Zakk Wylde Says He’s Open to Putting Out a Pantera Live Album
A band calling themselves Pantera has been playing together again for two years now, and the inevitable question always seems to arise: will they have the gall to record a new studio album under the Pantera name without the late Abbott brothers? Well, it looks like a studio album isn’t on the horizon, but a live album isn’t entirely out of the question.
In a recent interview with Brazilian music journalist Igor Miranda, current Pantera touring guitarist Zakk Wylde was asked about touring drummer Charlie Benante’s suggestion that the current version of Pantera might release a live album. Wylde didn’t seem to outright confirm the live album, but he certainly seemed open to the possibility. Here’s what Wylde had to say, as transcribed by Blabbermouth:
“Yeah, whatever the fellas wanna do, we knock it out. Let’s be real — it’s a live album every night. People with their phones and everything are recording it anyway, so it doesn’t [matter] to me. You go up there and you play to win every night.”
But as for the possibility of any new songs coming out from the current lineup, that seems unlikely, according to Wylde:
“No, we haven’t sat and talked about, like, ‘Oh, guys, let’s get together and write songs,’ or whatnot; there hasn’t been anything like that. I mean, the only discussions we’ll have is just what other new songs we wanna put in the setlist. Like when we put ‘Floods’ in and then we got together at rehearsals, got together over at Phil’s house, we just rehearsed everything. But no, nothing like… We haven’t been sitting around writing riffs and things like that.”
But as for the ever burning question of whether the current lineup of Pantera is technically a tribute band, well, Wylde seems to think it is:
“Yeah, that’s what I feel it is. It’s not even a tribute. It’s more just a PANTERA celebration. Like whenever we go out and do the ‘Experience Hendrix’ [tours], which I always have a blast when I do that, it’s all of us going out and celebrating Jimi’s greatness. To me, this is [a] PANTERA celebration. We’re celebrating all the mountains that PANTERA conquered. So that’s what this is.”
That’s pretty contrary to what bassist Rex Brown had to say back in March. It seems that not all the members of Pantera are on the same page on that.
Check out the tour dates below to check out the “Pantera celebration”:
Remaining Pantera 2024 Dates:
July 6 – Rock Fest – Barcelona, Spain
Aug. 2 – Gillette Stadium – Foxborough, MA (with Metallica)
Aug. 9 – Soldier Field – Chicago, IL (with Metallica)
Aug. 16 – US Bank Stadium – Minneapolis, MN (with Metallica)
Aug. 23 – Commonweath Stadium – Edmonton, AB (with Metallica)
Aug. 30 – Lumen Field – Seattle, WA (with Metallica)
Oct. 10 – Aftershock Festival – Sacramento, CA
European Pantera Tour Dates
Jan. 21 – Helsinki, Finland – Ice Hall
Jan. 23 – Stockholm, Sweden – Hovet
Jan. 24 – Oslo, Norway – Spektrum
Jan. 26 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Royal Arena
Jan. 28 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS Live
Jan. 31 – Ljubljana, Slovenia – Arena Stožice
Feb. 1 – Ostrava, Czech Republic – Ostravar Aréna
Feb. 3 – Budapest, Hungary – Budapest Arena
Feb. 4 – Kraków, Poland – Tauron Arena
Feb. 6 – Hamburg, Germany – Sporthalle
Feb. 7 – Berlin, Germany – Max-Schmeling-Halle
Feb. 9 – Düsseldorf, Germany – Mitsubishi Electric Halle
Feb. 10 – Brussels, Belgium – Forest National
Feb. 12 – Bologna, Italy – Unipol Arena
Feb. 13 – Zürich, Switzerland – Hallenstadion
Feb. 15 – Paris, France – Adidas Arena
Pantera U.K./Ireland Dates:
Feb. 18 – Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro
Feb. 19 – Leeds, UK @ First Direct Arena
Feb. 21 – Dublin, Ireland @ 3Arena
Feb. 23 – Birmingham, UK @ BP Pulse Live
Feb. 25 – London, UK @ OVO Arena Wembley
