Former PANTERA Manager: ‘The World Needed To See’ The Band Again

Pantera Download Festival 2024

In an appearance on the Nashville On The Rocks podcast, Scott McGhee of 1 Degree Music Entertainment, who has worked with bands such as SKID ROW, DOWN, and BUCKCHERRY, and was involved in the early stages of PANTERA‘s current comeback, discussed how he first connected with the legendary band.

“Back in the day when PANTERA was first kind of coming on to the scene, I was managing SKID ROW, and we had brought PANTERA on to open,” McGhee recalls. “And I remember seeing the first night in New York City… I saw the band play, and I’d heard their music; they were on a sister label. I’d heard the music. I was, like, ‘This is just crazy good.’ And the band guys, a couple of the guys were all friends with one another. So they played the first night, Madison Square Garden, and I saw them play before SKID ROW went on, and I went back and said, ‘Y’all better f**king strap it on, ’cause these people are crushing it right now. Okay? So I don’t know what y’all are thinking, and I don’t know why the hell they’re out there, but they are just kicking people’s a**es.’

“So I just became a really big fan. And I loved the band; they’ve toured with us. And as odd as it sounds, [the pairing of] SKID ROW [and] PANTERA, at the time, it actually worked — it really, really worked. So, years later, they were blowing up and they blew up and on and on. And when the unfortunate things that happened with Dime [late PANTERA guitarist ‘Dimebag’ Darrell Abbott] and the band was no longer, I was managing [Anselmo‘s post-PANTERA band] DOWN with Snake [Dave Sabo] from SKID ROW at the time. And we were doing some really great things around the country. And I love DOWN. Those records were just killer records and the band was great.

“Years went by and I was no longer involved — there was a lot of issues that had gone on — I was in New Orleans, and Phil was making records [and] touring with a band called THE ILLEGALS. And they were doing their own thing, but they were doing these sets that were kind of PANTERA cover sets. And I had seen it. People had sent it to me, and I was, like, ‘No, this can’t happen, man.’ This goes back about three or four years ago. I was, like, ‘S**t.’ It was the pandemic, the beginning of the pandemic. I was, like, ‘I can’t listen to that.’ I mean, I was just such a PANTERA fan. And not that it was — there was nothing awful about it, and I understood it. And people wanted to hear those songs again live. And they hadn’t heard them in 20 years live. I just didn’t think that was the presentation at the time, the right presentation to kind of bring that back again, if you will.

“So, I went to see a DOWN show and I was staying at Phillip‘s house, and we just got on the subject. And one night, a few years back, I said, ‘Let’s not do that anymore. Don’t do it. I won’t see it.’ It was kind of bold. I was, like, ‘Let’s not… No one wants to see that.’ And I didn’t mean it to be… It wasn’t them being disrespectful to Dime and Vinnie [late PANTERA drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott]; it was just kind of like… That’s not what… PANTERA, there’s a legacy there. And there’s so much more. That band could have been the biggest band in the world. And aside from all the issues and all the things that went on, we all had growing pains through all those times. So Phil and I had a conversation, and Kate, his wife, and they were putting a tour up in Europe, and I was, like… We started talking about putting a band. I said, ‘If you’re gonna do it, let’s put it together.’ And he [initially] was [like], ‘No.’ I don’t think him and Rex [BrownPANTERA bassist] had talked for 16 years at the time.”

Speaking about the experience of assisting Anselmo and Brown in reviving PANTERA as a touring band, with the addition of Zakk Wylde on guitar and Charlie Benante on drums, McGhee said: “It was an incredible experience. And finding the right people and the right fit. Forget all the business side of it and the estates and the this and the that and other people that were involved and all these other people that wanted to be involved — all that stuff was a disaster, it was a mess, the outside noise — but we got through it. And I got to really spend some fantastic times with Zakk and Charlie, which were a tremendous fit. Zakk Wylde was just incredible. And I’ve known Zakk a long, long time, but never the amount of time I got to spend for a couple of years. And Charlie, who’s just absolutely one of the sweetest people in the world. And those two guys, I think if Vinnie and Dime were looking down, [they] would be, like, ‘That’s it, man.’ That was big shoes to fill. And Philip — God bless him, man. That dude is just a brother. I love him. He had really, really rose to the occasion. And the shows are incredible.”

“But it was something that I felt like the world needed to see again,” he continued. “And I really felt like fans need to see this. And you’ve gotta remember — this was their older brother’s band or their father’s band. And there were so many kids, particularly … my kids. They only listen to PANTERA music. They’ve never seen them play. And there was so many kids that have never seen the strength and the power that that band could bring and how they bring it. I mean, there’s no better frontman [than Philip] in the world, I don’t think. I don’t know, but I put him up there, in that genre of music, from a delivery and belief in what he does, there’s no one stronger than Philip, man, and how he delivers it. And we went through a lot, we went through a lot to get there, but they persevered.

“And I love what we accomplished and I love what they’re accomplishing today. And it was really, really an honor to be a part of building that back again. And I hope the fans got to see something they thought they would never, ever see again. And I’m really proud of the fact that I was able to be part of doing that.”

According to Billboard, the lineup has been given a green light by the estates of the band’s founders, drummer Vincent “Vinnie Paul” Abbott and guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, as well as Brown, who previously said Wylde wouldn’t tour with PANTERA if a reunion were to happen. It’s unclear what changed his mind.