BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE Drummer: Opening For IRON MAIDEN Was 'Bad'

MetalSucks recently conducted an interview with BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE drummer Michael "Moose" Thomas. An excerpt from the chat follows:

MetalSucks: Do you think when you go around and tour, there's a big different between American audiences and European audiences?

Michael "Moose" Thomas: Not really, I think. If it's our own headline show, regardless of if we play in L.A. or we're playing in Japan, we have the same reaction, which is awesome. It's a really different reaction from opening for a major league band, ya know, like IRON MAIDEN which was really tough for us.

MetalSucks: What was that like opening for a band that you grew up listening to?

Moose: Definitely for the four of us it was just completely awesome. But then, I just wish… their fans would just give the support act a fighting chance, you know? As soon as we'd go up, they'd have chants, MAIDEN chants. It just sucks really, why they didn't give us a chance. We were there to support, and we were big fans anyway, so when they were chanting "MAIDEN," we wanted to see MAIDEN just as bad, you know?

MetalSucks: In a lot of ways it probably doesn't matter who is opening for MAIDEN.

Moose: It doesn't matter at all.

MetalSucks: Basically the same thing happened for you guys here in America when you did those dates with Axl Rose.

Moose: Which one?

MetalSucks: In New York, with GUNS N' ROSES.

Moose: Oh yeah, we'd done the European dates with him, and then the New York dates went on sale and sold out in like 5 minutes, 15 minutes, and we weren't even announced on the bill. So it was kind of the same thing. But that wasn't as bad as IRON MAIDEN.

MetalSucks: It wasn't as bad?

Moose: No, it wasn't that bad!

MetalSucks: I was at one of those shows, it was pretty bad!

Moose: I mean, in New York it wasn't good, but if you'd seen us on the MAIDEN shows, it was BAD!

MetalSucks: Do you take that personally or do you just do your best and move on?

Moose: Even if we played great, no one would give us five minutes. I'd just like them to give us a chance. But I guess that's the way they are, that's the way they'll always be.

Read the entire chat transcript at www.metalsucks.net.