Skid Row had to be careful about Pantera back in the day.
Former Pantera manager Scott McGhee recently appeared on the Nashville On The Rocks podcast and talked about how he first connected with Pantera:
“Back in the day when Pantera was first kind of coming on to the scene, I was managing Skid Row, and we had brought Pantera on to open. And I remember seeing the first night in New York City… I saw the band play, and I’d heard their music; they were on a sister label. I’d heard the music. I was, like, ‘This is just crazy good.’”
The Manager Was Impressed By Pantera’s Performance
McGhee shared what he told the Skid Row members:
“And the band guys, a couple of the guys were all friends with one another. So they played the first night, Madison Square Garden and I saw them play before Skid Row went on, and I went back and said, ‘Y’all better f*cking strap it on, ’cause these people are crushing it right now. Okay? So I don’t know what y’all are thinking, and I don’t know why the hell they’re out there, but they are just kicking people’s a**es.’”
The manager added:
“So I just became a really big fan. And I loved the band; they’ve toured with us. And as odd as it sounds, [the pairing of] Skid Row [and] Pantera, at the time, it actually worked — it really, really worked.”
Skid Row Wants To Tour With Pantera Again
Skid Row and Pantera members became close while touring together in the early 1990s. When asked if Skid Row would tour with the reformed Pantera, Rachel Bolan said the following last year:
“We would do it in a heartbeat. Those guys are, they’re out there killing it now. And you know what? People, the purists are not happy with what’s going on, and I say screw them, because you couldn’t find two more perfect people to represent those guys and pay tribute to [late Pantera members] Dime and Vin [drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott]. They were all like brothers, first of all, and literally those guys were family. Every night at a Black Label [Society] show, Zakk wrote a song to Dime and they play it every night, and images of Dime are on stage. And Charlie and Vin were close, and Charlie and Dime were close, and it’s the perfect way to pay tribute.”
Pantera got back together in 2022 with two new members, Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante to replace Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul. They’ve been touring since then. Their next show is on August 2 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.