{"id":10042170,"date":"2025-08-05T05:27:40","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T09:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/?p=10042170"},"modified":"2025-08-05T10:32:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T14:32:03","slug":"live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Review + Photo Gallery: Pantera flex an older display of power"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor’s Note: All photos by Jason Greenough<\/a> for Vanyaland.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before a note from third-billed King Parrot even rang out this past Saturday (August 2), a man in the Xfinity Center parking lot was stretchered away by Mansfield\u2019s emergency services after taking a couple of hits on a joint that probably wasn\u2019t bought at a business searchable on Weedmaps. It was an early indication, in case there was any doubt, that a Pantera<\/a><\/strong> show was about to go down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Texas groove metal outfit was making their first headlining appearance in the Boston metropolitan area since reconvening in 2022. Only half of the classic lineup, bassist Rex Brown and frontman Phil Anselmo, are alive today, with late founding siblings \u201cDimebag” Darrell and Vinnie Paul Abbott supplanted by longtime Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde and Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, respectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite all parties involved insisting it’s not a reunion, but rather a \u201ccelebration” of the band’s legacy, performing as Pantera remains a sore subject for many, as Vinnie Paul was vehemently opposed to any talk of playing again under the banner following the onstage murder<\/a> of his sibling in 2004 by a crazed gunman. He also carried deep-rooted anger towards Anselmo, whom he blamed in part for the tragedy. But when the drummer passed away in 2018 from heart disease<\/a>, it didn’t take long for the corresponding Abbott estates to move forward with restarting the lucrative Pantera machine.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few of those making up the full house in Mansfield seemed to care about the messy history and politics involved, bottlenecking at the merch stands to purchase shirts emblazoned with the brothers’ images. That’s not surprising given Pantera\u2019s hardcore audience was made up principally by fans who rejected the softer musical direction Metallica took in the mid-’90s and were starved for something that went full bore into a more extreme end of the metal pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pantera delivered in spades, with the 1992 masterpiece Vulgar Display of Power<\/em> bookended by a decidedly Judas Priest-influenced Cowboys from Hell<\/em> in 1990 and 1994\u2019s abrasive Far Beyond Driven<\/em>. Saturday night saw the focal point on the Vulgar<\/em> and Driven<\/em> eras, with forays into the latter, fractured days of the group garnering a mixed reception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening with \u201cHellbound\u201d from the last proper Pantera studio album, 2000\u2019s Reinventing the Steel<\/em>, was a bold choice. Yet given the release of the pent-up excitement when the curtain emblazoned with the band\u2019s name drops from the rafters to the floor, along with the brevity of the track, it wasn\u2019t too much of a risk. And longtime fans will recall that \u201cHellbound\u201d was the opener for the final Pantera tour in 2001, making it a sly nod to the past and present. The common show starter \u201cA New Level\u201d was held back to kick off the first of two encores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bulk of the set was fan service. \u201cMouth for War,\u201d \u201cStrength Beyond Strength,\u201d \u201cFive Minutes Alone,\u201d and \u201cWalk\u201d pressed all the right buttons. Each song had a wealth of moments to pump fists or sing along to. When the lights came up and the audience did its part for the chorus of \u201cThis Love,\u201d it might as well have been 1992 all over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delving deeper into the catalog, “10\u2019s\u201d and “I’ll Cast a Shadow” were half-jokingly referred to as “deep cuts\u201d by Anselmo. While there is a novelty in the former never being played by Pantera in their prime, one gets the sense the singer is making up for a period when he wasn’t at his best at the tail end of the band\u2019s run, disappointing fans and bandmates with his heroin addiction and self-imposed isolation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, the 57-year-old Anselmo is healthy, happy, and beyond appreciative that people are still interested in hearing the music of Pantera in a live setting. Multiple back and knee surgeries have left him more stationary than the careening cannonball of a frontman in the early ’90s, but he remains an imposing figure. Now, Anselmo carries himself if not quite yet an elder statesman of metal, then at least the cool uncle who will share a joke, a knowing wink, and always mean what he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese songs we\u2019re playing, man, they\u2019re fucking yours,” he said earnestly to lead into \u201cBecoming.\u201d \u201cIn all honesty \u2013 you\u2019re the ones that liked \u2018em!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During \u201cGoddamn Electric,\u201d Anselmo gleefully played the outro solo on guitar, likely still buzzing from a few gigs earlier when he got to play Dimebag\u2019s original \u201cDean from Hell\u201d<\/a> for the task, as the iconic instrument was brought out for a one-night-only appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But all the heavy six-string lifting was done by Wylde, who has improved by leaps and bounds since the celebration kicked off almost three years ago. He and Benante \u2013 who simply nails Vinnie Paul\u2019s style on kit \u2013 stay in the background for the most part, adhering to their support roles, which have allowed Brown and Anselmo to fully embrace their past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better players could\u2019ve been brought in, but none of them would have the cachet Wylde and Benante do, as members of the extended Pantera family who do a more than serviceable job on the material. Maybe it\u2019s a credit to the existing music, but it hasn\u2019t dulled a bit, and damned if it still doesn\u2019t make you want to run headfirst into a wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Direct support came from Sweden\u2019s Amon Amarth<\/a>, who were at the ready with all the bells and whistles and a stage set more impressive than Pantera. Their brand of melodic death metal might not be new, but the fresh spin comes from it being tied to Norse mythology. Singer Johan Hegg looks like and sings about Vikings, encouraging the audience to forgo moshing and raising the horns in favor of sitting down and \u201crowing.\u201d It\u2019s a whole thing; they even have an anthem for it called \u201cPut Your Back into the Oar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australian grindcore unit King Parrot<\/a>, one of the acts on Anselmo\u2019s Housecore Records<\/a> label, opened the show — for those in the crowd who managed to make it past the parking lot. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s Note: All photos by Jason Greenough for Vanyaland. Before a note from third-billed King Parrot even rang out this past Saturday (August 2), a man in the Xfinity Center parking lot was stretchered away by Mansfield\u2019s emergency services after taking a couple of hits on a joint that probably wasn\u2019t bought at a business searchable on Weedmaps. It was an early indication, in case there was any doubt, that a Pantera show was about to go down. The Texas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10042162,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,91,103],"tags":[3421,26409,35828,927,1311,1117,1116,5795,7359],"class_list":["post-10042170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-reviews","category-spotlight","tag-amon-amarth","tag-header","tag-king-parrot","tag-live-review","tag-mansfield","tag-pantera","tag-phil-anselmo","tag-xfinity-center","tag-zakk-wylde","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"\nLive Review + Photo Gallery: Pantera flex an older display of power<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Texas groove metal miscreants, now rounded out by Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante, brought the heat to Mansfield's XFinity Center.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Live Review + Photo Gallery: Pantera flex an older display of power\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Texas groove metal miscreants, now rounded out by Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante, brought the heat to Mansfield's XFinity Center.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Vanyaland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/vanyaland617\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michaelchristopher22\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-05T09:27:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-05T14:32:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redefined.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/03233111\/Pantera17_CreditJasonGreenough.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Christopher\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@vanyaland617\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@vanyaland617\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Christopher\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/\",\"name\":\"Live Review + Photo Gallery: Pantera flex an older display of power\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redefined.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/03233111\/Pantera17_CreditJasonGreenough.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-05T09:27:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-05T14:32:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dc3ccd1fabcf297ae0be29d5b0d91d\"},\"description\":\"The Texas groove metal miscreants, now rounded out by Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante, brought the heat to Mansfield's XFinity Center.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redefined.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/03233111\/Pantera17_CreditJasonGreenough.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/redefined.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/03233111\/Pantera17_CreditJasonGreenough.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1333,\"caption\":\"Photo Credit: Jason Greenough for Vanyaland\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Live Review + Photo Gallery: Pantera flex an older display of power\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/\",\"name\":\"Vanyaland\",\"description\":\"The proven voice in music since 2013\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dc3ccd1fabcf297ae0be29d5b0d91d\",\"name\":\"Michael Christopher\",\"description\":\"Firmly believing Glenn Danzig, Ian Curtis and Greg Dulli are equally brilliant, Michael Christopher\u2019s captivation with music is indiscriminate. He\u2019s traveled from Reykjavik to Shanghai in search of the astonishment he felt upon hearing Paul\u2019s Boutique for the first time, writing for the Boston Phoenix, LA Weekly and PopMatters.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michaelchristopher22\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/@vanyaland617\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/author\/michael-christopher\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Live Review + Photo Gallery: Pantera flex an older display of power","description":"The Texas groove metal miscreants, now rounded out by Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante, brought the heat to Mansfield's XFinity Center.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Live Review + Photo Gallery: Pantera flex an older display of power","og_description":"The Texas groove metal miscreants, now rounded out by Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante, brought the heat to Mansfield's XFinity Center.","og_url":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/","og_site_name":"Vanyaland","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/vanyaland617","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michaelchristopher22","article_published_time":"2025-08-05T09:27:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-05T14:32:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1333,"url":"https:\/\/redefined.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/03233111\/Pantera17_CreditJasonGreenough.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Michael Christopher","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@vanyaland617","twitter_site":"@vanyaland617","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael Christopher","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/","url":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/","name":"Live Review + Photo Gallery: Pantera flex an older display of power","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redefined.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/03233111\/Pantera17_CreditJasonGreenough.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-05T09:27:40+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-05T14:32:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dc3ccd1fabcf297ae0be29d5b0d91d"},"description":"The Texas groove metal miscreants, now rounded out by Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante, brought the heat to Mansfield's XFinity Center.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/redefined.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/03233111\/Pantera17_CreditJasonGreenough.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/redefined.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/03233111\/Pantera17_CreditJasonGreenough.jpg","width":2000,"height":1333,"caption":"Photo Credit: Jason Greenough for Vanyaland"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/2025\/08\/05\/live-review-photo-gallery-pantera-flex-an-older-display-of-power\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Live Review + Photo Gallery: Pantera flex an older display of power"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/","name":"Vanyaland","description":"The proven voice in music since 2013","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f6dc3ccd1fabcf297ae0be29d5b0d91d","name":"Michael Christopher","description":"Firmly believing Glenn Danzig, Ian Curtis and Greg Dulli are equally brilliant, Michael Christopher\u2019s captivation with music is indiscriminate. He\u2019s traveled from Reykjavik to Shanghai in search of the astonishment he felt upon hearing Paul\u2019s Boutique for the first time, writing for the Boston Phoenix, LA Weekly and PopMatters.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/michaelchristopher22","https:\/\/x.com\/@vanyaland617"],"url":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/author\/michael-christopher\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10042170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10042170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10042170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10042162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10042170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10042170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanyaland.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10042170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}