Mourn the 12th Anniversary of Dimebag Darrell’s Death with this Previously Unreleased Rehearsal Footage

Dimebag’s Death is like the JFK assassination of metal: everyone remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing when they found out.

I was living in a ramshackle apartment on the outskirts of Ypsilanti, MI, and woke up to the sound of my clamshell cell phone binging with the sound of a text message, a feature I’d barely ever used (it still required the maddening histrionics of T9 typing). It was my drummer, Scott: “dimebag shot and killed last night on stage in columbus.” That was it.

The rest of the day is a blur; I remember going to my job at the booking agency, obsessively checking Blabbermouth for updates, and generally being in a state of shock. That this tragic news came just one month after George W. Bush defeated John Kerry to win his second term — from which we were still reeling, much like we are right now from Trump’s victory — made it even worse.

It’s hard to believe that was 12 years ago. At the same time it feels like a fucking lifetime ago. The world has changed SO much.

Loudwire just posted some previously unseen footage of a Damageplan rehearsal about two months prior to Dime’s death. The band is working through the Pantera track “Becoming” and the footage cuts in right before the guitar solo, with it’s patented whammy pedal chicanery. Enjoy this rare glimpse into the final weeks of Dime’s life, and pour a black tooth grin tonight in his honor if you can.