WORDS BY DAVID TAYLOR AND PHOTOS BY ROBERT A CHADWICK | Go Venue Magazine
Valentine’s Day is always spent with the ones you love, even if they are metal band Pantera. And that is what a couple of thousand people did on Wednesday, February 14 when Pantera rolled into town to play Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, NE with Lamb of God and Child Bite.
Child Bite from Detroit opened up the concert. They are a part of Phil Anselmo’s Housecore Records, so it made sense why they were opening up for Pantera. I love it when bands that usually play in small clubs get the opportunity to play arenas. They played their fast and heavy metal music like it was a club show. I enjoyed the energy coming from lead vocalist Shawn Knight, just moving around the whole stage. They felt gracious to be there, to kick off this leg of dates opening up for the leg of the tour.
Lamb of God was the direct support of night. This was my sixth time seeing them live. They couldn’t have been a better fit for opening for Pantera. “What the fuck is up, Nebraska,” yelled Randy Blythe. It’s always amazing to see these men in their 50s still play this kind of music and at a fast tempo, shout out to Art Cruz (not in his 50s, yet) holding it down on the kit. The mosh pit was going insane. A highlight for me was guitarist Mark Morton just groove on “Resurrection Man”. Such an underrated shredder. Lamb of God are next level when it comes to them playing arenas. They never put on a bad set. Make sure to check them out this summer as they will be playing Ashes of the Wake in full.
And, finally, it was Pantera’s turn to rip this arena to shreds. The last time Pantera played Nebraska was in 1998, just over 25 years ago. So, when I heard Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown were going to go out to pay tribute to Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul, I couldn’t believe it. Adding their friends Zakk Wylde on guitar and Charlie Benante on drums to the mix, and you get the closest you will ever see these guys properly. Phil Anselmo is just a power on the microphone. He worked his ass off to perform these songs live. Zakk Wylde’s guitar playing is much different than Dime’s, from videos I’ve seen, but I just thought he did a top-notch job paying tribute to him in his style. I always love seeing pyrotechnics with a production, and Pantera’s was just the right amount. When they performed “Walk”, they had Child Bite perform the chorus which was a lot of fun, with one of the members even doing pushups. Pantera going out there was always first and foremost a tribute to these fallen members, but also to the audience members who were not around during the heyday of Pantera like myself. Getting to hear these songs played live by a band of amazing players was so surreal. I’d be curious if they ever record new music if they would use the name Pantera or go by another name. Nonetheless, I’m glad they are out there spreading the word of Dime and Vinnie and just kicking ass and taking names.
Pantera
Lamb of God
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