PANTERA Announces Summer 2023 North American Tour With LAMB OF GOD

PANTERA, one of the most successful and influential bands in heavy metal history, will be touring North America this summer with LAMB OF GOD as special guests.

One of the most anticipated tours of 2023, this celebration tour includes surviving members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) joined by guitarist Zakk Wylde (OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY) and drummer Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX).

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.

Produced by Live Nation, the 20-city tour kicks off on Tuesday, July 28 in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania at The Pavilion at Star Lake making stops in Milwaukee, Toronto, Austin, Denver, and more before wrapping up in Bristow, Virginia on September 15 at Jiffy Lube Live.

Fans can also see PANTERA at their recently announced support dates during METALLICA's North America Stadium tour dates in 2023 and 2024 and headlining major rock festivals in 2023 including Rockfest, Inkcarceration, and more.

Tickets go on sale starting Friday, January 27 starting at 10 a.m. local time on LiveNation.com.

Citi is the official card of the PANTERA tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday, January 24 at 10 a.m. local time until Thursday, January 26 at 10 p.m. local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com.

Tour dates:

* Festival date
# Support act to be determined
^ PANTERA support for METALLICA dates

2023 Dates

May 20 - Daytona, FL - Welcome To Rockville*
Jul. 13 - Cadott, WI - Rockfest*
Jul. 15 - Mansfield, OH - Inkcarceration*
Jul. 28 - Burgettstown, PA - The Pavilion At Star Lake
Jul. 29 - Noblesville, IN - Ruoff Music Center
Jul. 31 – Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater#
Aug. 02 - Camden, NJ - Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
Aug. 04 - East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium^
Aug. 05 - Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium
Aug. 06 - Scranton, PA - The Pavilion At Montage Mountain
Aug. 08 - Syracuse, NY - St. Joseph's Health Amphitheater At Lakeview
Aug. 09 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake Amphitheater
Aug. 11 - Montreal, QC - Olympique Stadium^
Aug. 12 - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage
Aug. 15 - Rogers, AR - Walmart AMP
Aug. 17 - Woodlands, TX - The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Aug. 18 - Arlington, TX - AT&T Stadium^
Aug. 20 - Austin, TX - Germania Insurance Amphitheater
Aug. 23 - Denver, CO - Ball Arena
Aug. 25 - Inglewood, CA - SoFi Stadium^
Aug. 26 - Chula Vista, CA - North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
Aug. 29 - Salt Lake City, UT - USANA Amphitheatre
Aug. 31 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheater
Sep. 01 - Glendale, AZ - State Farm Stadium^
Sep. 03 - Pryor, OK - Rocklahoma*
Sep. 07 - Bangor, ME - Maine Savings Amphitheater
Sep. 08 - Gilford, NH - Bank Of New Hampshire Pavilion
Sep. 10 - Alton, VA - Blue Ridge Rock Festival*
Sep. 12 - Alpharetta, GA - Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Sep. 14 - Virginia Beach, VA - Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater At Virginia Beach
Sep. 15 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
Sep. 23 - Louisville, KY - Louder Than Life*
Oct. 07 - Sacramento, CA - Aftershock*
Nov. 03 - St. Louis, MO - The Dome At America's Center^
Nov. 10 - Detroit, MI - Ford Field^

2024 Dates

Aug. 02 - Foxborough, MA - Gillette Stadium^
Aug. 09 - Chicago, IL - Soldier Field^
Aug. 16 - Minneapolis, MN - U.S. Bank Stadium^
Aug. 23 - Edmonton, AB - Commonwealth Stadium^
Aug. 30 - Seattle, WA - Lumen Field^

Last month, PANTERA played seven shows in Mexico and South America. The band will next headline the 2023 "comeback" edition of Japan's Loud Park festival. The two-day "limited" event will take place on March 25 at Intex Osaka in Osaka and March 26 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City near Tokyo.

Brown was forced to leave PANTERA's Latin American tour after testing positive for COVID-19. Filling in for him at some of the shows was CATTLE DECAPITATION bassist Derek Engemann, who also plays with Anselmo in both PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS and SCOUR.

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.

Benante opened up about his participation in PANTERA's return during a new appearance on the "Talk Is Jericho" podcast, hosted by wrestling superstar and FOZZY frontman Chris Jericho.

Charlie said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET) "I had found out [about PANTERA playing shows again] towards the end of December [2021] — maybe it was the beginning of January [of 2022] when Philip called me up — and I immediately said, 'Yup. I wanna do it.' It just felt right. For some reason, with Darrell and Vinnie being gone, I, myself, missed these songs. You can listen to 'em all you want, but I think having them being performed in front of you and being performed the right way, it really resonated with a lot of people once they really found out that this was gonna happen."

He continued: "We always joke about if THE BEATLES, if John [Lennon] and George [Harrison] had still been here, would there have been a reunion. And I think the first thing I said was it probably would have been at the first Live Aid. The thing about Vinnie and Dime not being here anymore, and Philip and Rexare here, I think those guys felt, 'I wanna go play my songs again too.'"

Benante went to say that he knows "that there's die-hard fans who have their issues with" him, Wylde, Anselmo and Brown performing under the PANTERA name, "but for me and Zakk, we're just honoring our friends, to be honest with you. That's what we're doing," he explained. "And that's it. I enjoy playing these songs. When I look down at the setlist and I see the next song coming, man, I get so excited. So, for me, it's so great to be doing this. And seeing the reaction… I mean, you saw the videos [from the shows in Mexico and South America]. The people are just loving it. So why would you even be so negative about something when you see how much fun people are having and the joy that it's bringing? … We couldn't even ourselves; that's how loud it was. It was so loud. I've said this with ANTHRAX too, when we've come down [to South America], that sometimes you just wanna stop playing and just take it all in. And that's one thing that the fans in Chile, you didn't see a lot of [people holding up their phones and filming the show]. You just saw them in the moment enjoying it. And that was one thing that I was just applauding."

According to Charlie, "celebration" is the best way to describe what the new PANTERA lineup is trying to accomplish by bringing the music back to the live stages across the world. "I think that's the most accurate word you can use for this thing, because it is a celebration of the music and the vibe that these guys created," he said. "Vinnie and Dime would be all for it. And I know there were issues with those guys in the past, but, man, it's 2022 now. You can't hold on to grudges all your life. You've gotta let shit go and you have to just say, 'I'm gonna enjoy this. I wanna hear 'Cowboys From Hell' again. I wanna hear 'I'm Broken'.' That's it. Just come out and celebrate it."

As for all the naysayers, Benante added: "I did say something about two or three weeks ago about how I thought it was disrespectful for people to say the things that they were saying, because I felt that Vinnie and Dime, if it was the opposite way, they would be probably doing this too, 'cause they'd want their music to live on. That's the thing, because there's two generations who never have seen PANTERA. And this isn't the PANTERA that started this whole thing… Yes, it's Philip and Rex, and it's myself and Zakk who are filling in for Darrell and Vinnie. And we're just trying to play these songs as best as we possibly could play them."