Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian has spoken about the impossible task of building a live setlist that keeps every fan happy — admitting that, with more than four decades of material to choose from, somebody is always going to leave wishing they’d heard something else.
Now here’s a problem every long-running band eventually runs into.
You make too many great songs.
Anthrax have been around since the early 1980s, have released a stack of records, built several different eras into their history and collected generations of fans along the way.
Which sounds brilliant.
Until somebody has to write the setlist.
Because suddenly you’ve got fans demanding deep cuts, classic thrash anthems, newer material, John Bush-era favourites, Joey Belladonna staples and that one bloke in the front row who won’t stop shouting for a song they haven’t played since 1988.
Good luck with that.
🎸 Scott Ian Knows Somebody Will Always Be Disappointed
Speaking about Anthrax’s live sets, Scott Ian acknowledged the basic reality of the situation:
You simply cannot please everybody.
And he’s right.
Anthrax have more than 40 years of music behind them.
That means every fan has their own idea of what the “perfect” Anthrax show should look like.
Some want nothing but the old-school thrash.
Some want material from the ’90s.
Others want newer songs.
Then there are the die-hards who want the obscure track buried halfway through side two of an album nobody else in the venue remembers.
Try squeezing all of that into ninety minutes.
You’d need a three-day festival.
🔥 The Curse Of Having Too Many Classics
Anthrax’s problem is actually a pretty nice one to have.
Their catalogue is packed with songs that fans reasonably expect to hear.
Caught In A Mosh.
Indians.
Madhouse.
I Am The Law.
Among The Living.
Antisocial.
Got The Time.
And that’s before you even start digging deeper.
At some point, something has to get cut.
And whichever song disappears from the setlist immediately becomes somebody’s favourite.
That’s just how rock fans work.
We spend years begging bands to change their setlists.
Then they remove one song and we go:
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not THAT one.”
🤘 Different Generations Want Different Anthrax
Anthrax have another complication that plenty of bands don’t.
They’ve lived through several distinct eras.
The early Neil Turbin years.
The classic Joey Belladonna period.
The John Bush era.
Then Belladonna’s return.
Each chapter has its own supporters.
Some fans discovered Anthrax through Among The Living.
Others came aboard with Sound Of White Noise.
Younger listeners may have first found the band through Worship Music or For All Kings.
Those fans aren’t necessarily walking into the venue wanting the same ten songs.
And that’s what makes setlist building such a headache.
🎤 The John Bush Question Never Really Goes Away
One of the biggest debates around Anthrax setlists has always been how much material from the John Bush era should be included when Joey Belladonna is fronting the band.
Albums like Sound Of White Noise, Stomp 442 and Volume 8: The Threat Is Real have incredibly loyal followings.
For some Anthrax fans, that material is every bit as important as the band’s celebrated ’80s catalogue.
But fitting songs from every era into one show becomes nearly impossible.
That’s the problem with longevity.
Eventually, your own back catalogue starts fighting for stage time.
💀 Then There Are The Deep-Cut Fans
Every band has them.
The fans who’ve seen you twenty times.
The ones who don’t need to hear the obvious songs again.
They want the weird stuff.
The forgotten tracks.
The songs the band probably needs three rehearsals just to remember.
And, to be fair, that can make gigs exciting.
There’s something fantastic about hearing the first few seconds of a genuine deep cut and watching the hardcore fans absolutely lose their minds.
But then somebody attending their first Anthrax show understandably wants Caught In A Mosh.
And there’s your problem again.
🎶 Setlists Are Always A Compromise
For a veteran band, a live set has to balance several things at once.
You need the massive songs.
You need enough variety to keep regular concertgoers interested.
You probably want to represent the current era.
You need songs that work together musically.
And, occasionally, you simply need tracks the band still enjoys playing.
That last part sometimes gets forgotten.
Musicians aren’t jukeboxes.
Imagine playing the same song hundreds upon hundreds of times and then discovering people become furious if you fancy leaving it out for one tour.
Suddenly Scott Ian’s point becomes pretty understandable.
⚡ Anthrax Are Still One Of Thrash Metal’s Great Live Bands
Whatever songs make the final cut, Anthrax have spent decades earning their reputation as a monster live band.
As one quarter of thrash metal’s famous Big Four alongside Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth, they helped define an entire generation of heavy music.
But Anthrax always brought something slightly different to the table.
The New York attitude.
The punk influence.
The humour.
The gang vocals.
That enormous Scott Ian rhythm-guitar crunch.
And the ability to make a massive venue feel like one giant mosh pit.
That energy remains central to the Anthrax live experience.
🤘 Maybe The Impossible Setlist Is A Good Thing
There’s another way of looking at it.
If fans are arguing about which songs Anthrax should play, it means they still care enough to argue.
Nobody complains about the missing deep cuts from a band whose catalogue nobody remembers.
Anthrax have built enough beloved music across enough decades that fans genuinely feel attached to different parts of their history.
That’s a pretty solid legacy.
Annoying for whoever has to choose the setlist.
But still.
🔥 THE RIFF REPORT VERDICT
Scott Ian is absolutely right.
Anthrax are never going to make everybody happy with one setlist.
It’s mathematically impossible.
You could give them three hours and somebody would still walk out muttering:
“Can’t believe they didn’t play my favourite.”
And honestly?
That’s part of the fun.
Great bands build catalogues big enough that fans can disagree endlessly about what deserves to be played.
Anthrax have certainly done that.
So whether you’re screaming for Madhouse, Only, Indians, Caught In A Mosh or some magnificent deep cut nobody else around you recognises, there’s only one realistic solution.
Keep going to Anthrax gigs until they eventually play the bloody thing.
That’s how they get you.
Clever bastards. 🤘🔥
