented chapter for the band. While Belladonna ultimately returned to the role in 2010, the idea of all three eras sharing the stage remains an enticing “what if” for fans.
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