That's not folklore at all. Dude practically owned the Texas Tornado guitar contest, so they finally had to ban him from competing to give others a chance at the prize. He was that good.
here are what some others in the metal scene have said about DBD: ROB ZOMBIE "I don't know exactly what to write concerning the death of Darrell. This is beyond shocking and horrible. I still can't believe it is true. I got the call from my manager Andy Gould, who, along with Walter O'Brien, used to manage PANTERA and WHITE ZOMBIE. "During the early ninties WHITE ZOMBIE and PANTERA were constant touring partners and I had the pleasure of watching Darrell perform with PANTERA easily over a hundred times. For those of you who never saw him, he was without a doubt the most dynamic guitartist on the face of the planet. He was truly one of a kind. A legend. "Off stage, he was a cool, down-to-earth guy with the most bizarre sense of humor ever, half the time I didn't even understand what the hell he was saying. He spoke a language all his own — Dimespeak. "The last time I saw Darrell was with his brother Vinnie standing in the crowd rocking out at a METALLICA show. I never got a chance to see his new band, but I'm sure he was as amazing as always. "No one can replace a giant talent like Darrell, he will be missed. "My heart goes out to Phil, Rex and especially Vinnie." DAVE MUSTAINE "There is nothing unique or clever to this post, and what I want to say has no doubt already been said throughout the metal community, by countless others whom were more closer to Darrell than me by now. "However, knowing he was murdered tonight, I wish to thank and remember Darrell for his amazing life and the gift that he shared with me and so many other fortunates. "I pray for Darrell's family and friends; specifically for their healing, their peace, and their understanding of this tragedy in this time of need. "I send my deepest heartfelt condolences to the Abbott family, to Darrell's friends, and to the fantastic PANTERA and DAMAGEPLAN fans around the world. "We must never forget his life, and his gifts, his genius, his terrific personallity, and the legacy he left behind to remember him by. "Darrell, I will see you in heaven and I, like so many more, love you brother. LARS ULRICH "This is unbelievable. To sit here and talk about Darrell in the past tense seems so wrong, so unfair, so unjust, I don't even know what to say. My heart goes out to Vinnie, to their families, to the other band members, and to the families and friends of the other people that were killed or injured, in this ****ing senseless act of selfishness and stupidity. "In 1985 I was fortunate enough to meet both Darrell and his brother in Dallas on tour. The first thing me and my friend did as soon as that tour was over, was to head straight back to Dallas and hang out with Darrell and Vinnie for a long time, cuz they were the coolest muther****ers that we had met after criss-crossing the states for three months. That was the beginning of a friendship that was anchored in love, respect, fun, outrageousness, music, booze, sweat, late nights, early mornings, hangovers, headaches, pounding eardrums, sore bodies... the list goes on. "There's a tendency in these ****ed up moments to use the word 'I' a lot and focus on one's own feelings of pity and shock... so instead let it just be known that thru these eyes Darrell was incredibly warm, open, fun, nutty, forthcoming, talented, embracing, unpretentious, accommodating and he always had a very attractive innocence about him that obviously made him never threatening and always welcoming. "Darrell and his brother were the cornerstone of musical adventures that were always groundbreaking, pushing boundaries, challenging to themselves and to their fans, respected by their peers and always true musicians' musicians, and today the rock world is worse off because of this untimely and senseless waste. "Much love and respect and thanks for letting me be a small part of your life and I know you are already having fun and throwing it down with Bon Scott, Keith Moon, John Bonham, Jimi, Cliff B., and the rest of the musicians and troublemakers that you are hanging with so prematurely." WES BORLAND "We were playing a show in Texas a few years ago and I saw this sweaty, super long-haired, big-bearded, Dimebag Darrell-looking guy come over the barricade right in front of me. 'Holy crap,' I thought, "That IS Dimebag Darrell!!!' I had only met him once before, but I had grown up on PANTERA and was a little star-struck by his presence. He was smiling and looking up at me and jamming out to whatever song we were playing at the moment. The security in the barricade were getting ready to shoo him out from in front of the stage with everyone else, but I stopped them from ushering him out and I stopped playing guitar and I shook his hand. He hung out right in front of me for about four more songs. I couldn't believe it. He was a hero to so many of us. I'm glad I got to have that moment with him. I'll never forget it." OZZY OSBOURNE "Dimebag was a dear friend of mine. I'm absolutely beside myself with grief. I can't for the life of me understand why someone would do this. PANTERA toured with me many, many times. I'll always remember the signed guitar that he gave me at my 50th birthday party. My heart goes out to Dime's family, his fans and the other innocent victims who were killed in this senseless tragedy. It's just terribly, terribly sad." JONATHAN DAVIS "Darrell and PANTERA were one of the main reasons I joined a metal band. This is a tragic loss for the music community and to all who knew him. KORN is truly shaken and we want to send our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased." you can read more at http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/index.aspx?PageNum=1
That was the thing about Dimebag. Every single musician in metal seemed to have their own "Dime and Vinnie" story. Most of them involved insane amounts of alcohol and debauchery at the brothers' strip club, the Clubhouse in Dallas. The place was a real mecca for the scene and a Dallas rock 'n roll landmark. Everyone from Nickelback to Napalm Death was welcomed there with open arms and cold beer. I remember a story told by Sevendust on the new Headbanger's Ball about a year ago. The band talked about how they met up with the brothers when their tour swung through Dallas and that so much fun was had, Dime and Vinnie just hopped on their own tour bus and just started following Sevendust around the country. After about a week or so, the band finally begged them, "Please... we love you... but we can't party nearly this hard every night. We're going to die." That kind of thing was common. The fact that Dime was never sober and was able to not only function but absolutely DESTROY on the guitar is a rare trait indeed. He's a paradoxical legend of the caliber of Keith Moon, John Bonham, Bon Scott and Lemmy. Like Lemmy, I figured Dime just couldn't be killed, of that if he was, it would be by some legendary misadventure. What a senseless way to go. Still, it's fitting that Dime died with a guitar in his hands, shredding for all he was worth.
I remember when a friend of mine slipped on one of the Pantera albums and I was blown away by Dime's (I remember at the time saying "what kind of name is that for a guitarist?") playing. His style was a crazy quilt of influences, but was as pure Texas as it gets. I was shocked to read this on the AP wire, but I'm even more amazed that a "fan" smuggled in a weapon to a show. No security patdowns? Every show I've ever been to they do pat-downs at the gate. It's sad that a worthless, pencil-dick, brain-dead, drag on the oxygen supply psycho had to take from the world a man by all accounts was not only supremely talented, but a hell of a nice guy as well.
The large venues that Pantera used to play typically always have pat-downs at the entrance. They're usually looking for hidden alcohol as much as they are for weapons; those places make a lot of cash from their overpriced liquor sales. Places like the Pavilion or Verizon theater in Houston always do the pat-downs. However, Damageplan was basically a fresh start for Dime and Vinnie and they played to much smaller places that held a few hundred rather than thousands. These clubs often don't even check ID, let alone pat anyone down. Fans could easity smuggle weapons into joints like the Engine Room or Fitz in Houston, for example. It's a moot point, though, because according to reports, this fan didn't even buy a ticket to the show. He waited outside the venue 'til Damageplan went on, then hopped a fence and ran past security in a side door before jumping onstage and shooting. If your security can't even keep fans without tickets out, your security sucks.
Exactly. Jeez, if they couldn't even keep psychos from fence-jumping, it says nothing about disallowing folks from being weapons into the venue. Pathetic.
These smaller venues aren't the safest for the artist or the crowd. My last visit to Engine Room ended with a bottle to the face, and the guitarist being pulled down on stage by a few drunk idiots. Needless to say they got the crap kicked out of them and thrown out. I still have a nice little scar from that bottle being flung at my head. Watching a live band in a small venue is every true rock fans dream, but something has got to change. It always takes one bad apple to ruin it for everyone else.
Seems crazy to think it has been this long. To this day I don't think there is any one who is better or has been better at constructing awesome, slow head bang riffs. Still thrash to some Pantera on occasion.
Whatever happened to the scumbag who did this? Hopefully, he got his in prison and is no longer living. Or, did he die after he killed Dimebag? I forget. Edit: Yea...he died during his rampage. POS
RIP <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/50XKP_69boE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Not a Pantera fan but this was complete BS. But going out on stage... talk about going out in a blaze of glory.
