During a recent conversation with Heavy Talk, Rick Dallal, the manager of Summer Breeze Brasil explained why he refused to put recently reunited Pantera on the bill, even though the band offered themselves.
As previously reported, Pantera will be reuniting for reunion shows with Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante and Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde who will join band‘s surviving members on a reunion tour.
According to Billboard, the lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band’s founders, drummer Vincent “Vinnie Paul” Abbott and guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, as well as Brown, who last year said Wylde wouldn’t tour with Pantera if a reunion were to happen. It’s unclear what changed his mind.
Now, Dallal said on the decision not to include Pantera to the festival (via Metal Addicts): “Pantera was offered to me at Summer Breeze. This tribute to PANTERA, let’s put it this way. For me, it doesn’t matter, because it’s going to divide the audience a lot. I worked with Phil Anselmo at the time of Down. That was even before the bulls**t of ‘White Power.’ The fans are very divided. I know it will be cool with Zakk Wylde, but it would create a lot of friction that is not necessary.
“Pantera is over, it’s like inventing Led Zeppelin with another drummer. In the case of Skid Row without Sebastian Bach, it won’t divide the audience like that. In the case of Pantera, there was death because of infighting. I don’t think it would be a good attraction for the festival. I want the crowd up and not divided.”