Not much else can compare to the atmosphere of a heavy metal show. There’s just something about all of the moshing, crowd surfing and headbanging that’s truly intoxicating. Boldly labeling the trek “the heaviest tour of the summer,” Pantera enlisted the likes of Swedish viking metal icons Amon Amarth and Australian extreme metallers King Parrot as special guests, ensuring the energy levels were high from the very first note.
King Parrot’s set began with a humorous ditty playing over the speakers, Kevin Bloody Wilson’s “Absolute Cunt Of A Day” to be exact, which set the tone, offered comic relief and introduced the band as proud Aussies. Once the group took the stage, bursting into their 2012 track “Bozo,” it was clear the “heaviest tour of the summer” tagline was warranted. King Parrot’s sound is akin to grindcore juggernauts Full Of Hell with a dash of Municipal Waste’s crossover thrash. Frontman Matt Young, much like his fellow vocalists of the night, truly gave his all on gutturals, skillfully maintaining his cadence with impressive breath control and gusto. The closing track, “Fuck You And The Horse You Rode In On,” had the highest crowd interaction with the band humorously encouraging the audience to flip the bird during the chorus so they could “fuck off back to Australia.”
King Parrot Setlist
1. Bozo
2. Disgrace Yourself
3. Target Pig Elite
4. Psychotherapy And Valium
5. Shit On The Liver
6. Hell Comes Your Way
7. Home Is Where The Gutter Is
8. Fuck You And The Horse You Rode In On
Amon Amarth’s set was up next and by then the size of the pit had doubled. The stage was set with inflatable viking figures framing both sides and a large viking helmet acting as a drum riser in the center. The Swedes kicked off their performance with “Guardians Of Asgaard.” The track manages to be both satisfyingly melodic and heavy live as it is on tape with vocalist Johan Hegg proudly leading the charge. If there’s one thing the band is known for besides their killer melodeath riffage, it’s their theatrics. “Shield Wall” saw a pair of shield-wielding vikings take the stage, lifting their shields in time with the chorus. “Deceiver of the Gods” finds the band joined by the titular Loki. Those examples are both entertaining in their own right, but the real fun is in their performance of “Put Your Back Into The Oar,” a fan favorite track which sees the audience sitting on the floor and “rowing” as if on the open seas of Scandinavia. In fact, the crowd broke into rowing a bit prematurely, taking their seats before the opening note even rung out. From there, the band broke into their new song “We Rule The Waves” which saw some sizable circle pit action. “Raise Your Horns” earned a plethora of cheers from the crowd with Hegg raising a horn of his own to toast the audience and thank them for welcoming the band with open arms.
Amon Amarth Setlist
1. Guardians of Asgaard
2. Shield Wall
3. The Pursuit of Vikings
4. Deceiver of the Gods
5. Put Your Back Into the Oar
6. We Rule the Waves
7. The Way of Vikings
8. Raise Your Horns
9. Twilight of the Thunder God
After Amon Amarth left the stage, a black flag was erected with the Pantera logo in red. As soon as it was raised, there was a notable shift in the room, a jolt of anticipation. At around 9pm, a video montage with vintage footage of the late Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul played over the track “Suicide Note, Pt. 1.” It was like a burst of nostalgia coupled with mourning and remembrance, a tribute to the late Abbott brothers who shaped Pantera for what it became. Anthrax’s Charlie Benante and Black Label Society’s Zakk Wylde joined lead vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown to pay tribute to the band’s musical history, kicking off their set with “Suicide Note, Pt. II.” As soon as the quartet took the stage, the entire venue stood at attention and cheered.
Before launching into “Hellbound,” Anselmo took a moment to pay his respects to the talent the metal community had lost: “Everything we do, we do for Dimebag and Vincent. And I don’t know how to put this into words, but the great and the incredible Ozzy fucking Osbourne. And our brother Brent from Mastodon.”
The band clearly runs a tight ship with Brown and Benante skillfully holding down the fort on the rhythm section while Anselmo belted out the lyrics with an impressive amount of stamina and power. And, of course, Wylde’s guitar wizardry was front and center during the blistering solos which felt impassioned and raw. During “Goddamn Electric,” Anselmo showed off his own guitar skills with SetlistFM noting that he played Dimebag’s original Dean From Hell guitar. Their performances of “This Love” and “Cowboys From Hell” were top notch with the audience singing along steadily, at times rivaling Anselmo in volume. In terms of sing-alongs, there was no bigger reaction then to the group’s 1992 classic “Walk” which saw circle pits, headbanging and crowd-surfing galore. The night ended off on “Fucking Hostile,” another fan-favorite from the band’s beloved sixth studio album Vulgar Display of Power. Anselmo and Brown, with the help of Wylde and Benante, are keeping the legacy of Pantera’s musical contributions to the metal world vital, a reminder that legends never truly die, they live on in their recordings and inspire for generations.
Pantera Setlist
Suicide Note Pt. 1 (with vintage video montage)
1. Suicide Note Pt. II
2. Hellbound
3. 5 Minutes Alone
4. Strength Beyond Strength
5. Mouth For War
6. Goddamn Electric
7. Becoming
8. I’m Broken
9. 10’s
10. I’ll Cast A Shadow
11. This Love
12. Cowboys From Hell
Encore
13. A New Level
14. Walk
15. Domination/Hollow
16. Fucking Hostile
Photo credit: Boston Lynn Schulz
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