Former
PANTERA and current
DOWN singer
Philip Anselmo spoke to
Artisan News about what is has been like joining
Revolver Golden Gods tourmates
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY on stage at the last couple of shows to perform the
PANTERA classic
"I'm Broken" as an encore.
"It's like a special-occasion type of thing, you know?!"
Anselmo said.
"Being in throat for
DOWN is a whole different thing than
PANTERA, so it's, like…. Ahhhh….
"I wish I could do it every night, but… I can't. Alright, alright, alright… I would have to go to bed real early… I'm not doing myself any favors either chain smoking, so…
"[
Zakk and I have] been talking about it. We talked about it a few weeks before the tour. He's, like, '
Phil, which one you wanna do, bro?' And I'm, like, 'I'll let you decide there,
Zachary.' But I heard them soundchecking, and I knew what they were working on, and it was a pleasure jumping up there.
"
Zakk, if he ain't one of the damn nicest motherfuckers in this rock and roll business, I don't know who is."
During a September 2013 interview with
Artisan News,
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY mainman
Zakk Wylde was asked about the possibility of a hypothetical
PANTERA reunion with him filling in for the late
"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott on guitar. "It'd be up to [former
PANTERA members]
Vinnie [
Paul Abbott, drums],
Phil and
Rex [
Brown, bass] — they're the guys that make everything happen," he said. "So if they were all gonna do it and honor
Dimebag and [if they said to me], '
Zakk, would you wanna honor
Dime and do
Dime's parts?' Of course, I was a pallbearer for him — I laid him to rest — so, of course, I'd say, it would be a beautiful way to honor him and stuff like that. And to celebrate all things
PANTERA and what they achieved. 'Cause they changed the game, as far as extreme metal goes. I mean, they're the kings of it. But it's up to the fellows. Then it would just be me woodsheddin' 25-8, learning all of
Dime's parts, you know what I mean?! Yeah, but like I said, as far as I'm concerned, it would just be honoring
Dime. Like with the
Yankees, you honor… everybody's wearing
Thurman Munson's '15' for that day, just because we're honoring
Thurman's greatness. So it's the same thing, man."
Asked about the likelihood of a
PANTERA "reunion" with
Wylde filling in for
Dimebag,
Vinnie Paul told the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas radio station
97.1 The Eagle Rocks in March 2012: "I spent two hours with
Zakk, sitting down — a really great talk about… [
Zakk] calls [
Dimebag] 'the old man.' I mean, [
Zakk] and my brother were so tight. If [a
PANTERA reformation] ever were to happen, [
Zakk] would be the guy [to step in for
Dimebag]. But I honestly think, out of respect for my brother, we should just leave the 14 amazing years
PANTERA had be. We're all happy doing our own thing. We have to continue living and do other things."
Dimebag's longtime girlfriend
Rita Haney in 2011 called on
Vinnie and
Anselmo to settle their differences in honor of
Dimebag, who was shot and killed by a crazed gunman while performing with
DAMAGEPLAN at a Columbus, Ohio rock club in December 2004.
Vinnie, who is
Dimebag's brother, and
Anselmo have not spoken since
PANTERA split in 2003. But the relationship got even more acrimonious when
Vinnie indirectly blamed
Philip for
Dimebag's death, suggesting that some remarks the vocalist had made about
Dimebag in print just weeks earlier might have incited
Dimebag's killer.
Speaking to
Fuse News,
Anselmo said about the possibility of a
PANTERA reunion with
Wylde filling in for
Dimebag: "For me, really, I think it would mean a lot for
Rex and
Vince and myself to sit down and, I guess, bury the hatchet where we can be on more friendly terms. And, you know, I think it would mean a lot to the fans."
He added: "Without
Vince, there's not any
PANTERA reunion at all; it's useless. But he damn well knows my door's wide open. He needs to bust out the keys and unlock his, man. I'm waiting, but I'm not holding my breath."
"I'm Broken" performance featuring
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and
Philip Anselmo - May 10 at Best Buy Theater in New York City:
Read more at
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/philip-anselmo-it-was-a-pleasure-performing-im-broken-with-black-label-society/#hHyohVWQCuLs9m88.99
