TESTAMENT Wants To Take Care Of Its Opening Acts

May 8, 2009

Pete Richards of ChartAttack.com recently conducted an interview with vocalist Chuck Billy of San Francisco thrash metal legends TESTAMENT. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

ChartAttack.com: You're about to hit the road with UNEARTH and LAZARUS A.D. Did you have any involvement in setting up the tour?

Chuck: Yup. I mean, we haven't done a proper U.S. tour in a while, and every time we play, it seems like we're just using local acts. This year, we decided to put a package together and put some bands together that can go out and have some fun. UNEARTH, they have some great records and they're perfect for the support.

ChartAttack.com: So what does it take for one of these younger bands to tour with TESTAMENT?

Chuck: Well, I don't know. As far as us just all day hanging around, I think we have definitely been influenced by the way JUDAS PRIEST treated us for the last year. These guys have been playing for 38 years and are still a class act and really take care of their opening acts. There are no games, like, "You don't get all the lights. You don't get all the sound." There's none of that kind of stuff, and when you see that coming from a band that's been doing it for 30-something years, it's just confidence in what they do. They're JUDAS PRIEST and they just go out and kick butt every night. I think a lot of that really kind of rubbed off on us. We definitely want to take care of anybody that's travelling with us, our opening acts, and make sure they have a good show. I think any new bands that travel with us will really say, like, "Man, they took really good care of us and we had a good time."

ChartAttack.com: And that attitude is something that probably just comes with maturity as well.

Chuck: Yeah, definitely, man. There are a lot of bands out there that we've played with that were just kind of jerks and they would just never talk to you. They've got an attitude or they've got security keeping you away from them. I don't get it. We're not the rabid public. We're part of the bands playing on the tour, and you get treated just like you're one of the guys in the crowd, and that really kind of burns you up. It's like your fans are who keep you in this business for a long time, not being a dick. That's for sure.

Read the entire interview from ChartAttack.com.

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