It was thirteen years ago this evening we lost Dimebag Darrell of Pantera to a senseless shooting. He was beginning his set with his new band, DamagePlan, with his brother, former Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul, in a club in Columbus, Ohio, when a mentally disturbed ex-Marine broke past security and opened fire. Several other attendees lost their lives in the tragic event.

This was tragic in that no other concert in recent memory had been besieged by a gunman who took out several innocent people--that is, until this past October in Las Vegas at a country music show. Concerts were places for people to hang and have fun--but the tragedy at the DamagePlan concert brought home the fact that not even concerts were safe.

Dime will always be remembered as an extremely talented, fun-loving soul who never had a bad word for anyone. He was groundbreaking with not only Pantera but his new band DamagePlan, as well as Rebel Meets Rebel, where he teamed up with outlaw country legend David Allan Coe. Few guitarists have been able to match his place in talent and originality. Rock and metal have not been the same since.

Rock in peace, Dime.