Public Memorial For Vinnie Paul Announced

If you are around the Dallas area, you might be interested in attending the public memorial for Vinnie Paul, set for this Sunday. Details below. I would plan for a massive crowd.

VINCENT PAUL ABBOTT
March 11, 1964 – June 22, 2018
VINNIE PAUL A PUBLIC CELEBRATION OF LIFE
Sunday, July 1, 2018 3:33 PM

The Bomb Factory
2713 Canton St
Deep Ellum, Dallas, TX 75226

LINE FOR WRISTBANDS BEGINS AT
12 NOON ON SUNDAY
NO ADVANCE TICKETS, LINES OR LISTS pic.twitter.com/Pm7spDyA19

— Pantera (@Pantera) June 27, 2018

Comments

[Him]

I have to say, the outpouring from VPA's peers has led me to do a bit of a reassessment of him.

I was a casual Pantera fan (more of the Anselmo era and not the Glaze). I certainly didn't care for Hellyeah (Chad Gray looked like an old guy trying to be a young guy and the sound was, well, a bit too "arrgggghhh" for me).

I want to be blunt: he struck me as something of a tool. He was tone deaf when it came to the confederate flag issue. He seemed too angry, vindictive even, when it came to Anselmo (and I get it . . . Anselmo is a train wreck who helped cultivate the 'angry racist' faction that clung to Pantera; he also was an exploded ordinance that drug down the band; he also did himself no favors after Diamond/Dimebag died). But I always understood something: the guy deserves a huge pass. He watched his brother die. That is something I can't even fathom.

But, now, hearing from some of his peers, I guess I get why his passing is such a loss. Granted, any passing is a loss. And any passing in the metal ranks hurts those of us who love metal (I mentioned as much in an earlier post).

It sounds like he was an uncensored good ol' boy who took the starch out of people putting on airs. It also sounds like he helped a lot of artists understand loss and how to deal with it. He supported musicians and liked to have a good time. My point? I better appreciate his place in metal after his death. Moreover, I better understand what people saw in VPA.

I was already sad that another metal artist had passed. But, now, I am a bit more sad. It sounds like his peers, the ones who got to know him, will miss a friend who did a lot more to add to their lives than I would have expected.

Such is the nature of loss. We often don't realize the impact until the force that made it is gone.

RIP VPA. Appreciate all that you did.

[Bryon]

Nice post, Him.

VPA dying hit me pretty hard. Pantera is one of my all time favorite bands - I loved their swagger and their heaviness, and in my eyes, they were the guys carrying the torch for metal that Metallica (who I still love) dropped. So many good times through that period have have Pantera soundtrack playing in the background.

I was upset when Dime died, but that felt more like a random tragedy. Vinnie's passing feels more like the end of an era and it's had me feeling pretty nostalgic.

[Him]

Thanks, Bryon. And thanks for sharing your thoughts on him and what he meant to you. I appreciate that.