Friday, December 2nd marked the first ever Pantera reunion / tribute show since the passing of the Abbott brothers – guitarist Dimebag Darrell, who was assassinated in 2004, and drummer Vinnie Paul, who died in 2018. Vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown took the stage alongside guitarist Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne) and drummer Charlie Benante (Anthrax) in Texicoco, Mexico at Hell & Heaven Metal Fest.

Following the show, Benante took to Instagram and shared a photo and video along with the following message:

"If I say I wasn’t nervous I’d be lying. The excitement, the fear, the emotions, the love and the work that went into doing this all played a part of what was in my head. When I got up there it had all seemed to disappear (except for the cold 50 degree weather. I looked at Phil Anselmo, Rex Brown and Zakk Wylde, and felt the connection, Bam!!!! 'A New Level' started and we were off. I kept looking down at my set list and was getting hyped up for the next song. 

Thank you Sterling Winfield for bringing me an old Dimebag Darrell wristband and a pair of Vinnie Paul's old gloves. I wore the wristband and brought the gloves up with me. I had some moments up there like I felt I wasn’t there; I went to some other place. I think I was Metal meditating. Don’t laugh... I’m serious. 

Thanks to the Pantera family, thank you to the crew and the amazing fans who have always been so positive about this. Thank you to Carla Harvey and Mia Benante for listening to me play Pantera songs day in and out. I look forward to seeing you all and having a great time playing these songs and reliving the feeling of what a great band they are!

Thanks to @chasethedrums for the vids and @thetinfoilbiter for the great photo."

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Charlie Benante (@charbenante)

Fan-filmed video from the show can be viewed below. The setlist was as follows:

"A New Level"
"Mouth For War"
"Strength Beyond Strength"
"Becoming"
"I'm Broken"
"Use My Third Arm"
"Drag The Waters"
"This Love"
"Yesterday Don't Mean Shit"
"Fucking Hostile"
"Planet Caravan" (Black Sabbath)
"5 Minutes Alone"
"Cowboys From Hell"
"Domination / Hollow"
"Walk"

Pantera's confirmed live dates are listed below:

December
6 - Monterrey, Mexico - Monterrey Metal Fest
9 - Bogotá, Colombia - Knotfest Colombia
11 - Santiago, Chile - Knotfest Chile
12 - Santiago, Chile - Movistar Arena
15 - São Paulo, Brazil - Vibra São Paulo (with Judas Priest)
18 - São Paulo, Brazil - Knotfest Brazil

May
26 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Armeets Arena
27 - Bucharest, Romania - Metalhead Meeting Open Air Festival
30 - Budapest, Hungary - Barba Negra
31 - Vienna, Austria - Gasometer

June
2-4 - Nürburgring, Germany - Rock Am Ring
2-4 - Nürnberg, Germany - Rock Im Park
5 - Lodz, Poland - Atlas Arena
10 - Sölvesborg, Sweden - Sweden Rock Festival
12 - Prague, Czech Republic - O2 Arena
13 - Berlin, Germany - Verti Music Hall
15 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Copenhell
21 - Hamburg, Germany - Edel Optics
22-24 - Oslo, Norway - Tons Of Rock

August
4 - East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium (with Metallica)
11 -  Montreal, QC - Stade Olympique (with Metallica)
18 - Arlington, TX - AT&T Stadium (with Metallica)
25 - Inglewood, CA - SoFi Stadium (with Metallica)

September
1 - Glendale, AZ - State Farm Stadium (with Metallica)

November
3 - St. Louis, MO - The Dome at America’s Center (with Metallica)
10 - Detroit, MI - Ford Field (with Metallica)