Dimebag Darrell Hoped to Reunite Pantera Before His Death, Says Close Friend
Dimebag Darrell hoped to reunite with Pantera shortly before his death, a close friend to the late guitarist and videographer of the band has revealed. The musician, whose real name was Darrell Lance Abbott, was shot and killed onstage during a performance with his post-Pantera band Damageplan in December 2004.
Daryl "Bobby Tongs" Arnberger remembered the situation to the Landry.audio podcast in an episode from Feb. 18. During the extensive interview, the Pantera associate and video director discussed topics including the group's early glam days and their eventual 2003 split. It was shortly after the band broke up that Dimebag launched Damageplan with his brother and Pantera drummer, Vinnie Paul.
Listen to the podcast down toward the bottom of this post.
Perhaps most intriguing to longtime metalheads is that Arnberger claimed Dimebag was preparing to spearhead a Pantera comeback following Damageplan's late 2004 tour. The videographer recalled a conversation with the guitarist that occurred just one month before his untimely death.
"The last time I saw him was in November of 2004," Arnberger explained. "I went over to his house. I was just talking to him briefly about everything. He was like, 'We're gonna go out and do this [Damageplan] tour through December, and I'll see you for Christmas and everything. After that, we're gonna have some new shit going on. And it's not gonna be this. Whatever it takes, we're gonna get these guys back together and do it right.'"
The videographer added, "He was saying he was gonna do everything he could. He was pretty much done with what they were doing at that point. He wanted to move on and go back to Pantera."
Unfortunately, that reunion was not to be. More recently, former Pantera vocalist Philip Anselmo has been performing some of the band's old songs in concert. In addition, Dimebag's longtime girlfriend, Rita Haney, has voiced her support for a Pantera tribute tour involving surviving members.
Pantera Videographer Bobby Tongs Talks to Landry.audio Podcast - Feb. 18, 2020
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