Philip Anselmo Pays Tribute to Pantera’s Dimebag + Vinnie Paul

Philip Anselmo saluted the late Abbott brothers — his departed bandmates in Pantera, the guitarist Dimebag Darrell and the drummer Vinnie Paul — during a performance by his group Down at Virginia's Blue Ridge Rock Festival over the weekend.

A month ago, Pantera's surviving members confirmed they would get back together later this year with Zakk Wylde, Ozzy Osbourne guitarist and Black Label Society bandleader, and Charlie Benante, the drummer of Anthrax, in place of the brothers.

See video from Anselmo's tribute to the Pantera icons near the bottom of this post.

"This next song goes out to Dimebag and Vince," Anselmo told the crowd watching Down's performance at Blue Ridge Rock Fest. (via Blabbermouth)

"I want you all to throw down," the Pantera lead vocalist continued. "If you know these motherfucking lyrics, sing this shit with me. This is one called 'Lifer.'"

Down, who also count Corrosion of Conformity's Pepper Keenan and Crowbar's Kirk Windstein as members, performed several songs from their 1995 album, NOLA, at Blue Ridge Rock Fest on Friday (Sept. 9). Anselmo also fronts Philip H. Anselmo and the Illegals. The reformed Pantera are scheduled to play Mexico's Heaven & Hell Metal Fest, Knotfest Colombia, Knotfest Chile and Knotfest Brazil in December.

Vinnie Paul, later of Hellyeah, died in 2018 from heart failure. Dimebag was murdered onstage in 2004 during a show by his and Paul's post-Pantera act, Damageplan. Their joint gravesite is in their home state of Texas. Pantera last released the studio album Reinventing the Steel in 2000.

Down, "Hail the Leaf" + "Lifer" (Live – Sept. 9, 2022)

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