Drummer Gets Last-Minute Call as Fill-In for Anthrax, Plays in Front of 50,000 People

Imagine getting a call to play drums for a legendary metal band at a massive stadium concert just hours before showtime? That’s exactly what happened to Mike Heller, formerly of Fear Factory and currently of Raven. For reasons undisclosed, Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante couldn’t make the band’s gig opening for Iron Maiden at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Tuesday night, so the thrash veterans had to scramble for a drummer at the last minute. Dirk Verbeuren, drummer for Megadeth, who were also on the bill, gave Heller a call that afternoon, and within hours Heller was playing in front of tens of thousands of metal fans. Heller told the whole story in a Facebook post after the show: “So I woke up today thinking that I was gonna spend a nice day with my cats and my drumpad… then out of absolutely nowhere at 2:00pm I get a call from my buddy Dirk Verbeuren… he asks me if I’m in town tonight, and if I might know any Anthrax songs, and if I can fill in for Charlie Benante at 6:30pm tonight on the Maiden/Megadeth/Anthrax tour…. Well… I didn’t know any Anthrax songs on the drums, but I quickly charted two out, raced down to the Alamodome… sat in traffic and got thrown to the wrong place ...