Lars Ulrich Says Pantera “Reunion” is a Good Thing and That “It’ll Be Fun To Have Them Out”
Yet another major metal figure has weighed in on the whole Pantera discussion and this time, it’s someone with a little more skin in the game than most. Metallica drummer and Get Him To The Greek star Lars Ulrich was interviewed by Revolver in anticipation of Metallica’s upcoming M72 World Tour and naturally the question came up about Pantera’s involvement in half of the band’s North American shows.
As you’d expect, Ulrich said he was extremely in favor of the surviving Pantera members Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown taking the stage with Charlie Benante and Zakk Wylde to celebrate the late Vinnie Paul and “Dimebag” Darrell, respectively.
“I think that the idea that they’re out celebrating the music and the magic of Pantera is … I know there’s been a lot of talk in the community about whether people support that or not. But I’m the type of person, if Glenn Hughes wants to go out and play a Deep Purple set, I’d support that.
“I’m always in favor of people following their musical and creative ambitions; so this Pantera reunion, I think, is good. And obviously having Charlie up there is great. I saw a video from one of the Mexico shows that felt like they were in the pocket. It’ll be fun to have them out.”
In the months since it was initially announced that some iteration of Pantera would be making the rounds, metal fans have been up in arms, saying things like “this isn’t Pantera without the Abbott brothers” and “this isn’t a reunion,” while others were just stoked that they got to hear the influential groove metal band’s songs live. To their credit, members of Pantera have gone on record saying their shows were more of a tribute than a reunion.
In the wake of recent show cancellations in Europe thanks to Anselmo’s past racist remarks and gestures, fans wondered whether Metallica was going to keep Pantera on their upcoming tour or if they’d consider dropping the band. As we can probably guess, the bill isn’t changing at all, given their friendship with both the current and former members of Pantera.
“We met the brothers on the Ride The Lightning tour and became friends with them. This was in Dallas in — what — 1622 or something? It was about 400 years ago. We obviously loved both of them, and they had a posse down there, and we would see them whenever we came through Texas. We watched the band evolve over the years from more rock vibes into that creative, unique force that they became. So, we’ve had a relationship with them for decades and decades.”
Metallica will kick off their M72 World Tour on April 27 in Amsterdam. It should be noted that Pantera won’t be on the European dates, but the two metal heavyweights will join forces on August 4 in East Rutherford, New Jersey when the first leg of North American dates kick off.
