RIP Dime

[Ola Englund]

guru: awesome story bro! I could only dream something like that happened to me,...

 

[amarshism]

RIP Dime

 

[JayB]

RIP Dime
Saw him with Damageplan about 3 days before he was killed, they were great

 

[RLab]

I will tell this story like I do every year with my Blacktooth held high and say I miss ya brother!

Dime got my first band signed. He single handedly gave me the confidence to get out there in front of 20,000 screaming mother fuckers and rock the fuck out!

We met Dime in 1994 after a show Pantera played at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale NY. We went to the closest titty bar we could fins after the show and after about 2 hours Dime, Rex Big Val, and Vinny walked in. We sent over a round of drinks just to say thank you for putting on an amazing show. No sooner then the drinks got to the table Dime came walking over and asked us to join them. (FYI, I just started tearing up as I am typing this...lol I am such a fag ...lol)

So we all sat around bullshitting for about another hour. We got into discussing music and playing guitar and his rig, bla bla bla. He asked about my band and if we had a demo. I said yes and he said he wanted to hear it. He gave me his address on a napkin and said send it to him. Well it turns out I have one in the car I said to him. He immediately grabs me by the arm and heads for the door.

Now you have to realize at this time Dime was my biggest influence. i mean EVERYTHING I played then was Pantera / Dime inspired in one way or another so just getting to meet him was a huge deal.

So I put the demo on and him and big val are headbanging and getting into it. it gets to the solo, and he looks at me and goes "Dude fucking play that shit again!". So i back up the tape, and play it again. He fucking jumps in my car grabs the fucking tape and puts it in his pocket. He says ... DUDE THIS SHIT IS AWESOME! I am going to give it to my people ....

So I'm like Ok whatever ....

3 months, 6 months, a year goes by and we dont hear anything. All of the sudden out of the blue I get a phone call from this guy Ron at ATCO. He tells me they really aren't picking up any new bands but that he made a promise to Dime that he would find a place for us. about a week later I get a call from this guy saying hes with Roadrunner and they are willing to do a deal for bla bla bla .... The rest is history.

The following summer we head out to summer NAMM and I am at the washburn booth checking out Dimes shit and this fucking dude jumps on my back. Im like WTF ready to kill a mother fucker and its Dime laughing his ass off. Hes like " Dude you never sent me that fucking demo". I told him its cause he stole the one out of my car, and hes all like "Well ya man I gave that to my peeps I need shit to listen too ya know". Well we hung out at NAMM all weekend exchanged numbers and all that jazz....

We kept in touch right up until the Damage Plan Album came out, he got busy with shit, and so did I moving on to a normal career. but he was always awesome. I had heard through the grape vine what had happened witin an hour, so I called Vinny and left a message, he called me back that night and told me what happened. I was in total shock and just cried for hours.

I really do miss him... He was a great man, not just as a guitarist, but as a person. He could see right into your soul and know what it took to make you feel like a million bucks. If it wasn't for him I never would have had a career in music.

Thank you my friend.

I still see Vinny from time to time here in Vegas, and we just talk about the good times.

Your story gave me chills... Listened to Pantera the whole past day, Dime is definitively one of my fav guitarists ever... Fuck I was just 11 yo when he passed away, never seeing Pantera live is one my biggest regrets.

 

[guitarguru777]

I saw them live more then 50 times. Dime Rex and Vinny were always AMAZING!

In the later years addiction really drove Phil's performances down hill. it was unfortunate too you could totally see it in the last few months of Pantera. Vinny and Dime would just look at each other between songs like WTF????

I saw them in Dallas in 99 or 2000, maybe a little leter like 02 ... not really sure. But they broke into Primal concrete sledge, and phil literally just went ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHJHAS:JDSF:CJDVB:FEJVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV in the mic every time there was a verse. He didnt say a single word. I just just dumbfounded.

I typed up a whole thing right now about what happened, but thats a personal thing for the band to discuss and not me to open that can of worms. But i will tell you this Dime and Vinny were not too happy and it showed. Dime smashed one of his guitars that night. Probbably the worst performance by the band I had ever seen. But Dime did the solo for Floods as part of his solo spot that night with Grady, and it was just fucking INCREDIBLE!