- 12 hours ago
Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the copyright act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00The Elbow Order! Welcome to more metal-like mayhem on VH1!
00:12They were cowboys from hell who lassoed the metal world by the throat.
00:16That was really extreme metal before people called it extreme metal.
00:20There wasn't anybody out there in contaches.
00:21We wanted to terrify people.
00:27Pantera bludgeoned concert crowds, and led by guitarist Dimebag Daryl Abbott partied even harder than they played.
00:35Just to play the guitar, you have to get a couple cocktails in them.
00:40It was out of control.
00:42The only band that I've ever known that if you didn't drink, you'd get fired.
00:46Pantera's brutal brand of metal forged a brotherhood.
00:49But by the mid-90s, singer Philip Anselmo's heroin addiction began to blow it all apart.
00:56I saw him laying on the ground blue and people hitting on him and all this.
01:00I thought I could do anything, and there wasn't a damn thing that could beat me.
01:05I was wrong. I was wrong.
01:08Then, in a single terrifying moment, it all came to a stunning end,
01:13with the horrific on-stage murder of guitarist Dimebag Daryl Abbott.
01:19Stop, please. Stop shooting. You're killing all my f***ing friends.
01:24It's like a cannon blast.
01:27Now, put the pedal to the metal with Pantera.
01:31We were a machine.
01:32This is the story behind the music.
01:34Don't underestimate the kid.
01:36You're f***ing crazy if you do.
01:39And I am the kid.
01:42Come on, buddy.
01:44That was a f***ing shit.
01:48Thank you, son. Step on back.
01:51Step on back.
01:52Step on back.
01:59It's December 8th, 2004.
02:01And ex-Pantera guitarist Dimebag Daryl Abbott takes the stage at a nightclub in Columbus, Ohio,
02:07with his new band, Damage Plan.
02:09It's just another night.
02:11We do the sound check. Everything's rock ready for the show.
02:14You know, we're ready.
02:15Damage Plan!
02:17Then he got on the kit and he walked around the corner and fired off into the song.
02:22At first, it seems like any other gig.
02:25But the 24th anniversary of John Lennon's murder is about to become another of the darkest days in rock history.
02:34We couldn't have been more than ten seconds into the first song.
02:38When I looked up, I saw the guy coming across the stage.
02:41The first thought that came to my mind is that he was a cop.
02:43He wasn't in full throttle run.
02:45He was marching and he was on a mission and I saw him raise his hands up.
02:49I had my back turned with the amps behind me and I heard the noise.
03:03Revolutionary riffs turned Dimebag into a heavy metal messiah.
03:07But his musical odyssey commenced nearly three decades earlier,
03:11when 11-year-old Daryl Abbott became a foot soldier in the KISS army.
03:15He enlisted with his neighbor, Rita Haney, who years later became his girlfriend.
03:20I mean, my first concert was KISS and his was too.
03:23I remember he almost cried because he missed Gene Simmons breathing fire
03:26because some old lady in the back behind us was all stoned and put her cigarette out in his hair.
03:31KISS' sonic circus inspired Daryl to pick up an instrument of his own.
03:35On his 12th birthday, he got his first guitar.
03:38The next thing I know, Daryl's standing in his room, got his guitar strapped on in a KISS outfit.
03:44Got his face all done up like he was frilly in the whole nine yards, you know.
03:48Once he started playing, he was completely obsessed with the guitar.
03:52Took it to the bathroom with him.
03:55As Daryl practiced power chords, his older brother, Vinnie Paul, bashed away on the drums.
04:01And in 1981, while still in their mid-teens, the siblings formed Pantera.
04:06The band's lineup was rounded out by bassist Rex Brown and vocalist Terry Glaze.
04:12We started immediately jamming at Vince and Daryl's house out in the garage.
04:15I got in the band, they said, you gotta wear a spandex.
04:17I said, no way.
04:18But I eventually put on some freaking spandex.
04:21There was wild stuff that went on in that house.
04:24Lots of things we weren't supposed to be doing.
04:26It was out of control.
04:28Vince and Daryl's house was party 24-7.
04:35Pantera quickly became the kings of the southwest spandex circuit, even before they were old enough to get into bars.
04:42Man, we'd get calls from people.
04:43Hey, we're having a cake party.
04:44We gotta have Pantera, man.
04:46Thank y'all for coming to the party tonight.
04:47We are Pantera.
04:48We were rock stars in that little universe that we were in.
04:50We were burning it up.
04:52A bunch of skinny little kids dressed like girls and spandex jumping up and down singing about heavy, scary stuff.
04:58They were arena ready before they hit the bars.
05:02By 1986, inspired by the heavy grooves of Metallica and Slayer, Pantera shed their hair metal gloss for a more
05:10aggressive approach.
05:11Lead singer Terry Glaze's glam rock style didn't mesh with the band's new sonic philosophy and was fired, replaced by
05:1819-year-old New Orleans native Philip Anselmo.
05:21It was harder.
05:22It was edgier.
05:23It was walking more with swagger, you know?
05:25They knew, and I knew right off the bat, the first time we had ever jammed, I had never played
05:31with a band this tight.
05:34I mean, these guys were stunning, you know?
05:38It was like, my God, you know, this is unbelievable.
05:41He came down and we did a jam session together and it was just like it all fell into place,
05:45you know?
05:46He had the same gig going on that we did at the time.
05:48The spandex, the spiked hair, he fit right in, you know?
05:52Pantera had their new singer.
05:54Now they needed to fine tune their image.
05:56Around the end of 86 or 87, we kind of had a band meeting and we just said, you know
06:01what, these magic clothes don't play music, we do.
06:06Let's just go out there and be comfortable, jeans, t-shirt, whatever, and see where it goes.
06:10By early 89, Pantera's fiery new demos ignited the interest of ATCO Records, which sent A&R scout Mark Ross
06:18to see the band perform at a birthday party in Dallas.
06:21These four guys come on stage and they start spinning their hair, like, oh boy, what are we in for
06:28here?
06:28But then Daryl just launches into one of his riffs and then Phil opens that mouth of his and this
06:34just roar comes out that just is overpowering from the get-go.
06:47But Ross left the gig just 20 minutes into their set.
06:50I think I turned around to Vince and go, he's split. You know, we had everybody come out and see
06:54us at a certain point, we were just like, ****, so we got ripped.
06:57All of a sudden they start throwing birthday cake and we start slamming drinks and diamond racks are sliding around
07:02on the dance floor.
07:03I mean, you couldn't even step on that floor without busting your ass.
07:07As soon as we get done, the dude comes over to me and he goes, man, that was one of
07:10the most incredible live bands I've ever seen in my life.
07:12And I'm like, well, dude, how come you left about 30 songs into it?
07:16I told them that, you know, I went to call my boss and say this was just unbelievable. We got
07:20to sign these guys immediately.
07:23In the winter of 89, Pantera roared into the studio to record their major label debut. Released in July of
07:3090, Cowboys from Hell served as a ferocious sonic blueprint.
07:34You know, it was a whole new animal. Unbelievably powerful, it was undeniable, it was fierce as hell.
07:41I was like, holy ****, you know, like, how did they do that? You know, how'd they go from here
07:48to here?
07:50In the fall of 90, Pantera snagged the opening slot on a national tour alongside suicidal tendencies and exodus.
07:59Though virtually unknown, the Metal Cowboys won over hardcore audiences with relentlessly intense performances.
08:05We called that the kill or be killed tour. And we went out and killed.
08:11That was really extreme metal before people called it extreme metal.
08:15We wanted to terrify people, you know.
08:24Pantera sleet crowds across America and gave their touring RV a thorough beating in the process.
08:31Bucket of bolts, 10 swinging **** on this thing and it'd break down just every other **** night.
08:36The septic tank would fall out and you **** everywhere. So, a lot of fun.
08:40Everywhere we went, we just barely made it from gig to gig.
08:43I actually drove the RV on that tour with Suicidal from Chicago to Minneapolis with no headlights.
08:51And we got no headlights and I'm, like, laying on the floor, like, passing out.
08:54And he's like, oh, a car's coming, so I gotta reach down in there and put the wires back down
08:58to make the headlights work.
09:00And until they go by and they're like, okay. And he's just driving, you know, by the moonlight, you know.
09:05It's like, a car's coming up.
09:07Lights, headlights, okay, okay.
09:09At the end of the six weeks or however long that tour was, every single thing on this motorhome was
09:16broken.
09:17Everything. It was insane.
09:19We went up dropping that thing off in the middle of the night at the RV place we rented it
09:23from.
09:24Popped in the car and we drove off.
09:25Here's your RV bag! Later!
09:30After cowboys from hell, Pantera were poised to reach the heavy metal pantheon.
09:35But the rock-solid band would soon find itself on shaky ground.
09:42Next, Dimebag Daryl's 100-proof prescription for pain relief.
09:46I was like, how you feeling, brother?
09:47He was just like, not too good, brother.
09:51It's like, just to play the guitar, you have to get a couple cocktails in him.
09:55When Behind the Music continues.
10:00By 1991, Pantera had positioned themselves at the sharp tip of metal's cutting edge.
10:12They returned to the studio late that year to record vulgar display of power with one ambitious objective.
10:21To obliterate the boundaries of heavy rock.
10:24We were so possessed, really, and focused on what we wanted to do.
10:35There wasn't anybody out there that could touch us.
10:37We kept getting, you know, heavier and heavier and tighter and tighter.
10:44It was exciting to hear that they took it that far, that they took it that direction, and just went
10:49deeper and darker.
10:53The album's intensity was matched in the mosh pits of Pantera's increasingly brutal stage shows.
11:00I guess not everybody that goes to a rock show or a heavy metal show is going there to get
11:07their nose broken.
11:08You know, a lot of people want to watch.
11:11And I wouldn't allow it.
11:13If I didn't get what I was demanding out of an audience.
11:18I guess I became furious.
11:20I want to see you lose your f***ing mind.
11:22I want to see you catch a f*** there.
11:23Everybody, everybody.
11:25If you're a parent, you totally don't want your kids going to a Pantera show, either because they're going to
11:30come back with a bloody nose and black eyes, or just because they're going to come back so hopped up,
11:37you're not going to want to deal with them.
11:39It's just like, it's just an unstoppable wrecking ball.
11:43It's definitely beyond awesome.
11:47Pantera's power grooves pummeled audiences, but the hard partying band took their best shots backstage, where booze was chugged like
11:54water.
11:55We would joke with people. They would say, how'd you get the opening slot?
11:58And we're like, well, you got to sign a contract that says you will drink with Pantera every night. Otherwise,
12:03you're thrown off the tour.
12:04People are like, really? I'm like, yeah, really.
12:06How's it going, man?
12:08The only band that I've ever known that if you didn't drink, you'd get fired.
12:13They went through unbelievable amounts of liquor backstage.
12:18I had to see the bills, so I was always shocked more than anybody else, I think.
12:21It's like a gigantic toga party at all times, you know what I mean?
12:24If you're having a craft day and you go backstage at a Pantera show, you're going to have a good
12:28time.
12:28And smile, it's Black Tooth Grim.
12:31The band called their favorite cocktail the Black Tooth Grim, a name taken from a lyric to the Megadeth song
12:37Sweating Bullets.
12:43The Black Tooth was the drink of choice, the Crown Splash of Coke, Seagram 7 Splash of Coke.
12:50And there were thousands flowing before and after and during the shows.
12:55We burned many a brain cell together on the Black Tooth Grim.
13:01Black Tooth Grim.
13:03All of Pantera binged on the bottle, but no one guzzled with more gusto than Divebag Daryl.
13:09I was like, how are you feeling, brother?
13:11And he was just like, not too good, brother.
13:16It's just like, just to play the guitar.
13:18You have to get a couple cocktails on them, but I could always get out there and whoop ass, you
13:22know.
13:22Couldn't even say his name, but just get up on stage and just wail on guitar.
13:26The nights that you thought he was going to be absolute shambles on stage were probably some of his most
13:30brilliant performances.
13:33Divebag made sure each killer gig was capped by unique forms of alcohol-soaked amusement.
13:39Don would come up with all kinds of crazy s**t.
13:41We'd be in the middle of bum s**t and he would, he'd come up with some crazy-ass game to
13:45play or, you know, just to break up the monotony and that's the kind of cat he was.
13:49One time we had hung all these, like, Hustler fold-outs and stuff on the wall and he had bought
13:57this thing of green slime.
13:59We'd throw them and if you hit the face or something like that, that wasn't good enough, you know, that's
14:06a shot of whiskey.
14:07If you hit a d**k or something, or if you hit it smack dab on the crotch region of the
14:12young lady in the photo, I think you probably still had to do a shot of whiskey.
14:18We had a little, one of those breathalyzers on the road. Dime brought it in from somewhere and so everybody
14:23would, you know, see how drunk you are.
14:25Oh, dude, you're not nearly drunk enough, you know. Pour him another shot.
14:32By 1994, heavy metal had been declared all but dead in the wake of the grunge revolution.
14:37But Pantera was prepared to strike back with a vengeance and they entered the studio to record their next album,
14:43Far Beyond Driven.
14:44I remember one of the main thoughts going into that record was we have to be heavier than vulgar. This
14:51has to be a heavier record.
14:53And I was thinking to myself, how is that possible? You know, how do we do that?
15:03Each record, we wanted to outdo the next record.
15:07And we just said, we're going to make the most balls out, kick ass record we can make.
15:16Far Beyond Driven was released on March 22, 1994.
15:20Without significant radio or MTV play, it debuted at number one on the Billboard charts.
15:26That was the most abrasive record I could ever imagine. And it went and blew up the charts at number
15:31one and just scared everybody, which was great.
15:33And it was funny because all the magazines you'd read and see and say, overnight sensation Pantera.
15:39You know, we're like, we've been out slaving on the road for four hard years and seven years in the
15:44nightclubs before that.
15:45It was a pretty exciting time.
15:47For metal, to have a band like Pantera come out and enter the charts at number one, it just showed
15:53you that there's no way you can't kill this because there will always be a band that's going to fly
15:58that flag in the face of everything else.
16:00And Pantera was the band in the 90s that did that, that you could actually say saved metal.
16:07But the keepers of heavy metal's incendiary flame were about to get burned by their own lead singer.
16:20On the road promoting Far Beyond Driven in 1995, Philip Anselmo began distancing himself from the band.
16:26He would just start freaking out about stuff and nobody would know why.
16:29One night we were playing the sold out show in Hamburg and he didn't get the reaction that he wanted
16:34out of the crowd.
16:35And he just comes back there and says, f*** y'all, I quit.
16:37You know, obviously he didn't quit.
16:39But this is when things started really going sideways, you know.
16:44I can recall Darryl calling me and saying, look, I don't know what's going on with this dude.
16:49But, you know, and of course, everybody kind of thinks, well, you know, maybe it's the fame thing going to
16:54your head.
16:55Anselmo attributes his erratic behavior to chronic back pain caused by years of violent onstage performances.
17:02It causes isolation.
17:04It causes your entire lifestyle to change.
17:09And at that point, Pantera was gigantic.
17:12And I had a job to do through pharmaceuticals or anything to get me up on that damn stage and
17:23desperately not feel that pain.
17:26I would drink an entire bottle of wild turkey before we went on to just be numb, which of course
17:34was affecting my performances and putting some worry into the band, you know.
17:41But the band's separation anxiety would only deepen as their singer began treading a dangerous narcotic path.
17:49Next, Phillips dance with death.
17:52This nurse leaned over and said to me, welcome back to life.
17:57You overdosed on heroin.
17:59When Behind the Music continues.
18:03It's incredible to play a show like this and for all you people.
18:08By 1995, Pantera was the heaviest metal band in the world.
18:15Propelled by guitarist Dimebag Daryl's frenzied fretwork, the Texas outfit's bone-rattling brand of musical mayhem shook the senses of
18:24millions of delirious fans.
18:28When you buy a Pantera, you're going to get bludgeoned, you know what I mean?
18:33Pantera is about as metal as metal gets, you know.
18:35We were a machine, that's the way we operated.
18:38All the parts fit together, you know.
18:41When we played, when we did something like cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha, I mean, we all hammered
18:45it together.
18:50But on stage, the Pantera machine was showing signs of malfunctioning.
18:54As the crowds grew larger, singer Philip Anselmo became increasingly unpredictable.
19:04He wouldn't treat the fans with any respect.
19:07He wouldn't treat us with any respect.
19:09Just quit making all the stupid boys.
19:12Just you didn't want to be around him.
19:13He was a miserable person, you know.
19:15I could get the ground to crack in half and have everybody dive into it, you know.
19:20Yeah, I could tell people to take off all their clothes and have an orgy on the floor and they
19:26would do it, you know.
19:27Phil had a lot of opinions.
19:29And I would just listen to what he was saying.
19:31And I would say, oh, geez.
19:37Get the lawyers on the phone.
19:40It's going to be a riot.
19:44We're f***ing.
20:02We're f***ing.
20:03And filtration on twelve sumas or whatever he was on.
20:05Laying on his back, screaming in the mic.
20:07You know, it was embarrassing.
20:11He always complained about his back.
20:13We all told him all the time.
20:15Get x-rays, go to the doctor.
20:17Let's get it fixed so he can get on with this.
20:19and they never would they wanted to fuse the discs from the front cut a piece of my hip out
20:27to use the actual bone as the cartilage part and i was like well what's the recovery time on
20:36something like this oh well it's gonna be about a year year and i'm like a year year and a
20:42half
20:42no way man i've got work to do to maintain pantera's frantic pace philip dabbled with more
20:50dangerous solutions for his perpetual pain i was really really turned on to heroin i realized
20:57that it would numb me out so much that the pain was gone
21:05and that's like putting a band-aid over cancer as the drugs dulled philip's pain he continued
21:12to isolate himself from the band during the recording of 1996's the great southern trend
21:17kill philip cut his vocals in new orleans while dime rex and vinnie laid down tracks in texas
21:24he would do his vocals and then i would bring him back to texas after two weeks and they would
21:28hear
21:28him so there's more of a disconnect between uh between the two it was the only way we could
21:33work at that time i was unapproachable my mind was not my own and it was filled with discord if
21:45anything it was just real uncomfortable man it was just what the fun was gone you know the unity
21:51that we once had wasn't there at the time i didn't know anything about heroin i had no clue what
21:58it was
22:00on july 13th 1996 an hour after a triumphant homecoming show at the starplex in dallas texas
22:07philip overdosed on heroin his heart stopped beating for nearly five minutes somebody comes
22:13running around the corner and says phil's out i saw him laying on the ground blue and people
22:17hitting on him and all this and i was like damn dude had heat frustration said no dude he OD'd
22:23on
22:23i'm like heroin you gotta be kidding no way not phil anselmo the paramedics get there and they put him
22:31back on the couch and give him a shot i guess of adrenaline and put the oxygen on him and
22:38pump his
22:39chest and revive him i didn't know what had happened and had all these tubes hooked up to me
22:47and i sat straight up uh and threw up immediately this nurse leaned over and said to me
22:55welcome back to life you overdosed on heroin the following night philip apologized to his bandmates
23:03and crew but pantera would never be the same again i had never felt smaller in my entire life
23:13i begged for their forgiveness and i promised them and i swore to them that this would
23:22never happen again it was definitely a wake-up call for all of us it's like something that's been
23:28obvious in front of your face for years and years and you go aha i thought i could do anything
23:34and
23:34there wasn't a damn thing that could beat me i was wrong i was wrong philip's ongoing struggle
23:46with heroin was slowly tearing pantera apart the dude was on a steamroller to self-destruction i don't
23:52think anybody could have helped him there's a different look in everybody's eye that inch of
23:58doubt that was never there before the lack of trust you know where are you going man when phil
24:06was on he was on daryl would have never taken that away from him or anything but he was very
24:11embarrassed
24:12by him i relapsed maybe two more times and i felt so guilty afterwards i was like why the hell
24:22why why why philip's struggles turned pantera into a powder keg even vivacious guitarist dime bag darryl
24:30began tiptoeing around the volatile vocalist
24:35he would even try to be low-key when walking into a room if phil was there
24:39on purpose like he would kind of shadow his own personality just so it didn't ruffle his feathers
24:46diamond benny walked on eggshells for way too many years waiting on that dude waiting to see what
24:54that dude was gonna do how he was gonna react to a certain situation the shell shock band didn't
25:01return to the recording studio for four years while 2000's reinventing the steel was packed with
25:06pantera's sledgehammer swagger old tensions resurfaced on the road daryl would make an effort to go over
25:13before the show to do a shot with him go check on him after he was pushing away all the
25:20people that
25:20really loved him and cared about him it was uh the same stuff the same song list the same once
25:26again
25:26the communication was so bad that no one would even go to phil and talk about changing the set list
25:33before a tour started in late 2001 the band's tour was abruptly cut short by the tragedy of 9-11
25:40they had no idea they had performed together for the last time
25:47next a shocking murder in columbus ohio it was like a real bad movie
25:54none of it seemed real whatsoever none of it none of it when behind the music continues
26:04after going full throttle for nearly two decades pantera hit the brakes in the fall of 2001
26:14but vocalist philip anselmo wasn't ready to pull back he quickly returned to the road with a side
26:20project called down joined by pantera bassist rex brown the last thing that he told us when we
26:28finished the reinventing the steel tour was like i'm gonna go home and take a year off my back's hurting
26:33i'm done with this for a while a month later he's putting out the down album and recording it he
26:39even
26:39said i'm not trying to tour on it within six months you'll have your new pantera record i mean i
26:43could
26:44sit here and just keep going and going any free time i had i would start something that would turn
26:51into something awesome then he puts out super joint goes out tours for that then he does another down
27:00tour and then another super joint record okay this is not what he told us i mean how long do
27:06we got to
27:07wait around for this thing with philip focused on pet project super joint ritual and down pantera's short
27:14break turned into an extended vacation and for nearly two years the singer remained out of touch
27:20with dime and vinnie you know we couldn't communicate nobody would call us back we got everybody on the
27:34phone here and we need to talk to phil and it would never come to the phone ever it was
27:41always sleeping
27:42in the shower or there's a hurricane coming he's got to board the windows up i mean give me a
27:48break
27:54they weren't calling me i don't care what anybody says and i know that i am just as guilty for
28:04not
28:05communicating with them it was every damn body else's fault as much as mine
28:21it was a bunch of he said she said nonsense that was going on and i didn't get in the
28:26middle of it
28:26a lot of it was nothing but so at a certain point there's no going back you know absolutely none
28:34in 2003
28:36with anselmo awol the abbott brothers reluctantly abandoned the only band they ever knew we were
28:42sitting there rotting away two of the best musicians on the face of the earth that play that kind of
28:46music
28:47were sitting there and having to take it in the face no future no nothing just sitting there wondering
28:53what the is happening you know this is like these two kids who've basically built this family business
29:00from the ground up and then all of a sudden they can't run that business anymore the idle time sent
29:05dime bag daryl into a spiral of depression you know he'd never been off that long and uh that was
29:12probably the worst two years i think of his life he'd call me loaded or whatever i just gotta do
29:17what's
29:17going on he's just like i'm just bummed out man i go well dime look at it this way man
29:21good lord gave
29:22you a gift he put it in your hands man i said you're the best guitar player in the world
29:25i said just get
29:25get out there and just you know get vinnie get some ass kicking musicians with you by late 2003
29:32diamond vinnie formed damage plan releasing their debut album newfound power in early 2004.
29:40it was weird for the fans you know they wanted pantera i mean you've been serving people coca-cola
29:45for 200 years and then all of a sudden you tell them we're changing the flavor and it's now going
29:50to be called diet right you know yet even after the brothers put pantera behind them philip continued
29:59to serve up salvos in the press in the december 2004 issue of metal hammer anselmo was quoted as
30:06wishing violence against the guitarist i remember dime going dude this ain't funny anymore this is not
30:12funny what have i ever done to that guy to deserve this other than stand up on stage and kick
30:17ass for him
30:19the comment about dime bag deserving of beating and whatever the hell we had finished that damn
30:28interview it was a tongue-in-cheek thing that i said and it ended up on the cover of the
30:36damn magazine
30:37i've got the audio tapes from phil in that interview he said what he said word for word in a
30:44very calm
30:45tone of voice and he's got to live with that the rest of his life after he read that article
30:50daryl wrote a letter and said you know you're in competition with someone that's no longer in your
30:54life you know and i think the very last thing that it says in it is uh no longer will
30:59you trample
31:00through my peaceful mind it was for philip you know he was done he wrote him off you know he'd
31:06had
31:06enough of it dime bag had made his peace with the perils of pantera but his contentment would be short
31:13live on december 8 2004 damage plan was wrapping up a two-month club tour at the al rosa villa
31:23in columbus
31:23ohio but the gig would quickly turn tragic
31:3010 seconds into the set 25 year old ex-marine nathan gale stormed the stage brandishing a nine
31:37millimeter pistol i just screamed as loud as i could and bam bam bam
31:44i just remember screaming he's shooting something and then he came off the drum
31:49miser and he's coming at me and he's going he just shot my brother he shot my brother
31:56i went to jump from behind the drums run out and help
32:01and uh john dom's guitar tech tackled me and held me on the ground as soon as i knew he
32:05was pointing
32:06the other way we both ran across the drum riser and got to the other side of the stage
32:11it kept going on and he picked me up and shoved me and said we're on
32:14man
32:189-1-1 emergency
32:20we have a shooting 9-1-1 emergency
32:22no rosa bar please i need help as soon as possible
32:25oh my god 9-1-1
32:26they came in with a gun start shooting people
32:28oh they're still shooting
32:29he's on stage right now he's got to go
32:31the guy's on stage with a gun
32:32my cell phone rang it's vinnie paul
32:35and he goes dude i just saw my brother get shot in the back of the head five times
32:42and uh i go are you kidding vince i go what what are you talking about
32:47people were trying to rush the guy and uh he shot a couple of people to keep him away
32:56the whole time he was looking for vince
32:58after rushing to the aid of the mortally wounded dime bag daryl
33:03drum tech cat brooks tried to subdue the gunman
33:06i went after the dude he said you
33:11cat was fighting with him and he kept telling cat to settle down settle down he wouldn't and uh
33:21just kept shooting me
33:22i just kept telling me stay down stay down
33:28i'm looking out in the audience i'm like dude somebody to help me out here
33:36i thought he's killing my friend right in front of my face you know and i just
33:42just screaming no you know but there's nothing i could do
33:47i can't really see what's going on i'm just you know
33:51i'm like quit shooting quit stop please stop shooting you're killing all my friends stop it
33:59and he goes shut up bitch i looked over my shoulder and i heard the chaos and i look and
34:05there was an
34:05officer coming through through the door and immediately i saw someone laying there that was
34:10bleeding there was a small group of security guards standing there saying he's there he's there
34:15columbus policeman james niggermeyer was the first of eight officers to arrive at the scene
34:20just three minutes after receiving the dispatch call at 10 18 p.m
34:25i motioned for the officer over there and i said yeah you gotta you gotta kill this guy he's gonna
34:30kill more people he's got my friend as i started working across the back of the stage uh he then
34:36moved the gun to the hostage's head and as soon as he put the gun to the hostage's head i
34:40realized
34:40that i had to do something to try to save the hostage and then just all at once he just
34:44took aim
34:45and he just leaned back real slow i watched him click the safety with his finger and when he
34:50took the safety i just plugged my ears and turned my head i stopped and and and pulled the trigger
34:58it was just like a cannon blast all of a sudden the weight was off me and i was like
35:05somebody got
35:07it and it was over it was over just like that i looked up and he was down the cat
35:24was moving
35:25and at that point i ran to the floor where they had dime on the floor
35:49and then he kept calling me and he still didn't know nothing and then when he called me back and
35:57said uh my brother's dead and that's all he could say and we both just cried
36:11it was like a real bad movie none of it seemed real whatsoever none of it none of it and
36:20that was
36:22that man in the end five were dead including dimebag daryl cat brook suffered gunshot wounds to the chest
36:31arm and leg but was released from the hospital within three days of the shooting gale's motive for
36:37killing remains unclear but investigators believe he was despondent over the breakup of pantera
36:51the brutal on stage murder of 38 year old guitarist dimebag daryl abbott in december of 2004 sent shock
36:59waves reverberating among everyone who knew him or were touched by his music
37:13nothing like this has ever happened lenin maybe but lenin wasn't shot and killed on stage i mean dime was
37:21murdered on stage it's just shocking i lost everything that night you know i just feel like
37:30somebody took a hacksaw and cut me right down the middle took my right arm my right leg
37:35and my whole heart i would love it if two minutes from now he walked through that door
37:39i still feel like he's going to he did not deserve this
37:49yet dimebag's memorial service was anything but somber it was the ultimate rock and roll send-off
37:54right down to the kiss casket in which the fallen guitarist was buried there's all these rock stars
38:00coming in it just looks like headbangers ball there's eddie van halen up there talking at the
38:05funeral service he puts his guitar in the casket with daryl it's the guitar off of van halen too you
38:10know the black one with the yellow stripe i mean it's the guitar and all i can think is that
38:14you know
38:15back in the early days when we're teenagers if someone would have said daryl when you die van halen's
38:21gonna put that guitar in the casket with you jerry would have said kill me now john was in his
38:26kiss
38:26coffin and then everyone's putting like bottles of crown in there for him there must have been about
38:31like 15 bottles of crown wall and i go you think this is going to be enough for the trip
38:36upstairs it
38:37was amazing but you know it's like i told rita and my dad you know after all this is over
38:46we're
38:46going to be three of the most lonely people in the world a prodigious roster of hard rock royalty
38:52gathered in arlington texas to remember dime bag daryl abbott but one prominent musician was
38:58conspicuously absent and i'd flown to texas to be there and bury my brother up i sat in a hotel
39:09room for
39:09five days waiting waiting sending message after message to vinnie paul and anybody else who would
39:21even care to hear they stuck the phone in my face and said phil's on the phone and if you
39:28don't take
39:28the phone he's going to show up i got on the phone and i instantly just said why are you
39:34calling now
39:35and of course i started to cry why didn't you return the nine phone calls when daryl called you
39:40i go if you show up here i'll blow your head off myself and i hung up on him and
39:45i wasn't allowed to
39:46go to the funeral in the aftermath of his brother's death vinnie paul abbott has overseen daryl's recorded
39:52legacy and started his own label big vin records i love playing music and i want to do it again
39:58but
39:59right now i want to see what it's like being on the other side of the coin if i come
40:03across the
40:04right situation or the right people then i'll be back philip anselmo who says he kicked heroin in 2002
40:11and underwent back surgery in 2005 continues to focus on myriad musical projects you ready i adore what
40:20i do i live for what i do and i'm still damn doing it yes i've had to have probably
40:28the most major back
40:30surgery in the history of back surgery and you know don't underestimate the kid you're crazy if you
40:38do and i am the kid but to this day the bad blood between philip and the abbott clan continues
40:46to boil
40:47over i want him to live a real long hard life in the shadow of time now because he'll always
40:53be in his
40:54shadow and that was the thing he seemed to fear the most of well karma gets you i guess months
41:00after
41:01dimes murder anselmo said he received a heated message from vinnie paul and the conversation
41:08went something to the effect that my day's coming and my rebuttal is vince
41:17all of our day is coming bro and if my day happens to end earlier than your day does that
41:27change
41:27anything will that change anything or will you lose another brother i'll be honest with you right now
41:35i need vinnie paul real bad i need him in my life and whether he knows it or not he
41:44needs me as well
41:45but the one thing everyone can agree on is the everlasting impact of daryl abbott's music and spirit
41:51he's just up in god's tavern you know making cocktails for everybody hanging out randy rhodes and
41:56john bonham and jimmy hendrix and janice joe everybody daryl lance abbott
42:05in this house will be revered and will be loved and celebrated
42:16forever you know period everybody wanted dom tom now i got to have the most so
42:26i feel fortunate he would take me to his arms dad i love you yes i love that
42:35sorry
42:40that's what i remember the best
42:49underneath all that hard rock and roll exterior
42:53was a little boy
42:58the journey begins i'm ready for maximum good maximum bad and maximum ugly i was pretty excited
43:06can we rock now or what but his ego swell they're going to breathe fire or they're going to get
43:11hurt
43:12as if i keep them home tippers flare what the we're gonna look like a train wreck on top of
43:18a car crash
43:19supergroup premieres this sunday this is our stage we've come to take what's ours
43:24there's no place like celebrity out here
Comments