Pantera Tribute Hits The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion August 17th

PANTERA, one of the most successful and influential bands in heavy metal history, will be touring North America this summer with LAMB OF GOD as special guests.

One of the most anticipated tours of 2023, this celebration tour includes surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) joined by guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX).

According to Billboard, the lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band’s founders, drummer Vincent “Vinnie Paul” Abbott and guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, as well as Brown.

Vinnie Paul and Dimebag cofounded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.

Charlie Benante said “I had found out [about the Pantera tour] towards the end of December [2021] — maybe it was the beginning of January [of 2022] when Philip called me up — and I immediately said, ‘Yup. I wanna do it.’ It just felt right. For some reason, with Darrell and Vinnie being gone, I, myself, missed these songs. You can listen to ‘em all you want, but I think having them being performed in front of you and being performed the right way, it really resonated with a lot of people once they really found out that this was gonna happen.”

Vinnie passed away on June 22, 2018 at his other home in Las Vegas at the age of 54. He died of dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, as well as severe coronary artery disease. His death was the result of chronic weakening of the heart muscle — basically meaning his heart couldn’t pump blood as well as a healthy heart.

The preeminent metal band of the early to mid-’90s, Pantera put to rest any and all remnants of the ’80s metal scene, almost single-handedly demolishing any continued on next page

Pantera

continued from previous page notion that hair metal, speed metal, power metal, et al., were anything but passé. Loathe to admit it, the Texas band had in fact been one of those ’80s metal bands, releasing fairly unsuccessful (and later disowned) glaminspired music throughout much of the decade. The about-face came with the addition of vocalist Phil Anselmo, and the key turning point was the band’s major-label debut, Cowboys from Hell (1990). Pantera’s mainstream breakthrough came next with Vulgar Display of Power (1992), their second major-label album, which thrust the band to the forefront of the metal scene, alongside such veteran bands as Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax, as well as fellow up-and-comers

Sepultura and White Zombie. By the time Pantera unleashed Far Beyond Driven (1994), after two long years of touring, they were the most popular metal band in the land: the new album debuted atop the Billboard Top 200 as its lead single, “I’m Broken,” was getting massive airplay.

At the height of their popularity and influence, Pantera began to self-destruct. Less than two months after the release of The Great Southern Trendkill (1996) — an album ridden with allusions to drug abuse and personal destruction — Anselmo overdosed on heroin after a homecoming concert in Texas, and as tensions rose between him and his fellow bandmembers, he began engaging with a growing list of side projects that kept him away from Pantera. A live album, Official Live: 101 Proof (1997), was compiled for release when it became evident that no new studio album was forthcoming any time soon. One final studio album did result, Reinventing the Steel (2000), but that was more or less it for the briefly reunited Pantera. The bandmembers once again went their separate ways, forming such bands as Damageplan, Down, and Superjoint Ritual.

The end of Pantera then became official on December 8, 2004, when guitarist Dimebag Darrell was murdered on-stage by a deranged fan. This muchpublicized murder shone the spotlight back on Pantera for an extended moment, and amid all of the emotional outpouring and tributes, a consensus arose: in retrospect, there was no greater metal band during the early to mid-’90s than Pantera, who inspired a legion of rabid fans and whose oft-termed “groove metal” style bucked all prevailing trends of the day — from hair metal and grunge to nu-metal and rap-metal — and remains singular to this day, as defined by the vocals of Anselmo as it is by the guitar of Dimebag.

Leon’s Lounge Is Now Available For Private Parties! Make Your Reservations Now!!

This August at Leon’s Lounge

Wednesday, August 2 - Randy Soffar Singer/Songwriter Song Swap and Open Mic @ 8:00 pm

Thursday, August 3 - Thursday Sessions

Friday, August 4 - Clutch Cargo

Saturday, August 5 - To Be Announced

Wednesday, August 9 - Randy Soffar Singer/Songwriter Song Swap and Open Mic @ 8:00 pm

Thursday, August 10 - Thursday Sessions

Friday, August 11 - June Bird

Saturday, August 12 - Honeycutt Southern

Wednesday, August 16 - Randy Soffar Singer/Songwriter Song Swap and Open Mic @ 8:00 pm

Thursday, August 17 - Thursday Sessions

Friday, August 18 - Mark & The MisPhits

Saturday, August 19 - To Be Announced

Wednesday, August 23 - Randy Soffar Singer/Songwriter Song Swap and Open Mic @ 8:00 pm

Thursday, August 24 - Thursday Sessions

Friday, August 25 - Armov

Saturday, August 25 - Sedated (Ramones Tribute)

Friday, August 30 - Randy Soffar Singer/Songwriter Song Swap and Open Mic @ 8:00 pm