THE BEAST

The reformed   PANTERA   played its first U.S. concert on May 6 at the   Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally   in Panama City, Florida. The performance marked   PANTERA 's first live appearance in its home country in 22 years — since July 25, 2001, when the band played at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington as part of the   "Extreme Steel"   tour.

Official behind-the-scenes video recap of the   Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally   concert — courtesy of the   PANTERA YouTube   channel — can be seen below.

PANTERA 's setlist for the   Thunder Beach Motorcycle Rally   included one song which hadn't been performed live since the band's comeback last year:   "Suicide Note Pt. II" , from   PANTERA 's 1996 album   "The Great Southern Trendkill" .

PANTERA 's current lineup includes two surviving members from the band's classic formation,   Philip Anselmo   (vocals) and   Rex Brown   (bass),along with guitarist   Zakk Wylde   ( OZZY OSBOURNE ,   BLACK LABEL SOCIETY ) and   Benante   ( ANTHRAX ).

Anselmo   and   Brown , along with   Wylde   and   Benante , are headlining a number of major festivals across South America, Asia, North America and Europe and staging some of their own headline concerts. They will also support   METALLICA   on a massive North American stadium tour in 2023 and 2024.

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 , who in 2021 said   Wylde   wouldn't tour with   PANTERA   if a reunion were to happen. It's unclear what changed his mind.

This past March,   PANTERA   headlined the 2023 "comeback" edition of Japan's   Loud Park   festival. The two-day "limited" event took place on March 25 at Intex Osaka in Osaka and March 26 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City near Tokyo.

In December,   PANTERA   played seven shows in Mexico and South America.

Benante   opened up about his participation in   PANTERA 's return during a recent interview with   "THAT Rocks!" , the new weekly   YouTube   series hosted by   Eddie Trunk ,   Jim Florentine   and   Don Jamieson . Speaking about some of the criticism he has received for his involvement with   PANTERA ,   Charlie   said: "People had their preconceived notions of what they were gonna think: 'Oh, I don't dig this without   Vinnie   and   Dime .' And of course… What do you think? We don't know that   Vinnie   and   Dime   are not with us anymore? But when we start playing the songs and you just see the faces in the crowd, all that shit goes out the window, the negative stuff that has been said.

"Man, that's all I ever wanted to do, is just come and do this and make people hear these songs again," he explained. "And that's what it's all about, really. It's about the music."

Asked who was in charge of making the decision to use the name   PANTERA   for the new lineup instead of calling it a tribute or naming it something else,   Charlie   said: "It wasn't me. [ Laughs ] For us it was about the celebration of the music and   Dime   and   Vinnie ; that's what it was about since day one. No one called it a tribute; no one called it a reunion. It can't be a reunion. This is a celebration of the music of   PANTERA . Come and enjoy it. And that's it. That's all could do."

Benante   also talked about his personal connection to   Dimebag   and   Vinnie , saying: "Yeah. I loved those two guys, man. You never think that certain things would   ever ,   ever   happen, and then when it does, you sit back and think, like, 'How did this happen so fast? How did this time just slip by?' And   Darrell 's been gone for a while now. But it doesn't change how we all miss him and feel him.

"Every show that we play… [Longtime   PANTERA   engineer, bass tech and friend]   Sterling   [ Winfield ], who used to work for   PANTERA   — still does, in a sense. The first show, he came to Mexico City and he brought me one of   Darrell 's wristbands and a pair of   Vinnie 's gloves that they used. And every show that I've played so far, I wear the wristband and   Vinnie 's glove is in my pocket because I feel like they're with me. And I do that for every show, and I'll continue to do that for every other show we play. It just has significance."

Benante   previously discussed his involvement in   PANTERA 's comeback during a recent interview with   Consequence . Addressing the negative comments he has received for his participation,   Charlie   said: "I don't go [online] looking for [people's negative comments about it]. There's people that send me, 'Hey, did you see this?' And I'm, like, 'Why did you send me this? Why ruin my day?'

"I think the people who do these things, these comments, I don't even think they realize how much of an effect that they could have on people," he continued. "And whether or not you hate the situation, or whatever it is, why can't you find some sort of restraint? Why do you need to say this thought that you have? Can't you just hold it in and maybe be, like, 'I'll keep my thoughts to myself.' No, they've gotta tell you. I've never seen more of it in my life than I [did] in these past couple of months about just people judging."

Regarding his personal approach to playing the parts originally written and recorded by   Vinnie Paul ,   Charlie   said: "I just spent a lot of time on   Vinnie 's parts and more importantly the tone that   Vinnie   had because I wanted it to sound like   PANTERA . That was my thing. And my drum configuration is different from the   ANTHRAX   one because I wanted to challenge myself to play those parts like he played them in that configuration, which, to me, was more important than anything. But yet people still have to find some problem in that."

According to   Benante , the initial rehearsals for the   PANTERA   comeback tour were "an emotional thing" for   Philip   and   Rex   "too, because they hadn't played as a group, those two hadn't played together in a long time, playing   PANTERA   songs. Yeah, they played [together] in   DOWN , but this was an emotional thing for them,"   Charlie   said. "And I remember after the week of rehearsals that we did, saying goodbye was weird, because it was an emotional thing; we really kind of bonded, the three of us.   Zakk   wasn't there at the time. But for me, I knew I had done something right."

Brown   was forced to leave   PANTERA 's Latin American tour after testing positive for   COVID-19 . Filling in for him at some of the shows was   CATTLE DECAPITATION   bassist   Derek Engemann , who also plays with   Anselmo   in both   PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS   and   SCOUR .

Up until his passing,   Vinnie   remained on non-speaking terms with   Anselmo , whom the drummer indirectly blamed for   Dimebag 's death.

Vinnie Paul   and   Dimebag   co-founded   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.

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.

Image by   Den's Live Concert Videos

Via Blabbermouth