When Is Pantera Touring?
Pantera Touring: Where Are They Now?
Pantera Tickets was certainly one of the most successful metal bands of the 1990s and is credited with the formation of the groove metal subgenre through such albums as Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven. Nevertheless, the legendary band has not toured since officially disbanding in 2003 after the death of the founding member and guitarist Dimebag Darrell, and therefore people are curious whether Pantera will ever come back together and perform again.
No Pantera Reunion Soon
In recent years, there have been speculations that the current active members of Pantera—Vinnie Paul on drums, Philip Anselmo on vocals, and Rex Brown on bass—would perform in a tour. But unfortunately, that seems far from happening in the near future or maybe at all.
As for the band, Vinnie Paul, who sadly passed away in 2018, always turned down the idea of re-forming Pantera without his brother Dimebag Darrell before his death. Moreover, relations between Philip Anselmo and the Abbott brothers collapsed in the aftermath of Dimebag’s murder, which made a reunion with Vinnie out of the question even if the latter wished to make it happen.
If Anthrax were to reunite, drummer chores would then go to Vinnie’s friend and band member, Charlie Benante. But Benante added that there can be no Pantera tour without the Abbott brothers, stating to the fans: “You need to realize that it is impossible with Vinnie and Dime”. ”
Philip Anselmo Not Opposed to Reunion
Despite the recent trend, the chances of a full-scale reunion tour are not probable, but vocalist Philip Anselmo said he is open to the idea if guitarist Zakk Wylde replaces Dimebag. Anselmo and Wylde are natural partners, as they have already worked together in Anselmo’s side project, Down.
During a 2017 interview, Anselmo stated, “If Zakk Wylde would do it, I’m just saying, just hypothetical, crazy talk... If he would do it, would I do it? I’d consider it. ” But until now, no concrete effort has been made to turn that hypothetical collaboration into reality.
Rex Brown's Stance
Rex Brown, the bassist of Pantera, has recently been touring with his new band Kill Devil Hill, and he has wavered on whether he would participate in a Pantera reunion. There are interviews in which he looks like he is willing to pay tribute to the band again under some conditions, while in other interviews he has flatly refused to do so.
However, Brown stated in a 2020 interview: “If Zakk and I would go out there with Phil and do like a month-long tour billed as a tribute, not to replace what we did with those two brothers and the magic that happened with them...” So it appears that Brown may be down for a short-term tribute tour, but he is not interested in re-forming Pantera and touring as the band once again at the moment.
The Legacy Continues With New Music
Nevertheless, Pantera’s audience grows even today, and the band remains hot even decades after their ‘official’ existence. Brown also notes that the band is still selling thousands of albums per week, which attests to the relevance of the discography they produced.
Also, Brown and Anselmo join to play Pantera songs on occasions when Anselmo’s present band, The Illegals, performs Pantera songs live. Join them and pay homage to guitarist Stephen O'Connor, who replaced Kill Devil Hill guitarist Mark Zavon, who died. While these partial reunions last but a song or two, it do afford fans the pleasure of actually hearing the Pantera members playing together once again.
Whether a Pantera tour occurs now or ever again in the future, the band’s menacing, bone-crushing music and unforgettable songs such as “Walk,” “Cemetery Gates,” “I’m Broken,” and “5 Minutes Alone” will continue to be immortalized in the band’s recorded music. Another generation of musicians accepts Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven, and the Pantera legacy remains alive.
Is Pantera able to get back together and Tour again?
Although certain members have alluded to the possibility in interviews, a full Pantera reunion tour becomes less likely over time. Now that Vinnie Paul is no longer around, the chance of that ever becoming a reality has had the goal posts moved even further away, as it was already a very complex process to begin with. The only known shots of anything resembling Pantera are Brown and Anselmo celebrating their musical history together on brief runs Joining The Illegals on stage may be the closest fans will ever get to seeing any version of Pantera alive again.
However, with bands such as Metallica showing that there is still a market for fans who are interested in paying for tickets to see older generations of heavy music acts, there may come a day when the monetary benefits of promoting a Pantera tribute tour will be enough to do it. It won’t be the complete original formation with all the Abbott brothers, but could still satiate the nostalgia of fans wanting to raise horns in honor of Pantera’s legendary tracks on stage once more. Though one might laugh at such an idea nowadays, people should never say never when it comes to the bands that once were popular, such as Pantera.
