As awesome as this Summer is turning out to be for metal tours, we still stand by the claim that Mayhem Fest has the strongest lineup of all the touring festivals this year. Seriously, Slipknot, Slayer, Motörhead, and Anthrax alone make this a killer package (with lots of added bonuses like High On Fire). However, when it was first announced that Anthrax will be headlining the Jägermeister side stage, many fans cried “Wait, why aren’t they performing on the main stage?!” Well as it turns out, that’s exactly the way Anthrax wanted it.

In a recent statement, drummer Charlie Benante gave the following explanation for opting to headline the Jägermeister Stage instead of opening the main stage:

“We decided to pattern the Mayhem set on the kind of shows The Ramones used to do:  a high-energy, non-stop barrage of hit, hit, hit, hit, hit.  No lulls, no filler, totally in your face.  We’re going to be playing a supersonic-paced set loaded with the best of our best.”

Scott Ian added the following about the “bare bones” set they’re prepping for the tour:

“We really like the idea of not ‘playing to seats, ’and we want our crowd to have the freedom to move around, to go crazy with us.  Plus, we’ve been on the road together now for about two years, so we’re tighter as a band than we’ve ever been.  Our Mayhem set will be a fun, fast and furious 45-minutes, so they’d better have the EMTs on hand.”

Fun, fast, and furious, eh? Having seen Anthrax live numerous times, including at the Big 4 Yankee Stadium show, we know that they bring everything they got onstage. So a no filler, in your face set from Anthrax promises to be killer.