Pantera play first US show in 22 years

NME

Pantera performed their first US show in 22 years last weekend — check out footage from the gig below.

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The metal band performed last Saturday (May 6) at Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally in Panama City, Florida, their first in the States since July 2001.

Pantera announced their return back in summer 2022 when singer Philip Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown signed a deal with Artist Group International for a series of US tour dates.

It was later announced that Zakk Wylde, a longtime collaborator of Ozzy Osbourne‘s and frontman of Black Label Society, would be filling the role of late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, who was killed onstage in 2004.

Anthrax’s Charlie Benante, meanwhile, now plays drums in the band, filling the role left by the late Vinnie Paul who died from medical complications in 2018.

Wylde said in an interview that he’s “beyond honoured” to be a part of the band’s reunion, calling the tour “a celebration of Dime’s greatness”.

At their Panama City US comeback show the band performed tracks including ‘I’m Broken’, ‘Cowboys From Hell’, ‘Walk’ and ‘Suicide Note Pt. II’, the latter marking the first live performance of the song since 2001.

“We had a blast in Panama City Beach, FL this past weekend,” the band posted on social media. “Thanks for making our first US show in 22 years amazing!”

Check out fan-shot footage from the show and the full setlist below.

Pantera played:

1. ‘Mouth for War’
2. ‘A New Level’
3. ‘Strength Beyond Strength’
4. ‘Becoming’
5. ‘I’m Broken’
6. ‘5 Minutes Alone’
7. ‘This Love’
8. ‘Yesterday Don’t Mean Shit’
9. ‘Fucking Hostile’
10. ‘Suicide Note Pt. II’
11. ‘Planet Caravan’ (Black Sabbath cover)
12. ‘Walk’
13. ‘Domination’ / ‘Hollow’
14. ‘Cowboys From Hell’

Back in December, Pantera headlined the Hell & Heaven festival in Mexico, marking their first live performance in more than 21 years.

Before the band made their return to stage, Wylde shared that he’d been using online tutorials to learn his guitar parts for Pantera tour.

Appearing in an episode of Ola Englund’s webseries Sunday With Ola, Wylde said that whenever he’s “stumped” on a particular riff, he “would just [search], ‘How to play’, and I’d go on to YouTube and just see all these other amazing players playing the stuff”.

Elsewhere, earlier this year two major German festivals removed Pantera from the line-up over an outcry relating to past allegations of racism, which was followed by a cancelled appearance in Vienna.

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