PANTERA DOMINATED THE KIA FORUM IN LOS ANGELES
Pantera, the metal legends reborn, continued their jaw-dropping reunion/legacy celebration tour with a killer arena show at the iconic Kia Forum in Los Angeles. With support from the Swedish Viking warriors in Amon Amarth, and the Australian grind freaks in King Parrot, Pantera’s current Heaviest Tour of Summer definitely lived up to its namesake. It’s fitting that the great Southern trend killers themselves would bring along some of the finest modern metal acts to prep their legions of fans every night and share the spotlight with emerging artists.
King Parrot’s set was a blur of harsh shadows and high-energy shrieks. The band made the most of their time on the big stage, ripping through their eight-song set with enough ferocity to get most of the heads banging from all the early birds who showed up promptly to secure their spots along the front barricade. Passion respects passion, it would seem. Amon Amarth are no strangers to big arena rock gigs. Over the past twenty-plus years of touring the globe, the metal underground’s mightiest Vikings have garnered millions of fans and amassed a reputation for one of the most epic stage shows since Iron Maiden’s heyday. Tapping into Pantera’s gargantuan, riff-hungry fanbase is the perfect move for Amon Amarth. They let their massive Viking set pieces onstage and pummeling metal anthems like “Guardians of Asgard” and “Shield Wall” do the talking, winning over new fans and appeasing their own “berserkers” amongst the crowd.
Pantera’s iconic logo covered the stage while the intro to “Suicide Note Pt. 1” played over the speakers. A montage of old clips from the band’s popular behind-the-scenes home videos played on the big screens, reminding everyone how essential the Abbott brothers, guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul, were to the band’s legacy and to the fans who loved them. Honoring their memories on stage and ripping the venue’s PA system to shreds in their names, guitarist Zakk Wylde [Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society] and drummer Charlie Benante [Anthrax], joined bassist Rex Brown and vocalist Phil Anselmo in bringing Pantera’s timeless metal bangers to a ravenous crowd packed in like sardines inside the Kia Forum.
Once the intro subsided the band immediately launched into the ultra-punishing “Suicide Note Pt. 2” and Pantera began their 1.5 hour long masterclass in musical domination. The bulk of their set came from 1992’s Vulgar Display of Power and 1994’s Far Beyond Driven. These are the band’s best-selling, platinum albums and feature classics like “Walk” and “I’m Broken.” These are the songs that catapulted Pantera to fame and people would straight up revolt if they didn’t get to scream along to “5 Minutes Alone” or “A New Level,” but one of the coolest aspects of their current tour is the band playing deeper cuts for their long time die-hard fans. “Hellbound” “Goddamn Electric” [w/ Phil shredding lead guitar!] and “I’ll Cast a Shadow” from 2000’s Reinventing the Steel, spiced up the band’s set list in a big way. They’re even playing “10’s” from 1996’s The Great Southern Trendkill for the first time, ever, on this current run.
Zakk’s battle vest was adorned with Dime and Vinnie patches, while Charlie’s bass drum heads featured each brother’s face. Walls of pyro shot up behind the band throughout the night as Rex stalked the stage and Phil pointed the microphone into the crowd and let the audience run wild. Before their recent reunion touring with Metallica, it had been decades since anyone had heard these songs performed live. For many in attendance this was their first Pantera headlining show, ever. The energy inside for the Kia Forum was off the charts. After all these years, Pantera still managed to achieve a new level of prowess, on this the most vulgar display of touring we’ve seen in ages.
