Before a reunited Pantera embark on their North American reunion tour, they will first play a number of dates in the US, Europe and Japan — though that leg of the trek will no longer feature stops at two long-running German festivals.
UPDATE (1/26, 10:42 a.m. ET): Pantera's headlining set at Vienna's Gasometer festival, scheduled for May 31, has now also been cancelled by promoters. "PANTERA concert on the 31st May 2023 at the Vienna Gasometer will be cancelled," reads a (translated) statement from the fest. "All tickets can be returned where they were purchased. Thank you for your understanding."
Although no reason for the cancellation was given, Vienna newspaper Die Presse reports that the local Green Party had called for Pantera to be removed from the Gasometer lineup. "The appearance of Pantera is completely incompatible with this responsibility," reads a translated statement from the publication [via BrooklynVegan].
On Monday (January 22), organizers for Germany's Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals announced that the reunited Pantera — which features vocalist Philip Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring guitarist and drummer Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante — would no longer take part in their 2023 edition following [translated from German] "many intensive discussions with artists, our partners and ... the festival fans."
A look through the festival's Instagram page reveals said discussions concerned Anselmo's past racist, fascist behaviour. In January 2016, the vocalist gave a Nazi salute and screamed the words "white power" to the crowd at the "Dimebash" Dimebag Darrell tribute show in Hollywood, held in memory of his late Pantera bandmate.
After footage of the incident circulated online, Anselmo chalked his actions up to drinking white wine — a claim later disproved by his heavy music peers. In a formal apology shared following continued backlash, Anselmo said, "I'm an individual and I am a thousand percent apologetic to anyone that took offence to what I said, because you should have taken offence to what I said. And I am so sorry. I hope you give me another chance … I love all of you. Anyone who knows me knows that I love all of you. Bless you."
Anselmo's actions also led to his band Down being dropped from the lineup of Dutch festival FortaRock that year. In a respective apology shared via his website, Anselmo wrote, "My biggest obstacle(s) are the over-indulging in the booze and blurting out spiteful, ignorant reductions of the human spirit itself. I will address these issues, head-on."
Rock am Ring and Rock im Park organizers addressed the vocalist's past behaviour in a post dated January 10, featuring a stick figure placing a swastika in the trash. They wrote that through speaking with Pantera and management, [translated] "we have been credibly assured that Phil Anselmo's behaviour in 2016 in no way reflects the band's views and that he sincerely and deeply regrets his actions."
"In all our contracts, artists sign that racism, homophobia and any form of discrimination will not be tolerated in any way at our festivals," the post continues. "In all cases, if our trust is breached, we react immediately. Racism has no place in front of, on or behind the stage. This applies to our artists as well as to fans and employees."
Yesterday (January 24), Foo Fighters announced that they would be occupying the headlining slots at Rock am Ring and Rock im Park in Pantera's place.
UPDATE (1/26, 10:42 a.m. ET): Pantera's headlining set at Vienna's Gasometer festival, scheduled for May 31, has now also been cancelled by promoters. "PANTERA concert on the 31st May 2023 at the Vienna Gasometer will be cancelled," reads a (translated) statement from the fest. "All tickets can be returned where they were purchased. Thank you for your understanding."
Although no reason for the cancellation was given, Vienna newspaper Die Presse reports that the local Green Party had called for Pantera to be removed from the Gasometer lineup. "The appearance of Pantera is completely incompatible with this responsibility," reads a translated statement from the publication [via BrooklynVegan].
On Monday (January 22), organizers for Germany's Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals announced that the reunited Pantera — which features vocalist Philip Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring guitarist and drummer Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante — would no longer take part in their 2023 edition following [translated from German] "many intensive discussions with artists, our partners and ... the festival fans."
A look through the festival's Instagram page reveals said discussions concerned Anselmo's past racist, fascist behaviour. In January 2016, the vocalist gave a Nazi salute and screamed the words "white power" to the crowd at the "Dimebash" Dimebag Darrell tribute show in Hollywood, held in memory of his late Pantera bandmate.
After footage of the incident circulated online, Anselmo chalked his actions up to drinking white wine — a claim later disproved by his heavy music peers. In a formal apology shared following continued backlash, Anselmo said, "I'm an individual and I am a thousand percent apologetic to anyone that took offence to what I said, because you should have taken offence to what I said. And I am so sorry. I hope you give me another chance … I love all of you. Anyone who knows me knows that I love all of you. Bless you."
Anselmo's actions also led to his band Down being dropped from the lineup of Dutch festival FortaRock that year. In a respective apology shared via his website, Anselmo wrote, "My biggest obstacle(s) are the over-indulging in the booze and blurting out spiteful, ignorant reductions of the human spirit itself. I will address these issues, head-on."
Rock am Ring and Rock im Park organizers addressed the vocalist's past behaviour in a post dated January 10, featuring a stick figure placing a swastika in the trash. They wrote that through speaking with Pantera and management, [translated] "we have been credibly assured that Phil Anselmo's behaviour in 2016 in no way reflects the band's views and that he sincerely and deeply regrets his actions."
"In all our contracts, artists sign that racism, homophobia and any form of discrimination will not be tolerated in any way at our festivals," the post continues. "In all cases, if our trust is breached, we react immediately. Racism has no place in front of, on or behind the stage. This applies to our artists as well as to fans and employees."
Yesterday (January 24), Foo Fighters announced that they would be occupying the headlining slots at Rock am Ring and Rock im Park in Pantera's place.
