Battleangel

Steve Harris on playing in the U.S. and Ozzfest. Translation from the Spanish edition of Metal Hammer.

Q: I thought that there was some problem with Bruce, as he was especially vocal in his displeasure with the fat fans sitting in the first rows in the USA.

Steve: “Whenever we go to the USA, Bruce is very vocal in those things because there are things completely wrong in that country. The fans are great and loyal and I feel sorry they understand the message in a wrong way and think that we do not enjoy playing in the USA. The problem is with the venues. They sell the front-row tickets to people that do not even care for the band. The real fans are in the 20th row and the people from the front rows have been invited or have the money to get those seats and sit there eating fucking fried chicken. Imagine playing in front of those people. You get really upset!

“The problem is that, when you are in the 20th row you can’t always see the reason why we are so pissed, because you don’t see what happens in the front rows. In the future we must play in other places. There are other venues, but not always available. Sometimes you have to play in the venues where these things happen, but we’ll try to get the real fans to the front rows. When we headline in Denver, for example, we play in the same venues Ozzfest [plays] and the problem is exactly the same. There are assholes in the front rows that do not care for what you are doing. Seriously, it seems that if they had a remote control they would change the TV channel (Laughs). Why do they go to the show? Why are they there? That’s the kind of people that should be at the back. They have their right to be at the show, they have bought their ticket, but I don’t think they should be sitting in the front rows.

Q: The problem is that most venues are owned by Clear Channel and one cannot fight against the elements.

Steve: “One can, and we will. We will see what happens.”