Pantera and Limp Bizkit

Every Metal-head craves to experience a Pantera concert. Unfortunately, an entire generation of fans haven’t had the privilege to witness the band who lead us out of the hairspray/glam rock era into a darker and satisfyingly sinister time in rock. This was my revelation after Pantera’s July 2001 show in Dallas, ground zero for the band and their heavy, groove metal style they pioneered.
The hot summer air hung heavy in the sweltering outdoor arena, a perfect setting for the hellacious show Pantera would perform. In front of a wall of amplifiers and pulsating lights, they started the set with "Hellbound," the opening track from their most recent release 'Reinventing the Steel.' Not letting up for a single breath they launched straight into "5 Minutes Alone and Slaughtered," before even addressing the raucous crowd. Sweat poured and unwashed hair whipped. Mosh pits devoured and long term hearing was compromised. Phil Anselmo worked every inch of the massive outdoor stage that evening as Dimebag Darrell (in his final Dallas performance - R.I.P.) soared through solo after solo.
With the confidence of true rock stars, they saved "Cowboys from Hell" and "Walk" for the encore, leaving the crowd in an absolute fervor state. Little did this hometown crowd know that it would be last chance to see Pantera’s for more than a decade. Today we understand the importance of Pantera but it took the benefit of historical perspective to be sure. It’s in retrospect that we fully grasp the impact of Pantera on Metal and their place in rock history. Hopefully you too can smile to yourself and know that you witnessed Metal royalty.

You have to imagine that there’s nobody of a certain age who wouldn’t consider - privately or otherwise - the prospect of a Limp Bizkit live show to be anything other than riotously good fun. There’s few rock crowds in the world that wouldn’t go wild for Chocolate Starfish’s holy trinity - ‘Rollin’, ‘My Way’ and ‘Take a Look Around’ - but scratch the surface, and you come to realise that their canon is much stronger than you might remember; ‘My Generation’, ‘Nookie’ and anarchist anthem ‘Break Stuff’ are all setlist staples, too. Fred Durst, of course, remains one of the world’s most ridiculous men, but look at Bizkit’s festival form these past few years, and there’s no question he’s capable of holding even the hugest of crowds in the palm of his hand. Wes Borland’s appetite for frankly terrifying stage get-ups hasn’t faded, either, and there’s just the right amount of out-and-out silliness in the set - take that cover of George Michael’s ‘Faith’, for instance - to confirm that nobody in the band is taking themselves too seriously. Current indications are that material from newest record Gold Cobra is beginning to nudge its way into the fans’ affections; even if it had failed in that regard, though, the Jacksonville outfit would surely be happy with the sheer bedlam that their biggest hitters incite night after night.