From The Vault - PANTERA Part 1

My first encounter with Pantera wasn't a good one. I was browsing my favorite metal record store in Iowa back around 1987 or 1988 and came across a used copy of the first Pantera album, Metal Magic. If you've even seen the large format vinyl LP version of the cover, the horrendous artwork is hard to erase from your mind. This was the pre-Phil days of Pantera when Dimebag Darrell was Diamond Darrell, and Rex Brown was Rexx Rocker. Of course, the band was virtually unknown outside of Texas at that time, and I thought it might be a solo album from the female backup for Thor! The shop owner threw it on the turntable to give me a listen. It sucked, so I didn't plunk down the $5 for it. This has come to be one of my biggest record-buying regrets, haha.

Pantera bassist Rex Brown is bringing his newest band Kill Devil Hill to Skyway Theater Studio B in Minneapolis on Tuesday, November 19, so I thought it'd be fun to pull out some Pantera material from my archives. I'm guessing I saw Pantera close to 10 times, the first when they were opening for Skid Row soon after the release of Vulgar Display Of Power. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to see them on the Suicidal Tendencies/Exodus and Prong/Mind Over Four tours for Cowboys From Hell.

Here are pictures from Pantera performing at the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion in Devore, California as part of Ozzfest on September 2, 2000. This was one of the weakest Ozzfest lineups, and Pantera was undoubtedly the best band there. The band tore it up in characteristic fashion and left no doubt that they were still at the top of their game. I'll have additional posts with some other live pictures and memorabilia. There's 17 photos in this set, which you can view in the slideshow below.

From The Vault - COAL CHAMBER

Following an absence of nearly ten years, Coal Chamber has reformed with new bassist Chela Rhea Harper and is out now on a co-headlining run with long-time tour mates Sevendust that brings them to Minneapolis on Monday, April 8. Vocalist Dez Fafara is now splitting his time with DevilDriver, who are due to release their sixth album later this year. This post features a lot of pictures and promotional materials from Coal Chamber during their original run from 1996–2000 with bassist Rayna Foss during the period of their first two albums, Coal Chamber and Chamber Music.

Coal Chamber performing April 19, 2000 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. Click on any of the live pictures to see more photos of Coal Chamber from this show (21).

Promotional picture of Coal Chamber from 1996.

My first time seeing Coal Chamber was on June 10, 1997 at Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri (outside St. Louis) when they performed on the second stage on the first Ozzfest tour. After their short, explosive set the band came out to mingle with the crowd at the front of the stage where I got this postcard signed by everyone.

The band did extensively touring in 1997 and 1998 that brought them to Kansas City or Lawrence many times, including this one in Olathe, Kansas on February 12, 1998. I remember them playing Liberty Hall and the Granada Theater in Lawrence, Kansas, one of them I believe was with Machine Head, but I can't find the ticket stubs for these. I've previously written about the time Sevendust played a last-minute headline show at The Bottleneck in Lawrence on July 19, 1997 after Coal Chamber and Powerman 5000 were forced to cancel.

1999 promotional picture for Chamber Music.

By the time Coal Chamber released their second album, Chamber Music, in 1999 they were under the management of Sharon Osbourne and expectations were sky high. The album was a bit of a let down and didn't fulfill the promise of the previous album. Once again they put in a heavy touring schedule that had them doing some big shows. Let's face it - not many bands would be willing to take Slipknot out on the road as a support band after seeing how they stole the show and upstaged everyone on the 1999 Ozzfest tour, but Coal Chamber bravely did. Here's two ads from that tour in late 1999, the first took place in San Bernardino, California (I didn't go to this one), and the second at The Palace in Hollywood. I was at the Hollywood show, and this one sold out quick. Slipknot stole the show, as expected, but Coal Chamber still put on a great show even if Slipknot had sucked all the energy from the crowd.

My last time seeing Coal Chamber during this period was at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on April 19, 2000 during a co-headlining run with Type O Negative. This was one of the best shows I've seen from both bands.

More live shots of Coal Chamber on April 19, 2000 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. Click on any of the live pictures to see more photos of Coal Chamber from this show (21).

Coal Chamber performs Monday, April 8 as co-headliner with Sevendust at Mill City Nights in Minneapolis with support from Lacuna Coil and Candlelight Red.