Article by Miachelle Breese
Photos by Michael Olivas
Phoenix, Arizona—Pantera, with special guests King Parrot and Amon Amarth, rolled into the Talking Stick Amphitheater on August 26, 2025, just a day after the largest dust storm of the year blanketed Phoenix, making headlines. It was questionable if more storms would dominate the landscape the night of the show, and unfortunately, rain and lightning forced a major delay early into Pantera’s set right after the third song. However, Pantera continued where they left off to do a full set before the local 11:00 pm noise restrictions.
Australian band King Parrot is loud, fast and rowdy, and if grindcore or extreme metal is your music style, they deliver. As the first openers for Pantera, their music catalog had no shortage of lyrical expressions of rebellion, anger, and dark satire. With song titles such as Target Pig Elite, Shit on the Liver, and Home is Where the Gutter Is, King Parrot wants you to know they have opinions. Vocalist Matt Young delivers death metal vocals throughout the set that honestly are unfathomable at times with his pitch, volume and delivery speed of the lyrics. Setlist: Not available at time of publication
Band Members: Matt Young (vocals), Ari White (guitar), Wayne Slattery (Slatts Everyday) (bass), Andrew Livingston-Squires (guitar), Max Dangerfield (drummer).
Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth, named after the Sindarin name of Mount Doom in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, followed King Parrot’s set. Formed in 1992, their music is a blitzkrieg of lyrical recountings of Norse battles, with low, hard death roar vocals by Johan Hegg, and insane guitar riffs punctuated by heavy percussion. The stage setting was very Nordic, with imagery and statues paying tribute to Norsemen, and the drummer Jocke Wallgren was set up above a large Nordic mask replete with horns and varying light effects in the eyes. Periodically men in costumes emerged on stage providing visual counters to the band, who all wear the same band t-shirts in their concerts. Hegg switched position frequently on the stage, moving from one side to the other to connect with the audience. Periodically mosh pits broke out as the crowd got increasingly amped up for the show. Put Your Back Into the Oar was an change of pace in the show. Starting off with sounds of ocean waves and lighting that seemed to implicate a boat on the ocean, toward the end of the song, Hegg engaged the audience in the now-traditional row action that has become part of the band’s trademark. We Rule the Waves is an anthemic tribute to Viking culture, accompanied by movie film footage on stage of the band sailing on a Viking ship. Just before Raise Your Horn, Hegg offered a toast to the audience using his own horn and a traditional “Skol!”, to which many in the audience responded enthusiastically in kind. Amon Amarth was a good transition between King Parrot and Pantera. The tempo was slightly slower, less angry, and with the change in lyrical themes, it was the right band to lead up to
Setlist:• Guardians of Asgaard•Shield Wall•The Pursuit of Vikings•Deceiver of the Gods•Put Your Back Into the Oar•We Rule the Waves•The Way of Vikings•
Raise Your Horns•Twilight of the Thunder God
Band members: Olovi Mikkonen (lead guitar), Johan Hegg (Vocals), Ted Lundström (bass), Johan Söderberg (rhythm guitar), and Jocke Wallgren (drummer)
Anticipation for the “Heaviest Tour of the Summer” was high, with fans looking forward to Pantera playing from its extensive catalog, and the tributes to drummer Vinnie Paul and guitarist Dimebag Darrell. Vocalist Phil Anselmo’s tour promise that the show would celebrate the two beloved members held true as the side screens played band videos of Paul and Darrell, especially during the opening montage before the band came out on stage. Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante were tour additions to the original member line up of Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown, and the foursome put on a solid performance. Brown was a steady presence against the more explosive energies of Anselmo and Wylde, and Benante was just a constant explosion of percussion in the back center of the stage. As soon as the opening montage was done, Anselmo was on stage, barefoot and comfortable, lighting up the crowd with Suicide Note Pt. II It was an instantaneous sensory barrage of scream metal vocals, lighting, guitar riffs and percussion. It was at the end of Suicide Note Pt. II that Anselmo paid homage to Paul and Darrell, and to Ozzy Osbourne, much to the crowd’s heartfelt agreement. 5 Minutes Alone was the song in which the crowd really began to show their engagement, singing along with Anselmo and crowd surfing. At the end of 5 Minutes Alone Anselmo announced they had to stop the show but asked the crowd to hang tight as he wanted “to finish this shit.” Nearly an hour later, Anselmo came out and took on the task of getting the crowd warmed back up with blazingly fierce Strength Beyond Strength. Given the crowd’s frustration at the rain delay, it was the right song to get the energy back up again. Crowd surfing and moshing picked back up, and the crowd was ready for the show. There was a certain bit of irony when the band next broke into Goddamn Electric with the accompanying graphic of electrical storms in different scenarios. It was also during this song that Anselmo cranked out a few guitar riffs of his own.Before starting Becoming, Anselmo expressed gratitude that Pantera was now a family affair, with the original Pantera fans getting older and having children of their own, passing their music on to the next generation. One of the best parts of the show was when guitarist Zakk Wylde played a lengthy solo; the solo slowed the pace down and gave the crowd a breather, but it also really allowed the crowd to enjoy Wylde’s musical expertise. Several songs later, Anselmo kicked off Walk, raising the expectation that everyone should know the song and participate. Indeed, it became a massive collective crowd chant, with Amon Amarth and King Parrot band members coming out on stage to join in singing the chorus, momentarily departing to respectfully give Wylde the stage to perform his solo. Walk ended with the various band members participating in a mishmash of moshing, pushups, and head banging. It was a high energy show, and despite the Phoenix weather, the band delivered what the fans came for. The addition of Wylde and Charlie Benante on drums is a tour bonus that won’t disappoint the heavy metal fan base.
Pantera Setlist: • Opening Montage: Suicide Note Pt. I• Suicide Note Pt. II• Hellbound• 5 Minutes Alone (Proceeded with Show being delayed at 910pm due to rain)• Strength Beyond Strength• Goddamn Electric (Phil on Guitar Solo)• Becoming• 10’s• I’ll Cast a Shadow• Cowboys From Hell• A New Level• Walk (with Max Cavalera) (Phil Rind, Amon Amarth, and King Parrot singing the chorus before and after guitar solo)• Domination / Hollow• Fucking Hostile
Band members: Phil Anselmo (vocals), Rex Brown (bass), Zakk Wylde (guitar), Charlie Benante (drums)
