Dimebag Darrell's induction into the Hollywood RockWalk and Black Tooth Bash The Guitar Center Los Angeles, CA House of Blues Hollywood, CA
by Sunset Vampyre
Photos by: Sunset Vampyre, Victor The Snake Mannn
Then Ace Frehley from Kiss recounted the story of the first time he met Dimebag, who was so excited to meet his hero that the first thing he did was to open his shirt to show Ace the tattoo he had of him on his chest, and he asked him to sign it so he could get the signature tattooed - which he duly did! Many people spoke, each with funny or touching tales, but the most poignant came with the memories of wife Rita, brother Vinnie Paul, and most especially, his dad. He gave a most heart-wrenching account of the devastation he felt at the loss of his son, and the sheer relief that his other son was spared. Zakk Wylde played a slow, sorrowful version of "In This River" on the piano, then raised a beer to Dimebag, to great applause from everyone. The tributes ended with two official plaques held aloft for all to see, which will be on permanent display at the Guitar Center. Then it was back inside to hang out a little, talk to Vinnie Paul who was signing autographs for everyone, watch John 5 get interviewed for VH1, and then leave to get ready for the evening benefit concert called, obviously, the "Black Tooth Bash" (which, incidentally, is a drink invented by Dimebag which consists of two shots of Whisky and a splash of Coke)! The Black Tooth Bash began at 6p.m. with an auction of signed (and painted) goodies to benefit the charity "Little Kids Rock". These consisted of Dimebag Darrell guitars painted by the likes of Marilyn Manson, James Hetfield, Jonathan Davies, Tommy Lee, Rob Zombie - 50 guitars in all. Other goodies were signed at the Guitar Center - VIP passes, posters, regular guitars. After the auction, the show began. Jamey Jasta from Hatebreed was the host for the evening, and he began by explaining why this benefit was so important, and why it made such a fitting tribute to Dimebag. He went on to say that in most schools across the country, music lessons have increasingly been phased out, meaning future generations of musicians of all kinds, from rock to classical, will be lost forever. Money raised from the benefit would pay for kids to keep music in their schools. We then saw several teenage bands play, with the support of their music teachers who were also on stage, and it was true - Little Kids Rock! They put their heart and soul (and some serious head-banging)! into their music, and it was great to see such enthusiasm, and talent. How could anybody NOT support such a great cause. Dimebags wife Rita even came out into the audience to watch them play, holding her beer aloft in a salute. Then it was time to watch the established artists play, and first up was Aaron Lewis from Staind, who played a beautiful acoustic set. Rita asked him to sing "It's been a while" which he did with the whole audience singing with him. Then Shinedown's Brent Smith and Jasin Todd played a great acoustic set (with Jasin wearing a bizarre hat - I think he borrowed it from Janes Addiction's Perry Farrell)! In fact, the first half of the show was an acoustic set, with Scott Ian of Anthrax getting together with Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains to play Pink Floyds "Wish You Were Here" while Scott's wife-to-be Pearl Aday (Meatloaf's daughter!) sang. Pantera songs were sprinkled amidst each artists set, evoking a huge sing-song every time. A few more acoustic songs were played, then the Marshall Amps were cranked up and the Rock began. Chester Bennington of Linkin Park sung some kick-ass songs with Dave Navarro rockin' out on guitar, and had everybody jumping and singing with songs from Led Zeppelin, Janes Addiction and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell". Tim "Ripper" Owens (from Judas Priest) took to the stage, playing Van Halen with Rob Zombie's John 5, Doug Pinnick of Kings X, and Eddie Jackson and Mike Stone of Queensryche, with Matt Byrne of Hatebreed on drums. John 5 also rocked out with Scott Ian and Ace Frehley, blowing the roof off the House of Blues with "Cold Gin", with Vinnie Paul on drums. The final song, Pantera's "Walk", had everybody on the stage, including Slipknots Mick Thompson and Joey Jordison. Four hours of Sizzling music had everybody on a high, and Jamey Jasta's words were ringing in my ear - "You will never see all these great musicians together on a stage again - this was a one-off performance that will go down in history". No offence Jamey, but I hope you're wrong! The After-show party upstairs at the HOB had the last of the guitars being auctioned, and they were being bid on between the people there and the people on-line who were still up at 2a.m. I hung out for a while with Joey Jordison, who remembered me as a huge Murderdolls fan who followed them around England in 2002 when I lived there - he even remembered signing my New Rock Boots! He then examined all the Murderdoll pins that my backpack Sully was wearing (you know Sulley - from Monsters Inc!) and proceeded to tell me which ones were real and which were bootlegged! I then met with Jonny Edwards, CEO of Coffin Case, who invited me to the Coffin Case show at Fangoria the next day ( in fact, this was a 3-day event with the likes of Rob Zombie in attendance - plus a few thousand Ghouls!) Finally, it was time for us all to leave, and my evening ended the way it had begun - hanging out with John 5. After cheerfully waving me off in my car while he waited in line for his, I reflected that there's no two ways about it - Heavy Metal has the NICEST people you could ever hope to meet! And the little kids in attendance tonight would raise their devil horns in the air in total agreement with that!
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