I still can't believe the news that was told to me today by vince at 10:30 am. The conversation kinda went like this: "vinny whats up" "rooster did you hear about dimebag" "what? why? dont tell me..." "he died, got shot last night at a show" "I...I...I..." yeah thats pretty accurate. I immediately proceeded to call everyone i knew, even though most were either at school, work or still asleep. But the ones I got a hold of already knew. When I called march as soon as he answered before i said anything he's like "yeah i know ross, ringer cant even move right now". What the fuck? Who the fuck does this kinda shit? Anyone reading this knows i'm an avid concert-goer, and i dont know what the fuck I would do if i saw this happen. I'm afraid to bring weed to shows sometimes, even though I always do and most of the time i'm in charge of stashing it. But how do you sneak in with a gun and get on stage close enough to shoot someone like dimebag? Why couldn't someone have shot stupid ass avril lavigne instead? Then i would have drank to celebrate, not drank to reminisce. If people gave half the respect where it was due to bands like this as they do the drivel thats mainstream today, the security would have stopped him long before he got close. People at school thought i was pissed the days i found out about elliott smith and johnny cash, but this goes far beyond that. Heavy metal was my first love. When I started listening to megadeth and metallica and black sabbath and pantera i wouldn't have been able to tell you what the fuck emo was. The only concert I went to before that time was bon jovi. Zito's fuckin lucky the first time he went to a show he got to see these guys. Pantera's music played a more important part than any other band during my early teenage developing years. If it wasn't for all those days with gian smoking gaggers and blasting reinventing the steel and burning shitty rolled joints on spare with march in the mazda with trendkill on i would probably not be the same man. Even back in the center days when ser heard someone say something bad about rock music he would snap and let them listen to his pantera cd. Dimebag Darrel was an inspiration to almost everyone I know who's a musician. It seems kind of trivial to me now why i bought a guitar a few days ago because i'm never going to be close to the level he was at. So many new bands that I like have been influenced by him, and the tributes from even the most unrelated artists that i've seen on other sites is tremendous. This guy was truly loved in and out of the music community. Even the old people in texas loved him. I can't imagine how vinnie paul feels, especially watching his own brother die. Now you might hear me speak an unkind word about dave now and then, but when it comes down to it I love him and would feel a slight amount of sympathy for anyone who ever touched him right before i ripped them in fuckin half. That goes for you too, joseph. Holy shit im getting fuckin emotional here, i havent felt this way since, well i dont have to say it. Dimebag you fuckin rocked, you could shred that axe like no one else. Even before today i thought when listening to your music that it's unbelievable someone was pulling off those riffs by himself. Let's see gay-ass billy talent or chad kroger do that. Before this gets too long, let me just say thank you for producing such wonderful art, for giving shithead kids like me an escape for so many years. You will be truly missed by any musician who knows his ass from a hole in the ground. A BIG CAPITAL BOLD FACED ITALIC UNDERLINED
R I P