RIP Dimebag Darrell... sad day for power metal fans

[Invictus]

It seems that 2 members of Damageplan, one of which was legendary ex-Pantera singer Dimebag Darrell, were killed in a nightclub shooting.

http://www.nbc4i.com/news/3983630/detail.html

This is a sad day for those of us who practically grew up on Pantera. Darrell's voice was one of the loudest and BEST in metal.

RIP....

[Jason Wakelin]

Wow, that's really sad news. Cowboys from Hell was one of the more influential albums of my teenage years.

Rest in Peace Darrell.

[BoAddict]

hey ken i thought that phil was the singer of pantera

but regardless its still a sad day for metal fans around the world

mike

[Invictus]

GAH... that's right. Dimebag was the guitarist. Some fan I am eh? The worst part is, I've been making that mistake for the longest time.

Like you said though... sad day.

[crucified]

RIP Vinnie Paul as well...
Darrell's brother.. and drummer of pantera/damage plan..
he was the other one killed..
:(

[Oni5000]

That sucks. A sad day for metal for sure...pantera was one of my favourites...

[CanadianJackson]

Damn I'd like to get "5 minutes alone" with the F***ER who did that.

[joey]

The nutso who did this was killed by a police officer. It happened kinda close to where I'm living now. People are c r a z e e, man.

[Tim_Cranwill]

Not a fan of the music but that is a pretty sick story. :( What a nut... and right before christmas too.... :(

[Invictus]

Crucified - From what I understand, Vinnie is in critical condition, but only Darrell was killed. We'll see how he holds out.

[Gex]

One of the greatest metal musicians of my generation... this sucks.

NP:Cemetary Gates

[clint545]

The last time I saw Pantera play was about 10 years ago at the Maple Leaf Gardens, with Biohazard and Sepultura.
After the show we didn't feel like going home yet so we wandered outside the Gardens hoping to meet some of the bands.
It ended up about a doz. of us fans hanging outside the tour buses. Most of the guys would stop and just do a couple autographs and then jump on the buses to where the partying and women were.
dimebag did the same, but about 5 mins later he came back off the bus with beer for everyone and a 26er of JD:)
He hung out with all of us for a good 2 hours, just telling stories and shooting the s#@t. some one asked why he was bothering drinking with us when he could be partying on the bus with his buds and some women. He replied that he did that every night and that it wasn't too often that he got a chance just to hang out with fans and relax.
For such a "tough guy" image and music he turned out to be a very down to earth good old boy.

R.I.P. Dimebag

[snakehunter]

WOW. I am too young to have grown up with pantera, but I am familiar with them enough to respect them for their contribution, they are living legend in the metal community, It is a sad day indeed. Metal will never be the same.

[Asian Jon]

Darrell, one of the greatest guitarists that has ever lived. He sure contributed a lot to his passion and I myself have learned a lot from him. Rest in Peace Dimebag Darrell.

[Siretsap]

I still do not know how politicians can allow for people to have guns all the time after all these shootings. There was an other one about 2 weeks ago about hunters who got in a fight and opened fire...

Sad to see so many people die from mind puzzled people who are allowed to have guns.

[Invictus]

I agree, Siretsap. I was infuriated when they wouldn't let me into the Slayer concert because I had chains on my boots, and full finger rings. I was FUMING. But looking back on it, I can kind of understand it... I mean, how did this guy get in there with a GUN?!?! Something like that would never happen here. I will NEVER again be infuriated when they search me at a metal concert. At least I know the band members will be going home alive.

[Kyle Walkinshaw]

I cannot believe this happened!! This is the worst day in metal history!! RIP Dimebag.. :(

[ohh_kristina]

sad, sad day indeed. Apparently the holidays bring out the worst in people. In my area (central Florida), there have been numerous strong armed robberies with injuries and murders. What is wrong with people?

[jim mcallister]

Unbelievable!! Vulgar display of power is still one of my fav. albums of all time. (pantera). Damageplan opened up for slayer here awhile back and dimebag put on a hell of a show. This is terrible......he will be remembered as a great heavy guitarist.

[Siretsap]

On December 6th 1989, a man walked into a University in my area (Montreal) and shot and killed 14 women before taking his life. 14 women who were studying to have a good life, have a nice future filled with goals and potential... taken away by a man on a rampage who just couln't deal with his problem, had to take out 14 people with him...

[joey]

U.S. National - AP
AP
Five Killed in Shooting Rampage at Club

6 minutes ago

Add to My Yahoo! U.S. National - AP

By CARRIE SPENCER, Associated Press Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio - It looked like something out of a macabre heavy-metal video: The lights dimmed in the smoke-filled nightclub, the rock band Damageplan launched into its first thunderous riffs, and then a man in a hooded sweatshirt ran the length of the stage and opened fire, shooting the lead guitarist at least five times in the head.

Photo
AP Photo

AFP Photo
AFP
Slideshow Slideshow: Former Pantera Guitarist Killed on Stage

AP Video Former Pantera Guitarist Killed on Stage
(AP Video)


In just minutes, the gunman had killed three others with his silver pistol before being shot to death by a police officer.

The rampage Wednesday night stunned the heavy metal world and left police searching for answers about what set the gunman off.

The slain guitarist, "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, 38, was a driving force behind the rock band Pantera, and police are looking into reports from witnesses that the gunman was a fan irate that the hugely influential group broke up.

Some of the 500 people packed into the club to see Abbott's new band initially thought that the gunman was an excited fan or that the shootings were part of the show.

"I figured it was another fan wanting to jump off the stage and crowd surf," said Brian Kozicki, the club's lighting designer. "I think he knew he wasn't going to get out and he was going to take down as many people as he could."

Police identified the gunman as Nathan Gale, 25, who listened to Pantera music to psyche himself up before football games and would often hang out at a tattoo parlor and make a pest of himself by talking to customers about music, the manager of the tattoo shop said.

"We may never know a motive for this, unless he left a note," Sgt. Brent Mull said.

A tattoo artist at the studio, Bo Toler, said Gale was there before the show and asked about having the studio order tattoo equipment for him. Toler told him no, and Gale got angry and started yelling.

"Last night was actually the first time I noticed his temper," Toler said. "After the argument we had he kind of walked out with an attitude. He didn't even say goodbye."

Also killed in the shootings were Erin Halk, 29, a club employee who loaded band equipment; fan Nathan Bray, 23; and Jeff Thompson, 40, who was a bodyguard for the band.

Two others were hospitalized. The nature of their injuries was not disclosed.

The guitarist's brother, Vinnie Paul Abbott, the drummer for Damageplan, was rushed to safety offstage and tearfully tried to learn his brother's fate from officers who couldn't even tell him which hospital he was taken to.

With his frenetic, ear-splitting guitar riffs, Dimebag Abbott created an aggressive sound for Pantera and attracted a cult following in the early 1990s. The band was nominated for Grammys (news - web sites) in 1995 and 2001. The Abbott brothers left Pantera last year and released Damageplan's debut album, "New Found Power," in February.

"I'm absolutely beside myself with grief. I can't for the life of me understand why someone would do this," said heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne, who often toured with Pantera.

Lines were deep Wednesday night at the Alrosa Villa club — a popular venue for heavy metal for 30 years — to buy T-shirts for Damageplan.

As the lights dimmed, club security was trying to catch up to a man in a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey jersey over his sweatshirt, who some witness said was seen jumping the 8-foot wooden fence to enter the club. Others said he must have come from an open door behind the stage. The club has no metal detectors and employs unarmed security guards.



The tall, heavyset man eventually climbed onstage, as many Alrosa headbangers do.

"At first we thought it was a hoax, and then when he fired again we knew it was real," said Jeremy Spencer, 16.

Kozicki, the lighting director, brought up the house lights and ducked under his control table, where he called 911 on his cell phone. Several calls followed, with one male caller saying: "He's on stage right now. He's got a gun. ... He just shot again." Fans surged toward the doors in fear.

Kozicki peeked from his table to see the gunman holding a man in a headlock. Police said the gunman appeared ready to shoot the hostage, who managed to duck just enough for Officer James D. Niggemeyer to take aim and kill Gale with his shotgun.

All day Thursday, fans left flowers and containers of beer by a boulder at the parking lot entrance, including a six-pack of Heineken with a marijuana bud tucked into the cardboard case.

Gale, who was an offensive lineman on a semi-pro football team, had a minor police record in Marysville, near Columbus.

At the Bears Den Tattoo Studio in Marysville, Gale made people feel uncomfortable by staring at them and forcing them into a conversation, manager Lucas Bender said.

"He comes in here and likes to hang out when he's not wanted," Bender said. "The most pointless conversations."

The shootings came on the 24th anniversary of perhaps the most well-known assassination of a rock star — that of former Beatle John Lennon outside his New York City apartment in 1980.

___

Associated Press writers John Seewer in Toledo, Andy Resnik in Marysville, Anita Chang in Columbus, Chelsea Carter in New York and Lisa Falkenberg in Dallas contributed to this report.

___ Here's a bit more info....

:(

[Invictus]

I'm REALLY feeling sick to my stomach now.....

[TheRedDragon]

I'm really distressed about this... and angry... I just found out today about it. Dimebag Darrell will be missed dearly. R.I.P. :(

[clint545]

It's so sad that some people get so jaded with celebrities and musicians, that they do sick s@#t like this. I can't fathom the mind frame.

[JdmAllMotorHatc]

very sad....radio station here did a tribute for like an hour for him, it was great :)

[joey]

Entertainment - AP Music


Shooting Suspect Obsessed With Pantera

54 minutes ago Entertainment - AP Music


By ANITA CHANG, Associated Press Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The man who shot former Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and three other men to death at a nightclub was obsessed with the popular heavy metal band and made bizarre accusations against it, a onetime friend said in reports published Friday.

Jeramie Brey said gunman Nathan Gale once showed up at a friend's house saying he wanted to share songs he had written. The pages of lyrics were copied from Pantera, but Gale claimed he had written them, Brey said.


"He was off his rocker," Brey told The Columbus Dispatch. "He said they were his songs, that Pantera stole them from him and that he was going to sue them."


He later told Brey that he planned to sue Pantera for stealing his identity. Brey and friend Dave Johnson said Gale's behavior frightened them and they distanced themselves from him several years ago. But other friends said they never considered Gale capable of violence.

[zero&stich]

In all respect, I have not listened to the bands music. However in my old high school, I recall Pantera was a very popular band in my era, along with NiN, Slayer and Metalica. So I often heard the music blaring loud through the headphones. I recall all the good things I heard about the band and how they said to me their music was the heart and soul of the old school metal.

Noone deserves to have their life taken. Not like that. Not when a person is in their prime.

People always say how history often repeats itself. This has happaned before. Lennon passed away in his prime to. The greatest Beatle ever! Let's hope there won't be a strike three and people will learn from a repeated mistake from the past.


RIP :w

[Odessa78]

I had a friend call me when he heard, as he knew i was a huge fan of theirs. Dimebag will be greatly missed. Pantera's music was a huge infulence in my life. It's just so sad to loose someone so influential in the industry. RIP Dimebag you will be greatly missed. :(

Laura-Lee L