ANIMETAL USA Frontman Michael Vescera - … And Maybe A Little More LOUDNESS
December 26, 2011, 12 years ago
In a recent interview with BW&BK; scribe Carl Begai about ANIMETAL USA, vocalist Michael Vescera discussed his tenure with LOUDNESS from '89 - '91 and the 2011 reunion that supposedly almost happened in Nashville during the band's US tour:
“That was absolutely true,” Vescera confirms. “We’ve been talking quite a bit, actually, me and the Loudness guys. I see their manager George (Azuma) quite often; when he’s in Nashville we hang out. When Munetaka (Higuchi/drums) died in 2008 (following an eight month battle with liver cancer) I issued a statement and Akira contacted me. We’ve been talking back and forth for a few years, and Akira’s mentioned a couple times that he’d like to do something again. So, when they were touring the States this summer they called me from San Francisco and mentioned they were coming to Nashville; would I come out and perform a couple songs with them? I told them I’d love to. I even talked to Minoru (Niihara/vocals), who was totally into the idea. But, the night before the show we had tornados come through and they did so much fucking damage. I think the guys were in Chicago, and they couldn’t risk the possibility of driving through that, so they had to cancel the show.”Chances are Vescera will reunite with his former bandmates at some point, albeit briefly. Niihara is still going strong as Loudness’ singer, and Vescera has made Animetal USA his top priority.
“We’ve talked about possibly doing a one-off Budokan show; maybe do my era of Loudness stuff, have Minoru do his stuff, and film it for a DVD. Nothing’s planned, but we’ve reconnected and we’re good friends again, which is awesome. Loudness is a great band and I’d love to do something with them again, even if it’s just a one-time, small scale thing.”Go to this location for more.
(Photo by Jerry Angelica Photography)
