CHARLIE BENANTE Felt Like He Was 'Metal Meditating' During PANTERA's First Live Performance In Over 20 Years

Charlie Benante says that he felt like he was "metal meditating" during PANTERA's first live performance in over 20 years, which took place Friday (December 2) at Mexico's Hell & Heaven Metal Fest. Benante is joined in PANTERA's reformed lineup by surviving members Rex Brown (bass) and Philip Anselmo (vocals) along with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY).

Late Saturday night (December 3),Benante took to his social media to share a photo of him at the Hell & Heaven Metal Fest gig, and he included the following message: "If I say I wasn't nervous I'd be lying. The excitement , the fear, the emotions, the love and the work that went into doing this all played a part of what was in my head. When I got up there it had all seemed to disappear ( except for the cold 50 degree weather, 🥶) I looked at @philiphanselmo @rexbrownofficial and @zakkwyldebls and felt the connection, Bam!!!! New Level started and we were off. I kept looking down at my set list and was getting hyped up for the next song .

"Thank you #sterlingwinfield for bringing me an old @dimebagdarrell wristband and a pair of @vinniepaul3 old gloves . I wore the wristband and brought the gloves up with me. I had some moments up there like I felt I wasn't there, I went to some other place. I think I was Metal meditating , don't laugh… I'm serious.

"Thank to the @panteraofficial family, thank you to the crew and the amazing fans who have always been so positive about this. Thank you to @carlaharvey and @miacbenante for listening to me play PANTERA songs day in and out. I look forward to seeing you all and having a great time playing these songs and reliving the feeling of what a great band they are!"

It was first reported in July that Anselmo and Brown would unite with Wylde and Benante for a world tour under the PANTERA banner.

The band will headline a number of other major festivals across North America, South America and Europe and stage some of their own headline concerts. They will also support METALLICA on a massive North American stadium tour in 2023 and 2024.

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.

PANTERA is playing one more show in Mexico this month —Monterrey Metal Fest on December 6 — followed by appearances at three Knotfest festivals in South America. There will also be a one-off show with JUDAS PRIEST in São Paulo, Brazil and a headlining concert in Santiago.

Last week, Benante told Metal Edge: "The first show with PANTERA is going to be kinda nerve-wracking. I'm probably gonna need a couple of drinks to be honest with you, to kinda settle me down… I need to get that first PANTERA show under the belt."

Asked if he's looking forward to any performing any particular PANTERA tracks, Benante said": "I enjoy each one of them. When I look down at the list, I'm like, 'Oh, I like this song,' that type of thing. There's two odd songs in there too that I don't think they played, consistently, throughout [their] sets. Those are the two songs I enjoy playing the most, I think."

Regarding the criticism floating around social media about relaunching the PANTERA name more than two decades since the group played their last show, and all the chatter about it not being a true reunion without Vinnie and Dime, Benante said: "First off, it's not a reunion. It's a celebration of the music. If you saw the thing that went out, it was like, 'PANTERA featuring…' the four of us. Those two guys are a part of this and who else is there? Vinnie and Dime are not here, so, Philip and Rex, they were that band, too. [They] deserve to be there as much as anybody. I see the negative stuff sometimes, and I'm just like, ‘This is so ridiculous, man.' Just enjoy hearing those songs again."

Benante told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about how he planned to approach the PANTERA gig: "I can't go do this as the drummer from ANTHRAX because it would be a different sound completely. So the way I'm gonna do that is if you close your eyes, it's gonna sound like it's Vinnie, basically. And that's how it's gonna be. The sound is gonna sound exactly like him."

Wylde said that he had a similar mindset. "You approach it the same way as you do when I'm playing with Ozzy," he said. "Obviously I've gotta learn [Randy] Rhoads's stuff and I've gotta learn Jake's [E. Lee] stuff, and when I was doing the [BLACK] SABBATH stuff, you learn it and do it as faithful as you can. Charlie's gotta learn all of Vinnie's parts. You approach it as if you're in a cover band. When we do the ZAKK SABBATH stuff," referring to his BLACK SABBATH cover band, "I don't start changing lyrics midway through 'War Pigs'. You learn the songs — so that's what you do."

A year ago, Anselmo said that he was up for reuniting with Brown for a special tour celebrating the music of PANTERA. The 54-year-old singer, who has spent the past few years playing a PANTERA-centric set with his solo band, THE ILLEGALS, discussed the possibility of re-teaming with his former PANTERA bandmate during an interview with Brazil's Inside With Paulo Baron. Asked if he and Rex would be open to playing some shows in celebration of PANTERA's legacy, Anselmo said: "If Rex and I had a show to play, or we were ever gonna be on stage again together, I would welcome it with open arms. I love Rex. And he'd be the same way. We're brothers forever. So playing on stage together, or doing some shows together, is not out of the question. It could happen."

In April 2021, Rex told Eonmusic that he and Philip still get offers for a PANTERA tribute tour. "But if you don't have the other guys in the band, it's not going to sound the same," he said. "If we were ever to do something like that, it would have to be spot-on, or I wouldn't do it. It would be a tribute."

Talk about a possible PANTERA "reunion" intensified when Anselmo regularly joined Wylde's BLACK LABEL SOCIETY to perform PANTERA's song "I'm Broken" during DOWN's 2014 stint on the "Revolver Golden Gods Tour". That buzz only got stronger after Brown joined the jam on May 23, 2014 when the tour swung through Texas.

Up until his passing, Vinnie remained on non-speaking terms with Anselmo, whom the drummer indirectly blamed for Dimebag's death.

Vinnie Paul and Dimebag co-founded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.