Jerry Cantrell, the founder of the band Alice In Chains, talked about the times when he first met with Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell, who died in 2004, and exposed Darrell’s admiration to Van Halen on his recent interview with Gibson TV.
Cantrell recalled the good old times when he quit college to start a band and left for Texas. In those days, Cantrell said that he would work all day and spent the nights in the club. In one of the few rock clubs in Dallas, he and his friends used to hang out, Cantrell revealed that he met legendary guitarist of Pantera, Dimebag Darrell.
As you may remember, Darrell, unfortunately, died at the age of 38 in a mass shooting at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio. Dimebag Darrell was on stage with his band Damageplan when the shooting took place and sustained multiple gunshots to the head.
Here is how Jerry Cantrell recalled his friend Dimebag Darrell:
“I saw Pantera roll through there when they still had Terry [Glaze] before Phil [Anselmo] was in the band. I met Dime and Vinnie [Paul, drums] in ’85, at that club.
I am a fan of anybody who is a master of their instrument, I’m a fan of people who are just in touch with it, who just have an innate thing that is just unlike anybody else, and Dime is one of those guys.
I hit it off with him and Vinnie right away and I remember after that show, like, going up to him and introducing myself and asking him about his amps and his tone – because it was just otherworldly.”
He continued and talked about the huge admiration of Darrell over the band Van Halen. Cantrell said:
“He was a huge Van Halen fan, and you could tell that by his playing but he was also into heavier shit too, and that’s why you got the kind of blend of what Dime was, but there’s really nobody like him.”
You can watch the full interview right below.
