Anthrax bassist Frank Bello will sit out the band's upcoming South American tour dates, as well as two U.S. festival shows in May, due to personal reasons. Filling in for Bello will be founding Anthrax bassist Dan Lilker, who originally split (got fired) with the group way back in 1984.
"I'm really looking forward to jamming with Anthrax again," said Lilker. "When we parted ways back in 1984, they told me to stick around because they might need me in 40 years."
Anthrax added: "We're all very excited about with playing with Danny again, and we really appreciate his filling in for Frank. It's been way too long since we played South America, so you don’t want to miss these shows, they’re going to be insane."
Bello also issued a statement: "Hey Everybody, I wanted to let all my friends know that I’m sorry that I won't be coming to play the upcoming Anthrax dates in Mexico, South America, or the couple of U.S. festival dates in May. Everything’s OK, but for personal reasons, I won't be able to make those shows. I want to thank my friend Danny Lilker for stepping in for me- he's gonna rock it! Enjoy the shows , I'm sure they will be great , and I'll look forward to seeing you all soon!!"
Lilker and Anthrax currently have the following tour dates lined up. Get your tickets here.
4/13 – MXMF The Metal Fest, Ciudad De México, Mexico
4/15 – Cancha Diamante, San Salvador, El Salvador
4/17 – Pepper's, San Jose, Costa Rica
4/19 – The Metal Fest, Quito, Ecuador
4/21 – The Metal Fest, Santiago, Chile
4/23 – Sala de Museo, Montevideo, Uruguay
4/25 – El Teatro Flores, Buenos Aires, Argentina
4/28 – Summer Breeze Open Air, São Paulo, Brazil
5/9 – Welcome to Rockville, Daytona Beach, FL
5/17 – Sonic Temple Festival, Columbus, OH
So what happened with Lilker and Anthrax back in 1984? According to Lilker in an interview with Talk Louder from earlier this year, he and then-vocalist Neil Turbin didn't exactly get along.
"I was asked to leave and had no choice. Let's just say that Neil and I had different definitions of what professional meant. I was more into making sure that the songs were good and well-played and rehearsed. It wasn't just about what you looked like and how you appeared.
"We all clashed with Neil a bunch back then. Because, remember, he [left] the band seven months after me. They realized they threw the wrong guy out, but by then it was too late."
Lilker continued: "So, it was more like Neil had told the other guys, 'I'm tired of dealing with Danny; it's him or me.' I would bust his balls because he had no sense of humor. And it was easy…
"Obviously, I wasn't thrilled when I was thrown out. And Scott [Ian, guitarist] was put very much between a rock and a hard place because I guess Neil's pushing to have [me] thrown out and then nobody had done anything. So, Neil took it upon himself to call me up and just throw me out of the band himself."
