Eulogy
COLUMBUS, Ohio (CNN) -- A 25-year-old man stormed the stage at a heavy-metal rock concert Wednesday night, shooting and killing Pantera founder and Damageplan guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and three others before a police officer shot and killed him, Columbus police said.
I realize that I am writing about this sad and unfortunate incident a few days late. However, I have found the time necessary to collect my thoughts about something so terrible, so shocking. This incident really touched home with me for a variety of reasons.
First, Pantera was one of my favorite bands growing up. I was in high school in the early 90's, during the heyday of the "thrash metal" movement. Pantera was a band that influenced me greatly and contributed to my interest in being a musician. They were a powerful, tight and vicious band that really changed the paradigm for metal at the time. When metal moved from the hair bands of the 80's into the speed metal realm, bands like Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth led the way. However, after a little while these bands started to have an air of pretentiousness around them. They were the "gods" of metal, and on each album they became more complex. Pantera smashed through all of this with visceral, agressive music. They were not graduates of Berklee; they were just some regular kids from Texas. In my opinion, Pantera paved the way for the do-it-yourself spirit in music that became so prevalent in the 90's and manifested itself best in Seattle grunge.
But Pantera, too had its icons. To a guitar player like myself, Dimebag Darrell was an inspiration. He was not classically trained and did not play expensive custom guitars. He was like us: he was a kid who loved music, a guitar player who just wanted to grow up to be like Ace Frehley or Randy Rhodes. Of course, we wanted to grow up to be like Dimebag Darrell. His prowess on the fretboard was matched by very few in the metal realm. But not only was Darrell a certified rock star, he was a man of the people. Darrell always took time out for his fans, even at the apex of Pantera's fame. That's when I met him.
My friend and I had gotten dropped off at San Diego's Starlight Bowl ampitheater about three hours prior to the Pantera concert. We were sitting outside the venue, trying to think of something to occupy the time before the gates opened. Suddenly, a large tour bus pulls up right alongside us. The doors opened, and out runs a spastic dwarf of a man with a video camera. The long curly hair and magenta-dyed goatee confirmed it for us: it was Dimebag Darrell! Darrell had seen a small group of his fans hanging out outside the venue and decided to come talk to us. This was a transcendent moment in the life of a 14-year old metalhead kid. We talked with Darrell about music and life and got autographs. My friend and I even had Darrell autograph our forearms, which we did not wash for several weeks thereafter. I was always impressed that this man spared not a moment in hopping off the bus and meeting his fans. This was at the height of Pantera's popularity; they were in regulalr rotation on MTV and had been nominated for Grammy awards. But Darrell still took the time out to recognize that his young fans made him who he was, and I am sure that he was grateful even until the day of his death.
It is a terrible irony that someone so close to his fans would ultimately have his life taken by one of them. This story shows us the terrible lengths that some people go to when they ascribe deity to a celebrity. It also raises serious issues about safety at concerts. How did the guy get in there with a gun in the first place? But these issues are beside the point for now. Right now I just want to remember an amazing musician who affected many lives during his short life. Our crossing of paths inspired me to follow my dreams, and I know that up to his death Darrell was still chasing his.
I realize that I am writing about this sad and unfortunate incident a few days late. However, I have found the time necessary to collect my thoughts about something so terrible, so shocking. This incident really touched home with me for a variety of reasons.
First, Pantera was one of my favorite bands growing up. I was in high school in the early 90's, during the heyday of the "thrash metal" movement. Pantera was a band that influenced me greatly and contributed to my interest in being a musician. They were a powerful, tight and vicious band that really changed the paradigm for metal at the time. When metal moved from the hair bands of the 80's into the speed metal realm, bands like Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth led the way. However, after a little while these bands started to have an air of pretentiousness around them. They were the "gods" of metal, and on each album they became more complex. Pantera smashed through all of this with visceral, agressive music. They were not graduates of Berklee; they were just some regular kids from Texas. In my opinion, Pantera paved the way for the do-it-yourself spirit in music that became so prevalent in the 90's and manifested itself best in Seattle grunge.
But Pantera, too had its icons. To a guitar player like myself, Dimebag Darrell was an inspiration. He was not classically trained and did not play expensive custom guitars. He was like us: he was a kid who loved music, a guitar player who just wanted to grow up to be like Ace Frehley or Randy Rhodes. Of course, we wanted to grow up to be like Dimebag Darrell. His prowess on the fretboard was matched by very few in the metal realm. But not only was Darrell a certified rock star, he was a man of the people. Darrell always took time out for his fans, even at the apex of Pantera's fame. That's when I met him.
My friend and I had gotten dropped off at San Diego's Starlight Bowl ampitheater about three hours prior to the Pantera concert. We were sitting outside the venue, trying to think of something to occupy the time before the gates opened. Suddenly, a large tour bus pulls up right alongside us. The doors opened, and out runs a spastic dwarf of a man with a video camera. The long curly hair and magenta-dyed goatee confirmed it for us: it was Dimebag Darrell! Darrell had seen a small group of his fans hanging out outside the venue and decided to come talk to us. This was a transcendent moment in the life of a 14-year old metalhead kid. We talked with Darrell about music and life and got autographs. My friend and I even had Darrell autograph our forearms, which we did not wash for several weeks thereafter. I was always impressed that this man spared not a moment in hopping off the bus and meeting his fans. This was at the height of Pantera's popularity; they were in regulalr rotation on MTV and had been nominated for Grammy awards. But Darrell still took the time out to recognize that his young fans made him who he was, and I am sure that he was grateful even until the day of his death.
It is a terrible irony that someone so close to his fans would ultimately have his life taken by one of them. This story shows us the terrible lengths that some people go to when they ascribe deity to a celebrity. It also raises serious issues about safety at concerts. How did the guy get in there with a gun in the first place? But these issues are beside the point for now. Right now I just want to remember an amazing musician who affected many lives during his short life. Our crossing of paths inspired me to follow my dreams, and I know that up to his death Darrell was still chasing his.