The revamped Pantera have made it their mission to honor late brothers Dimebag Darrell (guitar) and Vinnie Paul (drums) on their ongoing tour. On Saturday night (February 24th) in Baltimore, a young fan’s resemblance to Dime caught the attention of singer Philip Anselmo.
Seeing the fan with a curly mop of hair on his head brought back memories for Anselmo, who recalled his first meetings with Dimebag. “Some people might believe in reincarnation and stuff like that,” the Pantera frontman said from the stage. “There could be a younger Dimebag right up front … Dude, just shake your head like that and everybody in the whole place will see it. Hey, turn up the lights here. Show ’em. Look at that guy.”
“When I was first met Dime, his lid was exactly that length,” continued Anselmo, who invited up the fan to join the band onstage. After learning that the fan’s name was Hunter, Anselmo led the crowd in a “Hunter” chant. He then asked for the an extra mic stand and instructed Hunter to join in on the chorus of the set-closing “Fucking Hostile,” which the young man did like a champ throughout the song.
Tragically, Dimebag was gunned down onstage by a deranged concertgoer while performing with Damageplan in December 2004. Right before he was killed, a magazine article had come out in which Anselmo had made some contentious comments about the guitarist, even saying that he “deserves to be beaten severely.”
The timing of the article followed shortly thereafter by Dimebag’s assassination led to a contentious relationship between Anselmo and Dime’s brother Vinnie Paul, who never spoke with the singer again. Sadly, Vinnie passed away in 2018 of heart disease.
Pantera re-formed at the end of 2022, with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante filling the shoes of Dime and Vinnie, respectively. They wrap up a headlining North American tour with two more shows on Monday (February 26th) in Toronto and Tuesday (February 27th) in Quebec City. This summer, they’ll continue to support Metallica on the next North American leg of the latter’s “M72 World Tour.” Tickets to Pantera’s upcoming shows are available here.
See Hunter performing “Fucking Hostile” with Pantera below, as well as a photo of a young Dimebag that looks an awful lot like Hunter (via Blabbermouth). Also, check out Heavy Consequence‘s photo gallery of Pantera’s recent show at Madison Square Garden.
Photo Gallery – Pantera and Lamb of God at Madison Square Garden (click to expand and scroll through):