OVERKILL Frontman Comments On Band's Participation In Last Year's GIGANTOUR

Vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth of OVERKILL recently commented on his band's participation in Gigantour 2006. In an interview with Black Night Meditations, Ellsworth said, "We got lucky and got the Gigantour and it helped us do six weeks and solidify our relationships, and you know, I suppose being businessmen, we thought we knew that it would up our value. The attachment to the tour, to the larger bands, gave us more value in the market. I mean, I left for the tour, I had three deals in my pocket, and I wasn't happy with any of them. I came back and I had six, and they were all WAY better than I thought they were gonna be. So, it's kind of, it was a slick business move, but at the same time I think it opened people's eyes to seeing that this band's still viable. You know, we're in San Diego, we haven't been in San Diego in fuckin' 15 years, we're in San Bernardino. 10 years prior to that, we hadn't been there, we'd just done a headline [gig] recently out there. We've been on the West Coast three times...once on our own, Gigantour, and we just got out and did the West Coast. It's still a viable touring band, and I think Gigantour really confirmed that.

"You know, one of the other cool things about Gigantour is, you know, a lot of people give Dave Mustaine [MEGADETH mainman and Gigantour founder] kinda a bad rap, he's had one in the business, you know? Some people love him, some hate him. You know, it's not for me to say, 'Yeah, you do whatever you want.' But I can tell you this… A lot of guys talk the talk, that they want to bring their old buddies out onto the road. We had NO fuckin' business being on that tour with regards to what we were selling, with WHAT he could have put in our slot. But Dave likes us, it's that simple. It's 'Hey, how's it going today?' on the cellphone. 'Oh, pretty good, I'm just out in the yard you know, working on the quad.' [Laugh] Guys will talk the talk, but very few of them will walk the walk. I was really impressed with the fact that he solidified it as 'Sure, I want some of my friends there.'

"I remember dealing with his manager, and like, we were going back and forth about certain things, [and] he's going, 'Look, Bobby, don't get fuckin' carried away here. Dave just likes you, that is why you're out here. [Laughs] 'Don't tell me I gotta get your nine strobes,' cause it ain't fuckin' happenin'!'

"In my estimation of what the guy [Dave Mustaine] did was, you know, he talks alot about Gigantour, and obviously, fullfilled it as he saw it to be, and that included OVERKILL as somebody, let's say, of our level, or of that connection with him and his old touring.

"We were out on the road with him 20 years ago, 20 years ago this spring. When they were doing 'Peace Sells', we were doing 'Taking Over'. You know, it was always kind of, we always missed each other, but stayed in touch kind of here and there, and have him say 'Yeah, let's do this!' D.D. [Verni, OVERKILL bassist] and I lobbied for it. 'We're in Los Angeles, let's here have a cup of coffee,' and kept putting it in his ear and he said, 'I wanna take these fuckin' guys out.' Good for him for doing it."