My favourite metal band in the whole world, Pantera.

I had a Dimebag poster situated above my bed in every one of the 4 bedrooms I had the ‘pleasure’ of decorating in high school. It traveled with me to my first sharehouse bedroom at 18, when neither my cat nor my car did…It was one of the only possessions of my childhood that followed me to adulthood. (My cat followed six months later). 

The rain had come down on us all day. My hands were prunes, my hair was appalling, and worst of all: My gear was fucking up. Frozen stuck on the pre-nightfall settings I was using, my screen & shutter were not reacting and the batteries were next on the weather’s hit list. I was still suspended in much disbelief that I was standing in a photo pit for Pantera…I accepted my cameras weren’t working and that there wasn’t anything I could do except do my best. Working under the conditions we were in, nothing could truly ruin the fact I was about to hear riffs that brought the love for metal into my life, and ones I’d never thought I would actually hear in real life.

Aside from Black Sabbath and shortly after, Death - my one true metal love is Pantera. They were the pinnacle band for me after my life-altering discovery of Hayley Williams in 2008. They informed so many areas of my life, my taste, my personality…(They also reaffirmed other things in my teenage girl mind, that Peter Steele would later dominate.)

A NEW LEVEL began to blast as the familiar riff ignited my most primal mainframe. This shit is so chunky and crisp, I felt myself morph into a giant in 20 seconds. Halfway through ANL - Phil’s mic had dropped and there was no sound. The bluest ball thing you can do is not play in Brisbane for 30 years and when you finally do, drop out before the line ‘New life in place of old life’. Turning behind me and looking through the shoulder blades of NSRG securities shoulders to the wall of people desperate for the sound to regain was bizarrely dystopian. I always imagine this is what the characters in The Walking Dead see behind a steel fence or something before it breaks down and they inevitably lose a main man to the zombie disease…

This little hiccup bought me more time to fully process where I was and what I had to do, soak in the iconic ‘PANTERA’ backdrop, and freeze frame this moment. It selfishly helped me regain my active brain as I pushed my primate brain aside temporarily. 

It’s no lie that I was curious to see how this headline would pan out. Would this be everything that everyone could hope it to be, with the obvious absence of Dimebag and Vinnie-Paul (RIP). With only 2 remaining living members, Phil Anselmo and Rex - their pair were left with 2 massive shoes to fill. Guitarist Zakk Wylde (Black Sabbath, Black Label Society) & Drummer Charlie Benante (Anthrax) stepped into their roles comfortably and amidst much speculation - untied to form an undeniably fierce front. You can never replace Dimebag, whose legacy continues to live on - but you can respect Wylde’s innate beast mode when channeling Dime, weilding the iconic Dean from Hell. It is ridiculous to say I got chills seeing that blue lightening up close as Wylde was crouched by the foldback above me, glowing from the white contrast backlight making him appear possessed by the Holy Spirit. I was not thinking about my camera until this moment and reached for it without tearing my eyes away from Strength Beyond Strength. 

I deliberately avoided any setlist ‘spoilers’ which was hard to pull off - but as the masochist I am,  I wanted to be totally enthralled in the madness of it all at the festival, on the clock… If you had told me we got Suicide Note Part 2, FLOODS, Becoming with the Rejection outro- as well as I’m Broken/By Demons, Domination/Hollow ???? I would simply have not believed you. The obvious Cowboys from Hell made its appearance as did Walk and This Love, rounding out a pretty outstanding setlist. I was crossing my fingers for a Planet Caravan interlude or a Drag The Waters/ YDMS/War Nerve moment. Still, beggars can’t be choosers, and being soaking wet listening to FLOODS was the epitome of life's sweetest elixir (or was it all the free monster, I don’t know). 

Great Southern Trendkill is my favourite Pantera record so I was spoilt enough with the setlist and ultimately wouldn’t mess with any aspect of the show, except make their headline 3hours long and get into the deep cuts, cue metal magic which I think is a severely underrated gem - if Phil wants to talk deep cuts, I’m here to talk man, I know you weren’t there then but we can’t throw the words ‘Pantera deep cuts’ out there carelessly like that onstage. I’m always ready for Widowmaker or We’ll meet again..(Slept on! Wake up sheeple!)

Ending with a beautiful tribute to the late Dimebag and Vin - and their faces immortalized on the skins of Benante’s drum kit: This isn’t the Phil show, it’s the ultimate tribute to the missing half of the puzzle and one emotional tribute at that.

I’ve had the greatest joy of photographing so many ‘full circle moments’, but this was one of the roundest. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a Pantera set in 2024- but it was brutal and unreal, and everything I could have wanted. I couldn’t thank Knotfest Au & Dallasdoespr enough for another tremendously special opportunity 🖤 A girl can dream when those around her do their best to love and support those dreams.