Drowning Pool Guitarist Says Pantera’s Current Lineup is “Keeping the Music Alive”
Say what you will about the reunion/tribute of Pantera, but there are tons of people out there high on what Phil Anselmo, Rex Brown, Charlie Benante, and Zakk Wylde have been putting up on stage for a long while now. One person that recently made his feelings known about Pantera’s long-running (at this point) show is Drowning Pool guitarist C.J. Pierce.
Pierce’s comments were made public during a recent appearance on Indie Power TV (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). With his own band hailing from Texas, much like most of Pantera was back in the day, Pierce said he was fortunate enough to spend a good amount of time with the late Abbott brothers during their time in the influential band. It was through that lens that Pierce says Pantera’s newest iteration is doing the old version proud.
“Dude, it’s so great, man. Zakk is killing it, man. Charlie’s killing it. People, I guess, in the beginning were giving them flak about it, but, dude, it’s epic. We were all friends. I [spent time] hanging with Dime and Vinnie and Zakk and Charlie. So, they’re not gonna be mad about this. I knew Dime and Vinnie personally. So I’m just telling everybody right here, knowing them personally, I’m not pissed off about the fact that these guys that we’re friends with keeping the legend going.
“[Zakk and Charlie are] never gonna play like that — nobody’s gonna play like the genius, like the Abbott brothers — but the fact of the matter is I’m out there in the crowd after we played with fans my age and with their kids who have never seen Pantera. So to see them see this metal show and the look on their face is amazing. So they’re doing a great thing.”
Having spent so much time with the band back in the day, Pierce said Pantera’s been a long-time influence on Drowning Pool. Now as they continue to tour the world and perform a tribute to Pantera on their own, he said it’s been great to see people introduce a whole new generation of fans to the “Cowboys from Hell.”
“To play with Pantera always, it’s, like, lucky us to do it. I hope we get to do more shows with them. Again, [they are] one of the biggest influences one of the best, man. And we do a tribute — last night we played the Whisky [in Hollywood], man. We threw [in a cover of Pantera’s] ‘Cowboys From Hell’. We keep throwing that in the set, and a hats off to Pantera as well because they’re killing it, man. They’re awesome. Go see ’em if you haven’t seen the show… They’re keeping it going, man. They’re carrying the torch, keeping the music alive. I’m looking forward to hopefully rocking out with our brothers in Pantera again soon. I know they’re doing an awesome tour with Metallica. So lucky them, man. That’s epic, dude.”
Pantera live dates
w/ Child Bite
1/21 Helsinki, Finland Ice Hall
1/23 Stockholm, Sweden Hovet
1/24 Oslo, Norway Spektrum
1/26 Copenhagen, Denmark Royal Arena
1/28 Amsterdam, Netherlands AFAS Live
1/31 Ljubljana, Slovenia Arena Stožice
2/1 Ostrava, Czech Republic Ostravar Aréna
2/3 Budapest, Hungary Budapest Arena
2/4 Kraków, Poland Tauron Arena
2/6 Hamburg, Germany Sporthalle
w/ King Parrot
2/7 Berlin, Germany Max-Schmeling-Halle
2/9 Düsseldorf, Germany Mitsubishi Electric Halle
2/10 Brussels, Belgium Forest National
2/12 Bologna, Italy Unipol Arena
2/13 Zürich, Switzerland Hallenstadion
2/15 Paris, France Adidas Arena
2/18 Glasgow, UK OVO Hydro
2/19 Leeds, UK First Direct Arena
2/21 Dublin, Ireland 3Arena
2/23 Birmingham, UK Resorts World Arena
2/25 London, UK OVO Arena Wembley
