ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello recently spoke with The Aquarian Weekly, and was asked about the numerous PANTERA stories included in his new memoir, “Fathers, Brothers, And Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, And Anthrax”.
“These were my brothers,” the ANTHRAX bassist said. “I still feel close to Dime [guitarist ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott] and Vinnie [drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott] and all of the PANTERA guys, but Dime and Vinnie, specifically, were the best of the best. When I say people know PANTERA, they know the guys, but the real people that they were…. Dime and Vinnie were good-hearted people. They were the best of the best on Earth. They were just good people aside from the music stuff. They were good people that you wanted to talk with like we’re talking right now, and every other word would have you laughing your ass off. The Abbott brothers were just great people from a great family.
“I remember we went on tour with PANTERA, and I don’t even think I put this in the book,” he continued. “We’re on the road and we’re having a ball, usually drinking, and it was insane. I remember we were going to have a Thanksgiving on the road. We were on tour and we couldn’t all get home, so we, the band ANTHRAX, were just going to have it at some restaurant. Now, the guys from PANTERA — Vinnie, Dime, and the rest of them — put together this great Thanksgiving dinner for all of us — PANTERA and ANTHRAX, all crews and everybody involved with the tour — and it was one of the most fun times I ever had in my life because it was great food, great people, music, and it was family. That’s why when I talk about PANTERA, that’s family. As much as my family is, PANTERA is family because we had those times together. They made us have a specific dinner. They knew we were away from home. We were in Dallas and we had this great dinner. They’re the best of the best. Top notch — nothing will every touch them. Dime will forever be known as the sixth member of ANTHRAX because he played on so many records with us.”
“Fathers, Brothers, And Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, And Anthrax”, will hit bookshelves on November 2 via Rare Bird.
