"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott Benefit Review

Drowning Pool Jason "Gong" Jones CJ Pierce Stevie Benton Mike Luc

"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott Benefit Concert Disturbed Anthrax Drowning Pool Soil 2/23/05 Aragon Ballroom Reviewers: Erika Kristen Watt & Kimisha Pierce Photos: Erika Kristen Watt

Soil AJ Cavalier Shaun Glass Adam Zadel Tim King  Tom Schofield

Anthrax (touring lineup) John Bush Scott Ian Charlie Benante Joey Vera Rob Caggiano

Disturbed David Draiman Dan Donegan Mike Wengren John Moyer

"Brother Draiman and friends rocked our lame collective asses,

once again!"

I hate that we were privileged to see such a lineup for such a horrific circumstance. The pain of loss was great and there was absofuckinglutely nothing you could do about! Yeah, I felt that way after experiencing the love in the room for their fallen comrade. We lost a guitar guru, "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, December 8, 2004. He was viciously murdered by (I refused to type the murderer's horrid name) while Damageplan was on their second tour for their 2004 release of "New Found Power" in a venue in Ohio. Ironically, John Lennon was slain some 20 years prior on the same day. The cosmos is fucked up that way, I know. But I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate Dime's influence to the hard rock/heavy metal community. Disturbed, Anthrax, Drowning Pool, and Soil openly state that Dime/Pantera/Damageplan are reasons as to why they are doing what they are doing today!

Everyone, for the most part, had a great set time. They weren't rushed. You could really enjoy each band's set as well as hearing that two or three tunes that you've been waiting to hear all night. The breakdown of instruments in between bands was at most 10 minutes each time. It probably helped also that a guest announcer (a DJ/friend from Vinnie and Dime's hometown) shared a couple of stories of Dime. His high curly black hair and shiny outfit was much more funny than his commentary!

Soil opened up the night with great vigor. Though they were confined to a small space (with drummer Tom Schofield on a very unsafe riser, visibly not sturdy enough for Tom's heavy bashing) they got the crowd hyped. New vocalist, AJ Cavalier's tall, lanky frame screamed into the mic like he wrote the tunes himself. He truly held his own and just for insurance, ascended off center stage into the crowd three times, getting in the fans' faces to welcome them to sing along in the mic. They performed all the hits such as, "Re.de.fine", "Halo", and a new song called "Jaded".

Drowning Pool was up next. Jason "Gong" Jones is certainly a surly little fellow. His crass demeanor makes up for anything he lacks thus shoving his performance down your throat while you're saying thank you in the process! The frenzied crowd wanted "Bodies" & "Sinner" and they delivered. They seemed to zone out midway before taking on Pantera's "Message In Blood" and "Cowboys from Hell". The crowd was elated as the band perked up; too bad it was over soon after.

Public notice: During the switch between

Drowning Pool and Anthrax

there was a dazzling guitar player whom of which I

contact us here: fourteeng@fourteeng.net

We believe the mystery guitarist has been identified, per members on the Anthrax message board, his name is Nick Bowcott!

I haven't seen Anthrax since…well, since! As soon as I got into the set, it was over! Far too soon for my liking! The uniform for the evening was their black n' grey upside-down pentagrams. Keeping it simple so that the musical shreds speak for itself. John Bush is an awesome singer, taunting the crowd every chance he could. They kept the talking to a minimal so they had enough time to deliver such songs as "Inside Out", "Caught a Mosh" (where I lost my mind), and "Indians" to name a few. Guitarist Scott Ian hailed Dimebag then invited Machine Head's Phil Demmel and Vinnie Paul to join in the festivities just to give the performance an extra "push". Like it wasn't enough for you to handle already. "New Found Power" was performed to close out their set.   

Just when you thought the excitement had escalated enough, down comes a massive movie screen, displaying a video montage of Dimebag having way too much fun! When it ended, the screen retracted to unveil, Disturbed. Each member sported their favorite Dime/Pantera tee in tribute. They opened with Bound; David's peacock-like presence was what the audience wanted. Dare I say this, if you repeat it I'll deny it but…I think I missed watching them perform. Although, I'll take anything I can get whilst we await Disturbed's third effort with new bassist John Moyer in tow. This was my first time seeing Moyer perform and though I sincerely missed Fuzz, I was comforted that Moyer didn't miss a beat. Moyer slightly reminds you of Fuzz in his appearance as well as cockiness (it's all that time being spent with David I'm sure ;). But certainly not where Moyer's playing is concerned! He's a bit more of a raw, harder player. They came out the gate ready to lay us out with a musical assault. However, the comradery isn't there yet they were very tight, performance wise. Their playlist included (but wasn't limited to) "Intoxication", "Stupify", "Down with the Sickness" and dedicated a tune to Dime, "Remember". David eloquently stated that they were there to celebrate Dime's life. He also, very passionately and angrily, voiced his opinion on where that bastard (name omitted) was 'burning in the deepest level of hell' while Dime's dear soul was looking down upon us all, parting with us.

After loosing steam toward the end of their set, they called in reinforcements. When it was declared Pantera's "Walk" was to be performed with Vinnie Paul on drums the crowd went insane! The mayhem continued onto the stage as well. All of the members from the previous bands were on stage with a dozen friends to boot. I think everyone was drunk with power at this point. There was a moment in the show where my heart skipped a beat. No, it wasn't witnessing the entire venue chant the lyrics to Pantera's "Walk". No, it wasn't seeing Danny Donegan, CJ Pierce and one of Slipknot's guitarists playing dulling guitars. But to see Soil's 6 feet 3-inch tall guitarist Adam Zadel leapt from stage right, 8 feet from Aragon's 8-foot stage into the hungry crowd. He belly flopped right on 'em! Barely clearing the crowd's barrier. (Note: I find out later via Adam himself, that his ankles met the barrier and found a beautiful burse for all his sloshed troubles). The faithful followers kept Adam surfing for a while though.  

Disturbed closed with Kiss' "Cold Gin", one of Dimebag's favorite songs (go figure). John and Mike gladly relinquished their instruments to Vinnie and Bob Zilla to perform the tune with Pat Lachman accompanying David on vocals. It was an emotional moment that spoke volumes just by reading Mike Wengren's face. Warm thank you were given from David while the audience chanted "Dimebag!" to close the evening.  

I'm not even a friend. Barely a fan but it truly touched me. My heart bleeds for Vinnie, his friends, and family. Surly, they don't need my pity but I wanted to openly mourn, celebrate, and give my respects to a brilliant guitarist who has given us the most ingenious guitar shredding, EVER. There will be many guitarists who may try to emulate but will NEVER duplicate Dime's genius. Possibly, never coming close to touching his guitar strap. 

Having our hometown boys Soil & Disturbed opening and closing the evening made me so proud to be a Chicagoan. Wherever you are Brother Draiman, many blessings to you & your cohorts for hosting this event and hats off to anyone who volunteered their time for such a great cause.  -- Erika Kristen Watt

I will always be in support, of those who are less fortunate. However, that inclination to help, has special emphasis when members of your own community are in need. The rock/metal community, was dealt an especially hard blow, late last year on Dec. 8^th, when metal guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott was senselessly murdered at a rock venue in Columbus Ohio.

Donations for the Dimebag Darrell Memorial Fund may be sent to:
Dimebag Darrell Memorial Fund
110 SW Thomas
Burleson, TX 76028

Also, another very awesome cause where you can donate on Dimebag's behalf:
VH1 Save The Music Foundation
1515 Broadway, 20th Floor
New York, NY 10036

Related Links:

www.disturbed1.com
www.soil-music.com
www.anthrax.com
www.drowningpool.com
www.damageplan.com

Click here for pix of Dimebag from his final tour "Devastation Across The Nation"

Click here for interview with SOiL's Shaun Glass

All photos Copyright © 2004-2005. Pictures not to be used without written permission by FourteenG