After revealing plans to reunite for a 2023 tour last month, Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown – with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante – have announced their first shows as the newly reformed Pantera.
The band will appear at three of Slipknot's forthcoming South American Knotfest dates. These include December 9, 11 and 18 in Bogotá, Colombia, Santiago, Chile and São Paulo, Brazil, respectively.
Joining Pantera on all three dates will be Bring Me The Horizon, Judas Priest, Trivium, Sepultura and more, while Slipknot will appear as the headliner in Santiago and São Paulo.
Two more South American Knotfest concerts will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina on December 8 and 13.
The newly announced shows mark the first time Pantera take to the stage since August 26, 2001, when they played Yokohama’s Beast Feast festival as part of their Extreme Steel tour, shortly after releasing what would be their final studio album, Reinventing the Steel, in 2000.
Although they planned to continue the tour after August 26 with a string of Europe dates the following month, the band canceled the remaining dates in the wake of the September 11 attacks, and disbanded two years later in 2003.
While news of Pantera’s reunion excited many metal fans, some questioned how it would work without guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul, who died in 2004 and 2018, respectively.
Shortly after the news broke, it was revealed that Black Label Society leader and former Ozzy Osbourne sidekick Zakk Wylde would be assuming guitar duties on the upcoming dates, while Anthrax’s Charlie Benante would take a seat on the drum throne.
Back in July, Wylde said he was “beyond honored” to be playing guitar on the band’s reunion tour.
“When Vinnie was still alive, when the fellas were all talking about doing it, I just always told them, ‘Guys, of course I would. If you asked me, why would I not do it?’ I’m gonna honor Dime,” he said.
“It’d be like Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell asking Eric Clapton if he would go out and honor Jimi [Hendrix], and Eric playing Jimi’s stuff and playing Jimi’s songs, and they are going out as the Jimi Hendrix Celebration – and then they honor his buddy and he is going to play his songs.”
He added that the new Pantera touring lineup is “not Pantera”, and that the upcoming shows will strictly serve as tributes to Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul.
“Obviously, it’s not Pantera,” he said. “Pantera is those four guys – it’s Phil, Rex, Dime and Vinnie. But it’s just like when [Led] Zeppelin went out with Jason Bonham [son of late Zeppelin drummer John Bonham] playing. It was phenomenal. It’s a great thing just to hear them play that music again.”
Tickets for the upcoming Knotfest South America dates will go on sale from 9AM local time on August 31. For more information, head to Tuboleta.
