REX BROWN On PANTERA’s Previous Vocalist: “Something Was Amiss”

Before Pantera was the groove metal powerhouse they became, they were a total hair metal band fronted by vocalist Terry Glaze from 1981 to 1986. Pantera bassist Rex Brown recently poke to Gibson TV, saying the band’s trajectory really changed when Metallica came down to Texas and played them their at-the-time new record Kill ‘Em All.

“You got to remember we’re 17, 18, 19. We’re playing roller rinks, man. We’re playing at—we’ll take this prom, we’ll take this bar mitzvah. There weren’t a whole lot of booking agents in Texas, so we kind of had to learn ourselves, teach ourselves how to get into these clubs. And what were we going to play? So we had to play cover songs, even though we were in the studio selling these records at the shows. And we had our own lights, we had our own PA, you know. They got bigger and bigger, and actually we made a hell of a living towards the end there.

“But with the first singer, just something was amiss. And me and Dime were listening to freaking Kill ‘Em All, the first Metallica record. Had met James and Lars. They’d been down, stayed down at the house for about two weeks. We just jammed nonstop. Really cool. And meeting those cats was just a totally different world for us. That was such a great experience.

“So we needed somebody like that in the band, ’cause Terry had decided he wanted to go to college. He didn’t want… he didn’t think that it was worth his time to spend and dedicate that as part of it, even as successful as we were starting to get. Pretty much the hottest little band in Texas coming up for kids that were underneath their 20s, you know.”

Brown also recalled the first time then-new vocalist Phil Anselmo came down to audition for Pantera, saying pretty much everyone in the band knew he was their guy.

“Philip comes down [to audition] and I pick him up in a ’74 Corvette and took him straight to the living room that we had set up that day to jam. And we played just about every Judas Priest song or anything that was current that we all knew. This guy was amazing. Looked the part. He was fresh, 18. That moment when you get somebody after you just jam with five assholes, you know — that feeling was really, really cool. That’s when we knew ‘oh shit, this could be something good.'”

Pantera and Amon Amarth will hit the road this July through September. The tour kicks off on July 15 in Burgettstown, PA at The Pavilion at Star Lake and wraps up on September 13 in West Palm Beach, FL at the iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre. Tickets are available here.

Pantera, Amon Amarth & Snafu

7/15 Burgettstown, PA The Pavilion at Star Lake
7/17 Clarkston, MI Pine Knob Music Theatre
7/19 Tinley Park, IL Credit Union 1 Amphitheater
7/22 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
7/23 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center

Pantera, Amon Amarth & Shock Narcotic

7/25 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium
7/26 Wantagh, NY Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
7/28 Saratoga Springs, NY Broadview Stage at SPAC
7/29 Gilford, NH BankNH Pavilion

Pantera, Amon Amarth & King Parrot

7/31 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
8/2 Mansfield, MA Xfinity Center
8/3 Hartford, CT Xfinity Theatre
8/6 Milwaukee, WI American Family Insurance Amphitheater
8/7 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
8/20 Salt Lake City, UT Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
8/22 Auburn, WA White River Amphitheatre
8/23 Ridgefield, WA Cascades Amphitheater
8/26 Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
8/27 Inglewood, CA Kia Forum
8/29 Las Vegas, NV T-Mobile Arena
8/31 Albuquerque, NM Isleta Amphitheater
9/2 Austin, TX Germania Insurance Amphitheater (+ Flesh Hoarder)
9/3 Dallas, TX Dos Equis Pavilion (+ Flesh Hoarder)
9/5 Noblesville, IN Ruoff Music Center
9/6 St. Louis, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
9/8 Birmingham, AL Coca-Cola Amphitheater
9/10 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
9/11 Raleigh, NC Coastal Credit Union Park at Walnut Creek
9/13 West Palm Beach, FL iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre