Celebrating Dimebag Darrell

Tulsa celebrated the life of “Dimebag Darrell” with a tribute show Saturday, December 8th at Tankz in Tulsa. In case you were wondering, “Dime” was the guitarist of Pantera (later Damage Plan). He was shot and killed while performing on stage on December 8th, 2004. Since then, cities across the nation have celebrated his life on this day. To put it in perspective, think of “Dime” as the John Lennon to his genre of music.

To my knowledge, Tulsa hasn’t had a tribute show done in Dime’s honor in the last 5 years. Enter Beneath. One of Tulsa’s most popular, hardworking bands took matters into their own hands, asking Tankz if they could host a tribute show to this influential Metal guitarist.

Tankz owner Don Beaman was happy to comply. Tulsa thrashers “IDefy” also signed on as well as a few other Tulsa musicians who created the Pantera tribute band “Tempora”.

The night of the tribute show, I was hosting the night’s festivities and given Tulsa’s recent dip in Metal show attendance, this was a refreshing experience. “Tempora” pulled off several well done Pantera covers as well as some of their own original music. “IDefy” hit the stage with original music and covered Pantera’s “Psycho Holiday”.

Between sets I got the crowd geared up for more while tossing out RSU Radio swag. The first two bands had a few pits spark up, but “Beneath” had the entire floor moving. They even managed to get me to go on stage for Pantera’s “Walk” (which I beefed the first verse of). It was a fantastic way to celebrate the life of a Metal icon of which I readily admit being a fanboy. R.I.P. Dime! Thanks again to Tankz for hosting and to the bands for playing it.