POWER TRIP's BLAKE IBANEZ On Sharing The Stage With PANTERA: 'It Was The Best Tour Ever'

During an appearance on the latest episode of the "100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal" podcast, hosted by Metal Blade Records CEO Brian Slagel, POWER TRIP guitarist Blake Ibanez spoke about the Texas thrashers' early 2025 European tour as the support act for PANTERA. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, it was the best tour ever. We had a really good time. They treated us great. The crew was amazing. And it was just a really cool opportunity to be able to do that.

"We had just gotten the band back together, and I don't think we were planning on touring at all," Blake continued. "We were still kind of feeling it out. When we got back together, it was, like, 'Well, let's try to do this justice and honor what we did, honor [late POWER TRIP singer] Riley [Gale], pay tribute to all the years and all the time we put into this band.' And clearly, people still wanted to see us play. So it was the perfect situation, I think, for us to do it. Otherwise we never would've done it.

"We had played, I think, four shows maybe, maybe five, just since we got back together with six or seven months before that," Blake added. "And I think that tour really gave us a lot of confidence because — well, not only were we playing to arenas every night, and the experience of doing that was just so amazing and inspiring. And, obviously, playing with PANTERA, they're [originally] from Dallas, it was a great honor for us because Dallas, we got some people, but we're not like a superstar city. This isn't L.A. or New York or something, but we have some major people and stuff. But PANTERA, just growing up, that was a big part of living here. Everybody obviously knew about PANTERA, what they meant to DFW [referring to the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area in Texas]. [Late PANTERA drummer] Vinnie Paul always wearing the Cowboys gear and the Stars jersey. And then not just that, but they're one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time. I don't think you can really argue with that. They changed it completely, and just wrote some great songs. And, obviously, they had Dimebag Darrell, who's, many people think, the greatest guitar player of all time — one of. And it sucks that they all can't be here for the tour, and, obviously, we're missing someone too. But I think you could see how much it meant to everybody to hear those PANTERA songs.

"It was cool for us," Blake said. "I never got to see PANTERA. They definitely broke up before I was even able to really get out there and see them. So, it was just a really great honor, and it gave us a ton of confidence, 'cause we played to these arenas every night, and we played right before them. So it was cool… It was, like, 'Fuck, hopefully they don't just boo us and want PANTERA to go on.' But I think we held it down all right, and the crowds were great. We had a really good time. And to play to that many people and to get them involved and to get them into it and feel like you belonged up there, which we felt like we fit the bill. And, obviously, the PANTERA guys, everybody was really welcoming, really, really cool. I think Rex [Brown, PANTERA bassist], some of his kids live in Dallas, and we have mutual friends, and we know some of them. So I don't know. It was just kind of a cool, like, 'Hey, you guys are part of the family. You're from Dallas. We support you guys.' And it was really cool to have that. And getting to hang out with [ANTHRAX and PANTERA drummer Charlie] Benante and talk about old music. Everybody was really cool. It was just a great experience. And I don't know if we'd be doing what we're doing right now if we didn't do that tour, because it showed us, like, 'Oh, we can actually do this and play to a lot of people. And things are working for us.' So, it was really, really important."

Addressing the fact that PANTERA's current touring lineup only includes two classic-era members, Brown and vocalist Philip Anselmo, Blake said: "It's hard. It's been so long. They broke up such a long time ago, and I think there's so many people and multiple generations now that just never got a chance to see them [with the classic lineup]. So I think a lot of people you ask, it's, like, 'Well, would I rather get to see them play these massive songs live again, or not?' And I get it [why some people wouldn't], if you saw them a million times back in the day [with the classic lineup]. But you also don't have to go. You can just stay home, and you don't have to pay for it, and you don't have to go. But these guys poured their life into the band, and they wrote a lot of great songs that a lot of people wanna hear. I don't really see the issue with it. But everyone is entitled to their opinion. We've gone through the same thing. And I respect where anybody stands on anything because bands are special to people. And they have special relationships with bands, and they might not wanna see a different way. But I think if you devote everything to a band and you write songs and you do all this and there's demand, I think you should share that with people."

POWER TRIP's longtime friend and collaborator Seth Gilmore has stepped in for Gale to handle vocals for the band. Gilmore is embedded in Texas's hardcore and punk communities and is well known as the vocalist of SKOURGE and as the frontman of Dallas thrash metal band FUGITIVE, which he founded in 2021 alongside Ibanez.

POWER TRIP's current lineup consists of Ibanez, Gilmore, Chris Ulsh (drums),Nick Stewart (guitar, vocals) and Chris Whetzel (bass).

Riley died on August 25, 2020. An autopsy report for Gale ruled that he died from the toxic effects of fentanyl, while the manner of death was ruled accidental.

Following the news of Gale's death, a number of other artists shared tributes to the frontman, including members of CODE ORANGE, ANTHRAX and COHEED AND CAMBRIA.

POWER TRIP released two albums on Southern Lord, 2013's "Manifest Decimation" and 2017's "Nightmare Logic". A rarities compilation, "Opening Fire: 2008-2014", followed in 2018.

"Nightmare Logic" peaked at No. 22 on Billboard's Hard Rock Albums chart.

POWER TRIP was said to be working on its third album at the time of Riley's death.

This past March, it was announced that POWER TRIP had signed a new record deal with Blue Grape Music.