In a new interview with Meltdown of Detroit’s WRIF radio station, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Jesse Leach spoke about Ozzy Osbourne and BLACK SABBATH‘s farewell concert, which will take place this weekend in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Asked what the legendary heavy metal band has meant to him personally, Jesse said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “The music world owes a great debt to both Ozzy as the solo artist and BLACK SABBATH. The majority of the bands that are kicking it right now owe a debt to BLACK SABBATH. I think the thing to focus on is the legacy, and just hoping the best for Ozzy‘s health. And people just paying respects to a band and an artist that changed the face of the world and music. And I’ll always be a massive fan of both Ozzy Osbourne solo and BLACK SABBATH. Very important stuff.”
When Meltdown noted that BLACK SABBATH has a rare chance to “say goodbye” to the fans before one or more of the original bandmembers is no longer with us, Jesse concurred. “Yeah, I think that’s cool when bands are able to do that,” he said. “And it’s also good to know when the time has come. And I hope that we have the wherewithal to know when it’s just probably not the best look right now. But you look at a band like IRON MAIDEN — I mean, [MAIDEN singer] Bruce Dickinson, to me, is still prime. He’s still peak. The guy is in his sixties. We’ve done two tours with him now, and every night he’s just on it. And I’m, like, I wanna be even just a quarter that good at that age. So it can be done, but it is smart to know when to call it and to be able to have your final say in how your legacy ends.”
Reflecting on KILLSWITCH ENGAGE‘s tours with IRON MAIDEN, Jesse said: “It’s hard to put into words. School’s in session, number one. There’s so much to be learned from watching a band for three hours just kill it. And I would say more so than just that, that I think is really important, is the way that they treated us. They were the perfect gentlemen. We had everything we needed. They couldn’t have been more polite. The entire staff — not even just the band, but the people that work for the band, their assistants. You wake up in the morning, you walk backstage and [they say to you], ‘Good morning, Jesse. How are you?’ They know your name. Catering is top notch. Everything runs like a well-oiled machine. You feel comfortable, you feel wanted, you feel accepted. IRON MAIDEN, man — they are the kings. I will forever look back on those two tours we did with them as the highlights of my life and my career as an artist.”
Back in August 2019, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE drummer Justin Foley stated about his band’s first tour with IRON MAIDEN: “The first week or so, it was pretty much being in awe. Then when you could just step back from it, then, ‘Okay, this is a tour now.’ Then seeing them play, to be doing that as long as they’re doing it and to have the dedication and incredible show they put on every single night is really inspiring. It kind of shows what it is to be at the highest level.”
A month earlier, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE bassist Mike D’Antonio told the “Thunder Underground” podcast about the experience of opening for IRON MAIDEN on the spring/summer 2018 European leg of the latter band’s “Legacy Of The Beast” world tour: “That will be the summer I will judge all other summers by, as being the top-notch summer and then everyone else will fall by the wayside. But boy oh boy, that was a dream come true. And it was the first of the ‘Beast’ tours where they were going back and playing a lot of the older stuff, stuff that they hadn’t played in a while, playing ‘[Flight Of] Icarus’. It was awesome. The setlist was amazing. Those guys were super-duper nice. Bruce would stop by our dressing room occasionally. He was all excited about his flamethrowers. He had two gun flamethrowers. He ran into our dressing room and said, ‘I’ve got flamethrowers,’ and then ran away. And we were, like, ‘What the hell just happened? That was Bruce Dickinson that just did that.’ The crew — top-notch crew. They gave us one rule, beside being on stage on time: ‘Do not spit on stage.’ And if IRON MAIDEN‘s gonna give you one rule to go by, you do it. They could have said many other things, but they were super nice, very cordial. First day there, they gave us three buckets of IRON MAIDEN beer and champagne. They just made us feel like we were part of the team. And that’s what you wanna feel, especially with a big band like that. They didn’t have to do any of that stuff. They could have just said, ‘Stay in your bus, and we don’t give a crap about you,’ and they made us feel like we were family. I’ll never forget it.”
Asked if the MAIDEN audience was receptive to KILLSWITCH ENGAGE‘s music, Mike said: “The crowd was a different story. You are the band that’s in the way of people seeing their favorite band. So, they’re gonna tolerate you, some people are gonna be into you, but the vast majority — 99.9 percent of people — just wanna see MAIDEN, and it showed. [Laughs] Which is fine. Hey, we’re not gonna have A-plus shows every time we play. And it reminds you that you have to pull deep sometimes and really give your hundred percent no matter what is going on below you. Sometimes you have to just look back, stare at the band and have fun with the dudes onstage. But hey, man, I’m sure we accrued some fans from that tour. And like I said, we were playing to some of the biggest crowds — between 40 and 80 thousand [people] per night. Sometimes two nights in a row with 40 thousand [people]. I’ll never forget it. If people liked us or hated us, it was rad.”
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE‘s latest album, “This Consequence”, came out in February via Metal Blade. It was KILLSWITCH ENGAGE‘s ninth album overall, and sixth with Leach, who rejoined the band in 2012.
