Within minutes, all of the seats in a few nearby rows were ripped out. It was just as well the atmosphere valued rage over thought, since the music and audience were so loud, you couldn’t hear yourself think in the first place. For the past decade, those who feel perpetually aggrieved can rant and rave like lunatics on Twitter. You can even become president by doing this. Back in the ‘90s, however, you’d go see Pantera.
The destruction occurred during their opening song, “A New Level,” at the Great Woods Amphitheater (now the Xfinity Center) in Mansfield, Massachusetts. It was the summer of 1994, and Enigma’s dreamlike “Return to Innocence” had been as ubiquitous as oxygen. Enigma even made an impact on Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul, who considered their music so calming, he’d frequently listen to them while attempting to sleep.
But there was nothing relaxing about Great Woods that night. At around 40 seconds into the show, Paul shifted the tempo from lumbering to lightning, and essentially 1200 people (mainly men) transformed into the Hulk at the same time. Fortunately, the crowd’s fury was only directed at property, not at each other. During “This Love,” Phil Anselmo and everyone shouted the chorus with such wounded spite, we somehow made the word “love” seem violent. Of course, at the time it’s likely that most of us probably hadn’t been in a relationship before, so love was essentially an abstraction. A song performed later that night, “Fucking Hostile,” doubled as an anthem and a default setting.
Paul’s drumming wasn’t just rapid noise that inspired mindless vandalism and screaming. His battering style often sounded like Mike Tyson relentlessly hitting a punching bag, although the difference was Paul made the chaos groove. It’s something he learned from those who inspired him, drummers who could swing such as Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward, ZZ Top’s Frank Beard, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble’s Chris “Whipper” Layton, and Alex Van Halen.
Like many who grew up in the ‘70s, Paul listened to Styx. During the Carter administration, it’s highly probable he practiced to “Come Sail Away,” especially that dynamic Who’s Next section following the ethereal synth interlude, where the guitars and drums suddenly detonate from the speakers. If you ever want to see two people appear simultaneously shocked and moved, there’s the 2012 episode of That Metal Show where Paul tells Styx guitarists Tommy Shaw and James “JY” Young that Styx is one of the all-time great American rock’n’roll bands. From the looks on their faces, it’s as if four decades of critical drubbing were instantly flushed down the toilet. That’s how much respect he commanded.
Ultimately, Kiss and Van Halen were the major touchstones for Paul and his younger brother, guitar genius Dimebag Darrell, as the latter even had a tattoo of Ace Frehley on his chest. The Van Halen brothers had such a profound impact on them, that prior to each show, Dimebag would yell “Van Halen!” to Paul to psych themselves. Those were his last words before he was shot dead on stage by a deranged fan on December 8th, 2004, the 24th anniversary that John Lennon had been shot and killed. Dimebag is buried in a Kiss Kasket (donated by Gene Simmons) with Eddie Van Halen’s yellow and black striped “Bumblebee” Charvel hybrid guitar, the one he poses with on the back cover and inside sleeve of 1979’s Van Halen II. Paul was also buried in a Kiss Kasket, after passing away in his sleep last month.
Even in death, rock’n’roll lifers.
Matt Leinwohl