PANTERA Pulls Out Of This Year's AFTERSHOCK Festival

PANTERA has canceled its appearance at this year's Aftershock festival, set to take place October 5-8 at Discovery Park in Sacramento, California. Replacing them on the bill will be STONE TEMPLE PILOTS.

Earlier today (Thursday, September 21),PANTERA released the following statement via social media: "Due to circumstances beyond our control, we will be unable to perform at this year's edition of Aftershock next month.

"This event is monumental and it pains us to have to miss it. We will however be back for Aftershock 2024!

"A sincere thank you to Danny Wimmer Presents as well as all the fans around the globe who've supported the 2023 PANTERA celebration.

"We will see you all at Louder Than Life this weekend and Aftershock next year!"

Aftershock 2023 festival will feature such acts as GUNS N' ROSES, TOOL, KORN, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, GODSMACK, INCUBUS and MEGADETH. In all, nearly 100 bands will perform at this year's event.

Aftershock was launched as a single-day festival in 2012 and it has since emerged as one of the nation's leading rock events.

In 2021, the concert trade publication Pollstar ranked Aftershock as the world's third-highest grossing music festival.

Aftershock is produced by Danny Wimmer Presents, a Los Angeles-based company that organizes and promotes rock festivals around the country, including the aforementioned Louder Than Life in Louisville.

According to The Sacramento Bee, the 2022 edition of Aftershock resulted in an economic boost of $26.7 million that included more than $1.5 million in tax revenues and supported 7,181 jobs.

PANTERA's 2023 lineup includes two surviving members from the band's classic formation, Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass),along with guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX).

The reformed PANTERA kicked off its U.S. headlining tour with LAMB OF GOD on July 28 at The Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania.

Anselmo and Brown, along with Wylde and Benante, are headlining a number of major festivals across South America, Asia, North America and Europe and staging 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 in 2021 said Wylde wouldn't tour with PANTERA if a reunion were to happen. It's unclear what changed his mind.

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.

Vinnie passed away on June 22, 2018 at his other home in Las Vegas at the age of 54. He died of dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, as well as severe coronary artery disease. His death was the result of chronic weakening of the heart muscle — basically meaning his heart couldn't pump blood as well as a healthy heart.