Hook of the Day - Pantera "Mouth for War"

by Wayne Graham

I was emailing my buddy Jonesy back and forth a bit this morning about shows that we went to when we were younger, and there were of course a few that made us laugh. (Stryper, anyone?)

But one show that still looms large in my memory is the Skid Row show that I saw in, I think, 1992. They were on their first headlining tour, supporting their excellent Slave to the Grind album. They had swung through the area the summer before, opening for Guns N Roses when Slave first came out. This particular summer, the stage was all theirs, but I recall the opening band very vividly.

The openers had somewhat-recently released their second album to good sales and big acclaim. To this day, said album is considered a metal classic. The album was A Vulgar Display of Power. The band was Pantera. I'll never forget the earth-shattering set they had. The crowd went absolutely nuts. I remember after they had left the stage and as the roadies were all setting up Skid Row's stuff, sending throngs of us to take our pre-headliner pee breaks, a guy I had seen jump onstage with Pantera and take a flying leap back out into the crowd was spitting his teeth into a dingy bathroom sink. I never saw Pantera again, unfortunately, but what a perfect point of their all-too-short lifespan to have seen them.

Best opening band I've ever witnessed.