Pantera Deliver New Levels of Savagery at Leeds First Direct Arena [Photos]

One of the most anticipated musical returns of the last few decades rolled into Leeds with metal legends Pantera at the wheel. The bars surrounding the arena were buzzing with excitement before the doors opened, and that only built as the time for them to take the stage got closer and closer.

The already packed venue welcomed Aussie lunatics King Parrot, who stormed through a set which included songs with fantastic titles such as: “Epileptic Butcher,” “10lbs of Shit in a 5lb Bag,” and “Fuck You and the Horse You Rode In On.”

Their energy was infectious, and the audience responded well to them with an early circle pit opening up, although they did say several times that Glasgow’s crowd was better to get them even more riled up. With a chirpy “Cheers C@nts” from bassist Slatts – a phrase that sounds way more friendly when delivered by an Aussie – they left the audience well and truly warmed up for the rest of the show.

After a quick turnaround on stage, it was time for the first of the two musical returns – in the form of Texan thrashers Power Trip – to play.

After losing frontman Riley Gail in 2020, it was unclear what would happen with the band, especially with such big shoes to fill, as Riley was an absolute force to be reckoned with, but with friend and Skourge/Fugitive frontman Seth Gilmore stepping up the band are back for their first shows in the UK since.

The fans were clearly excited for their return with the circle pit widening and a sea of bodies moving in time with the relentless riffs coming from the stage. They sounded incredible, too – however, they should probably consider writing a ballad to chuck in mid-set as it was THAT relentless!

They had to stop the show for nearly 5 minutes during “Hornet’s Nest,” as security rushed to the aid of a fallen mosher, who thankfully seemed to be fine as he was escorted to the safety of the edges to recover. Then, it was straight back into the heaviness to close the set.

It really is so good to see them back on stage, and hopefully, it will be the start of something special.

Purists may argue that this isn’t Pantera, but it’s the Pantera we have, due to obvious reasons, and it’s a fitting tribute to the Abbot brothers Vinnie and Dimebag that two of the best to ever do it are now doing it for their band, in their place.

Anthrax’s Charlie Benante takes the seat behind a giant drum kit, and absolute legend Zakk Wylde is upfront, doing it for Dimebag. When they carved Zakk out of stone, the brief was simply “Create a rock god,” and they did. He’s definitely the best choice to pull this off.

As the screens played an emotive set of behind the scene clips of the band, the giant curtain dropped, and they launched into the crushing, grinding riff of “A New Level,” and the crowd instantly lost their shit.

A barefoot and trim Phil Anselmo stalked the stage, pointing and flashing smiles at the front rows as all hell broke loose around him with tons of pyro firing off and one hell of a light show. Rex Brown held the fort down with some killer bass and, from a distance, looked like he was being played by Airheads-era Steve Buscemi (which made me smile every time I looked at him). Pantera were back.

This tour is their first time in the UK in over 20 years – but it’s 30 years since I last saw them at Donington 94 when they, along with Sepultura, formed the heaviest section of a day headlined by Extreme and Aerosmith.

Riff followed riff-followed immaculate riff with a best-of-set list that crunched its way through the likes of “Mouth for War,” “I’m Broken,” a glorious “5 Minutes Alone,” and “This Love” before the screens became the focal point during “Floods” with a beautiful collection of videos showing Vinnie and Dimebag’s vulgar displays of raucousness from the height of the band’s history.

“Walk” got the expected response with a sea of bodies and a host flying limbs, beers and loose clothing swirling around the floor of the venue – along with a cameo from both support bands to sing alongside Phil, and “Cowboys from Hell” closes the main set.

They teased the intro to Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” before leaving with a fuckin’ hostile version of “Fucking Hostile” to end a truly memorable evening.

Pantera will be appearing at Black Sabbath’s farewell shindig at Villa Park in July, but unless you’ve sold all your internal organs and got a ticket to that one – you, like us, may be hoping it’s not too long before they return to these shores for another set of shows.

Check out Frank Ralph’s photo gallery and the Pantera setlist here:

Pantera Setlist:

1. A New Level
2. Mouth for War
3. Strength Beyond Strength
4. Becoming
5. I’m Broken
6. Suicide Note Pt. II
7. 5 Minutes Alone
8. This Love
9. Floods
10. Walk
11. Domination / Hollow
12. Cowboys From Hell
13. Fucking Hostile

Pantera (w/ King Parrot) @ First Direct Arena (Leeds, UK) on February 19th, 2025

59 photos