“We’ve all known each other for years” – Zakk Wylde speaks about being on tour with Pantera

Zakk Wylde discussed his current touring activities with a reformed Pantera, which also includes surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass), along with Charlie Benante (Anthrax) on drums, in a recent interview with Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco Bay Area radio station 107.7 The Bone. According to reports, the estates of Pantera’s founders, guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and drummer Vincent “Vinnie Paul” Abbott, have approved the lineup. He was questioned about the prospects for a live album or perhaps new songs, as well as how the Pantera “celebration” tour will proceed over the next few years.

Well, it’s all up to Phillip and Rex. It’s real easy-peasy. We just hang around, and if Rex is just, like, ‘Hey, fellas, let’s just put this in the set,’ or whatever, or Phil’s, like, ‘Yo, let’s try this,’ or whatever, then me and Charlie learn it and then we’ll put it in the set. So, that’s where it’s at. But it’s a great hang, because everybody in the crew and everybody out there, we’ve all known each other for years. Even with the crew people, it’s just, like, whether they’ve been out with Ozzy when I was rolling on the ‘No More Tears’ tour, everybody knows everybody. So, it really is like a huge family vibe out on the thing. It’s a great time, for sure. And seeing so many people taking a trip down memory lane, the Pantera faithful that saw Pantera back when they were playing clubs in front of five people. So you have that, you have the Pantera faithful taking a trip down memory lane, and then you have all the new kids, which is amazing, ’cause Phil, every night, he’s just, like, ‘How many people saw Pantera back in the day?’ And like I said, you have the Pantera faithful, and then when he goes, how many people this is their first time hearing these songs live. It really is mind-blowing, how many young kids, ’cause they never… When the band ended, when the guys took a break, they’d hear about the legend of Pantera, like the legend of Sabbath, and I never got a chance to see [the original] Sabbath, so when they got back together, it was just, like, ‘Wow. Now I can go see him with Ozzy and Bill and Tony and Geezer,’ back when they did Ozzfest. That was a huge, big deal for everybody that never got a chance to see it because you were too young. So, I think it’s a beautiful thing, and keeping Dime and Vinnie’s, what they created with Philip and Rex, this amazing thing. So, I think it’s a great thing. It’s beautiful.

Zakk agreed with Blakk when he said that Pantera seems to be “a fluid thing” and that he is “all on board” with how it develops over the next few years.

Yeah. For 2025, we’re rolling right now. It’s just gonna be all Pantera all year long. So, that’s what’s going on right now. Go over to Europe, then we’ll be back in the States and then we have a bunch of Metallica shows. So, yeah, it’s awesome.