Happy Birthday, Dimebag Darrell (Pantera/Damageplan)

Dimebag was a truly talented musician!

Dang, I forgot it was his birthday. I remember the first metal show I ever went to was Pantera, Slayer, and Morbid Angel. I was only 11 years old and it blew me away. I can't believe it's been almost 7 years since he passed.

reply to post by Necrowizard


the two passes i have posted are from that tour. it was called the "extreme steel" tour. i went to the Dallas show, then went with the band down to the Houston show. The Houston show of THAT tour is my most memorable concert ever (and i have been to many - i was a teen in the 80's lol) - I got to stand on the side of the stage with Philip and his (now ex)wife Stephanie Opal and watch the entire Morbid Angel set. Then later after the show when we were leaving the venue, we were heading out to Philips bus (me, Stephanie, Philip, Joe Fazzio from Superjoint and Hank III, my friend and the bands photographer Scott Caliva) - as we came out of the venue and were being escorted by security to Philips bus, the parking lot was FULL of screaming fans and they were all throwin us the metal horns and stuff, it was THE coolest experience ever, at that moment, i KNEW how a rockstar felt. i can see how it could be addicting. lol. I spent most of that show in the soundbooth doing crown shots with the sound guys while Scott was in front of the stage taking pics - but during the encore, we got to go up on the stage and sing This Love with all the band and crew and stuff (that used to be their thing, to let everyone come on stage for that song during the encore) - Good time, good times.

I have so many stories about Darrell. I have tons more pics and quite a bit of video (most of it is still on the small tapes from my old camcorder). He was a phenomenal guitar player, but most importantly he was a cool dude. I can honestly say he was one of the most down to earth and FUNNIEST people i have ever had the pleasure of knowing. his is sorely missed.


thanks for all your posts, guys (and girls!)

reply to post by highpriestess


Dude, that's legendary! I always heard Pantera was one of the hardest partying bands around. It must have been amazing to actually know the guys. I was so pumped when I got to see them. The whole night is pretty much a blur because I was so full of adrenaline, but I remember being close enough to the stage that for just a few seconds I was making eye contact with Dime. That's a memory that will be with me till the grave. Thanks a bunch for the story.

I didn't know it was his birthday! Crazy, I was just listening to Pantera today for the first time in a long time. Great pictures, thanks for sharing!

reply to post by highpriestess

Thanks for the heads up highpriestess
There was and will only be one Dimebag Darrell to make a guitar neck smoke the way he did!
There are numerous tracks with him a blazin' but I dig the camera work on his axe in this classic 5 Minutes Alone.

RIP brother....
Vinnie, friends and family, peace and celebration..

spec

Holy crap, how did I forget?

I'll never forget my Pantera loving friend who followed them and collected their records since the early 80s being totally slack jawed when I saw Damageplan live months before Dime's death. Such an awesome and talented guy, still hurts that he's gone.

Best thing was, myself and another guy at a forum were at each other's throats constantly but Dime's death brought us together as metal loving friends.

I'm a poor unemployed sod with no drums - I sold 'em a few years ago - so when a buddy from a previous life(25 years ago, the early drinking days) got me jamming again(he has drums and all sorts of stuff) I was a happy camper.

Now I'm trying to get my chops back enough to get through Mouth For War. Fun times, indeed, and it's not even one of the more difficult Pantera tunes.

Vulgar Display Of Power is easily one of the best heavy metal albums of all time IMO. I remember very clearly the day Dime was shot as I was in the KNAC chat room with some folks who were actually there. Frakked up story I read a day or two later from a fan there, a nurse, who tried to help. Should never have happened and still bums me out. At least we still have the music to listen to, even the crappy stuff from the early days LMFAO!!!