Pantera took the stage at Hell & Heaven Metal Fest on December 2 for the first time in 20 years with vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown, along with Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society and Charlie Benante of Anthrax. You can read more about it here.
Drummer Charlie Benante shared his first impressions of the show on his social media accounts:
If I say I wasn’t nervous I’d be lying. The excitement, the fear, the emotions, the love and the work that went into doing this all played a part of what was in my head. When I got up there it had all seemed to disappear (except for the cold 50 degree weather) I looked at vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown and guitarist Zakk Wylde and felt the connection, Bam!!!! ‘New Level’ started and we were off. I kept looking down at my set list and was getting hyped up for the next song.
Thank you Sterling Winfield for bringing me an old Dimebag Darrell wristband and a pair of Vinnie Paul. I wore the wristband and brought the gloves up with me. I had some moments up there like I felt I wasn’t there, I went to some other place. I think I was Metal meditating, don’t laugh… I’m serious. Thank to the Pantera family, thank you to the crew and the amazing fans who have always been so positive about this. Thank you to Carla Harvey and Mia Benante for listening to me play Pantera songs day in and out. I look forward to seeing you all and having a great time playing these songs and reliving the feeling of what a great band they are!
Immediately after the reunion, and the main thing now, when the first show was quite successful, many fans have quite natural question – will there be new music and songs from Pantera? Though it seems like the heirs of the late musicians made it clear to everybody that there can’t be a full Pantera reunion without Vinnie and Dime and there is no question of creating new material, only concert activities in memory of Vinnie and Dime. Nevertheless, here’s what Charlie Benante said in an interview with Brave Words:
Oh man… who knows?. Creatively, if we are just flowing and getting going, and things are starting to be really good, musically speaking, you never know what could happen. I’ve got tons of riffs. But we’re putting the cart before the horse. I like the positivity there, but I don’t know how people would react to that either at this point. I think first, let’s get out there and establish that we can play. I’m always open to the future.
Anyway, that’s how it is. Let’s follow the development of events.
