After an outcry concerning the racially charged regards of vocalist Philip Anselmo, Pantera‘s scheduled performances at two German rock festivals this spring have been canceled.
The newly put together Pantera group – featuring Anselmo and Rex Brown on bass, alongside Zakk Wylde on guitar (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society) and Charlie Benante on drums (Anthrax) – was set to appear at Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park, two consecutive festivals taking place June 2-4 in Nürburgring and Nürnberg. After intense talks with participants, associates and fans, the festival coordinators have decided to take Pantera off the lineup.
On Monday evening (January 23), the coordinators of Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park took to Twitter to report that Pantera will not be playing at their 2023 events.
“The band Pantera will not perform at Rock Im Park and Rock Am Ring 2023 as announced,” statement said.
Most of the criticism stemmed from Anselmo’s N*zi-like salutation at the “Dimebash” tribute for the late Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott in January 2016 at Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood. It looked like he said “white power” in response to the fans in front who, he claimed, were making fun of him. He later clarified that he was simply joking about drinking white wine backstage.