PHILIP H. ANSELMO AND THE ILLEGALS Cancel ROCKLAHOMA Appearance Due To The Aftermath Of Hurricane Ida

Former PANTERA frontman Philip Anselmo and his solo band, THE ILLEGALS, have been forced to cancel their performance in Dallas, Texas as well as their appearance at this year's edition of the Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, Oklahoma due to the aftermath of Hurricane Ida and circumstances beyond their control. PHILIP H. ANSELMO AND THE ILLEGALS' concert at the Gas Monkey in Dallas will now take place on November 13. The band thanks its fans for understanding and looks forward to returning to the stage as soon as possible.

PHILIP H. ANSELMO AND THE ILLEGALS have spent the last couple of years performing their "A Vulgar Display Of Pantera" set, which finds Philip and his solo group celebrating the legacy of PANTERA with a set featuring select cuts from the iconic metal band's five classic albums: "Cowboys From Hell", "Vulgar Display Of Power", "Far Beyond Driven", "The Great Southern Trendkill" and "Reinventing The Steel".

PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS features Anselmo with guitarists Stephen Taylor (SUPERJOINT) and Mike DeLeon (FLESH HOARDER, BEING KILLED, ex-MOD),drummer José Manuel "Blue" Gonzalez (SUPERJOINT, WARBEAST),and bassist Derek Engemann (SCOUR, ex-CATTLE DECAPITATION). The band's most recent full-length, the critically acclaimed "Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue", was released in 2018 via Anselmo's own Housecore Records.

Speaking about the lyrical themes covered on "Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue", Anselmo told Desde El Underground TV: "I take [mental illness] really seriously. I mean, look no further than what happened to my guitar player from PANTERA for me to be very, very concerned with mental illness. So I would say for people to talk to each other, love each other and put love first. And if you put love first, things normally work out. It can't happen every time, but, hey, man… You've gotta stay tight."

Anselmo went on to say that he is not immune to the effects of mental illness. "I guess being injured — my entire career being plagued with injuries — it ends up fucking with the brain a little bit," he explained. "And there's so many different levels to it. Sometimes you can just wake up and it's [snaps fingers] like that. Sometimes it'll take a small thing to put you over and you're in a dark place. But, for me, I think, with the band I have, the good guys I have and the love that they show me, back and forth, the friendship that we have, it helps a great deal. Plus writing the music and getting to perform the stuff, it helps a lot with coping, man, and just dealing with stuff."

He added: "I always say, as a person, just like everybody else… Human beings are one step away from disaster, no matter what, so it's kind of up to the rest of us to watch each other's backs, help each other up when we're down and just make sure we don't take that one step too far."

On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, PANTERA guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.