A Night At VINNIE PAUL's: By COMES WITH THE FALL's WILLIAM DUVALL

Here is a rather amusing account from JERRY CANTRELL/COMES WITH THE FALL guitarist William Duvall about the CANTRELL band's recent trip to Dallas, Texas for the birthday celebration thrown by PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul:

“After the first day's rehearsal [for JERRY CANTRELL's performance at the South By Southwest music and media conference in Austin, Texas], we all piled into the CWTF vehicle and lit down to Dallas for Vinnie Paul of PANTERA's birthday celebration that night. Jerry and Shawn (the new rhythm guitarist/utility man in CANTRELL's band) have both known the PANTERA guys for years and Bevan had once met and hung out with them on a tour stop in Atlanta several years ago. But for the rest of us, this was a completely new experience. Let it be known: Those PANTERA boys can drink! After spending some time at a one of their favorite local Dallas haunts, we all adjourned to Vinnie's house for the afterparty. Dimebag Darrell (PANTERA guitarist and Vinnie's brother) surprised Vinnie by having a live band already set up and playing by the time we got there. They were acoustic and played a mix of originals and covers. We proceeded to eat and drink even more.

“Vinnie's place is the quintessential rock-n-roll bachelor pad playground. The word 'palace' would not be too much of an exaggeration. Besides the usual recreation and jam rooms, this place comes complete with a swimming pool shaped exactly like a Crown Royal bottle (the jacuzzi is the cap) and a special 'secret' room. You get the idea. Eventually, Cantrell and the rest of us were called forward to perform a few songs for the occasion. We played six or seven tunes. It's all kind of a blur now but I do remember 'No Excuses', 'Angel Eyes', 'Down In A Hole', 'Brother', and 'Rooster' being among the things we did. Anyhow, a good time was had by all, and Dimebag captured it all on his ever-present video camera. So if you ever see a PANTERA home video with some drunk slobs slurring their way through some ALICE IN CHAINS songs and a bunch of year-round Christmas lights hanging everywhere, cut us some slack. And remember, nobody paid to get in.”