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ON THE FRONT LINES with…FREAK THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED DAMAGE PLAN Alrosa Villa - 12/08/04
“Take a look around you, because when this song is over... everything is gonna look a whole lot different.” Phil Anselmo used to say that every night before Pantera launched into “F*cking Hostile” ending their set. Three minutes of mayhem that sent everyone home with a smile on their sweaty, sometimes bloody face. A lot can happen in three minutes... Damage Plan arrived at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio during the early afternoon after an overnight drive from Buffalo New York. The band lounged around on the bus while the crew loaded in the gear and another day on the road rolled on. Around 3:45 Vinnie Paul wandered into the club followed by Dimebag Darrell and the rest of the band about an hour later. Soon after a man, later identified as the shooter Nathan Gale, approached the bus looking for Dimebag and Vinnie but was told by the band’s sound tech Aaron Barns that they were already inside. Sound check passed, dinner was eaten, and the opening bands played without incident... Damage Plan was up next. They hit the stage at 10:15 and 45 seconds into their first song – “Breathing New Life” – a 6’5”, 268-pound semi-pro football player emerged from behind the amps, walked across the stage and fired four shots at Dimebag as he played, hitting him three times in the back of the head and once in the hand. Dimebag instantly collapsed forward landing on his guitar which began feeding back through the same speakers used for cover just minutes ago. Singer Pat Lachman screamed – “Someone call 911” – and leapt from the stage as chaos erupted and people started running for the door while the crew, fans, and security moved in to tackle the gunman. Damage Plan security chief Jeff “Mayhem” Thompson dove in first taking two slugs in the body and one in the leg in the process. Erin Halk, an Alrosa employee was next to go down taking four bullets in the body as well as one in the hand and one in the leg. Nathan Bray, a fan and tour manager Chris Paluska were hit next each being shot once in the chest as they jumped on stage to get involved. Even as victims fell, a fan, Billy Clark, leapt the barricade and with the help of two friends pulled Dimebag from the stage and laid his lifeless body on the floor and started CPR as Mindy Reece, a nurse, placed a shirt over his wounds. Meanwhile, fans Jimmy Van Fossen and friend Andy Meravy did the same for Mayhem on stage as sporadic gunfire continued. It was then that officer James Niggemeyer entered the club with a 12-gauge shotgun and confronted Gale who was holding Damage Plan drum tech John “Kat” Brooks, who had been shot twice in the leg, as a human shield. As police closed in, he dropped Brooks to retreat and was immediately shot by officer Niggemeyer and killed. It all took just three minutes. As the smoke cleared, Dimebag lie lifeless on the floor, Thompson, Halk, and Gale were on the stage and Bray was in the dressing room. Five dead bodies in a world that looked a whole lot different..... and would never be the same. The above information was compiled from first hand accounts by people I know that were inside the club and witnessed the event firsthand with details omitted out of respect to those very same people and to the families and friends of those no longer with us. “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott
1966-2004 R.I.P. There’s nothing left to say so I won’t. | ||
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