The death of a King -
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On December 8, 2004, while performing with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag Darrell Abbott was shot and killed onstage by Nathan Gale. Abbott was shot a total of four times, at point-blank range in the back of the head. He was 38 years old.
Three others were killed in the shooting: concert attendee Nathan Bray, 23 of Columbus; club employee Erin Halk, 29 of northwest Columbus; and Damageplan security guard Jeff "Mayhem" Thompson, 40 of Texas.
The band's drum technician, John "Kat" Brooks, and tour manager, Chris Paluska, were also injured.
According to police, Gale fired a total of fifteen shots, taking the time to reload once, remaining silent throughout the shooting. When security staff tried to stop him, Gale fired at them, wounding Paluska, and killing Halk, who had attempted to stop the gunman with a beer bottle as a weapon. Damageplan head of security Jeffery Thompson fought with Gale for a short time, stopping him from killing Vinnie Paul Abbott and John Graham, as well as knocking off Gale's glasses (preventing him from seeing Officer Niggemeyer just minutes later), before being fatally wounded by Gale. Audience member Nathan Bray, who jumped onstage to try to give CPR to Dimebag and Thompson, stood up and took a single step towards Gale before being shot a single time in the chest. Brooks was scuffling with Gale onstage but was overpowered and taken hostage in a headlock position. Brooks was shot several times (once in the right hand, his right leg, and his right side) while attempting to get the gun away from Gale. Five officers came in the front entrance led by officer Rick Crum, and moved toward the stage. Officer James D. Niggemeyer came in through the back door, behind the stage. Gale only saw the officers in front of the stage; he never saw officer Niggemeyer. When the hostage moved his head, Officer Niggemeyer shot Gale in the face with a police-issued 12-gauge shotgun. Gale was found to have 35 rounds of ammunition remaining.
During the rampage, nurse and audience member Mindy Reece, 28, went to the aid of Abbott. She and another fan administered CPR until paramedics arrived. Dimebag Darrell was buried at the Moore Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Texas.
In May 2005, Officer Niggemeyer testified before the Franklin County grand jury, which is routine procedure in Franklin County after a police shooting. The grand jury did not indict Niggemeyer, finding that his actions were justified.
Niggemeyer received a commendation from the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission for his outstanding police work in time of crisis as well as The National Rifle Association award as 2005 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. The five other officers that were first on the scene received Ohio distinguished law enforcement medals for their brave work. In 2006 James Niggemeyer penned the foreword to A Vulgar Display Of Power: Courage and Carnage at the Alrosa Villa.
Early theories of motive suggested that Gale may have acted based on the Pantera breakup, or a public dispute between Abbott and Pantera singer Phil Anselmo, but these were later ruled out by investigators. [4] Another theory was that Gale believed Abbott had stolen a song Gale wrote. In the A Vulgar Display Of Power book, several of Gale's personal writings, given to the author by Gale's mother, show that the motive of Pantera's breakup or the idea of stolen songs is false, and that due to his condition, paranoid schizophrenia, he believed that the band could read his mind, were stealing his thoughts, and laughing at him.
"just how good was dimebag"?
Tributes to Abbott
Many famous recording artists have paid tribute to Abbott as a performer and friend.
- During the December 8, 2007 show at the Dallas metroplex (Dimebag's hometown)with Devildriver, Killswitch Engage, and Lamb of God, Devildriver held a moment of silence for Dimebag for the anniversary of his death. At the end of the show, Lamb of God, Devildriver, and Soilwork all came onstage and performed "5 Minutes Alone" in his memory.
- One of the 3 performance stages at the 2007 Download Festival[5] held at Donington Park (Derby, UK) was renamed "The Dimebag Darrell Stage".
- Machine Head pay tribute to Dimebag Darrell on their sixth studio album The Blackening with track number three, "Aesthetics Of Hate". This recounts the outrage felt by the music community and Machine Head's lead singer, Robb Flynn, upon reading an article called "Aesthetics of Hate: R.I.P. Dimebag Darrell, Goodbye & Good Riddance" posted on the web by William Grimm.
- Guitarist Buckethead wrote a song paying tribute to Abbott, which was available for download for a short while on his official website. The song later made it onto Buckethead's album Kaleidoscalp, entitled "The Android of Notre Dame".
- Nickelback wrote the song "Side of a Bullet" about the shooting as a tribute to Abbott. The song appears on their album All The Right Reasons. The song features a guitar solo that was composed of outtakes of Dimebag Darrell playing that had been recorded for previous Pantera albums.[6] When Nickelback play the song live, they use the actual recording of Dimebag Darrell's solo.
- Avenged Sevenfold have paid tribute to him, through their version of Pantera's "Walk", and in their album City of Evil, the song "Betrayed" is also dedicated to him.
- Hellyeah also paid tribute to him, with their song, "Thank You."
- Zakk Wylde also wrote the song "In this River" prior to Dimebag's death but has since been dedicated to him.
- GWAR played on a live stage without their costumes on as tribute in a performance titled "GWAR Live Unmasked Dimebag Tribute Fistful of Teeth".
- Nickelback paid tribute to Dimebag at Sarnia Bayfest '07
- Also the band Cross Canadian Ragweed wrote a song called "Dimebag" as a tribute to him.
- STEMM's song, "The Memory Remains" is about Dimebag. STEMM were the last band to share the stage with Dimebag, before his death.
- Darrel was honored in the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II. A player receives the "Dimebag Darrell" award for hitting 100 or more notes in succession.[7]
- The character Axel Steel from the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock features the likeness of Dimebag in his alternate costume.
- The band 24-7 Spyz pays tribute to Darrell in their new album Face The Day with a song called "Blues For Dimebag", the guitarist for the song is Bumblefoot.
- In late 2005, the former guitarist of the band Korn, Brian "Head" Welch, wrote a song for Darrell titled "Letter To Dimebag." Welch explains the song was written as a message to the late Dimebag using no lyrics, only guitar, and speaks of his final good bye to Dimebag who was a great inspiration and friend to him.
- Shinedown performed a live cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Simple Man with a short speech before dedicating the performance to their friend Dimebag Darrell.
- Dream Theater along with Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory, and Russell Allen of Symphony X performed the Pantera classic "Cemetery Gates" as a tribute to Darrell during a Gigantour show on August 2, 2005 in Dallas, TX. This performance is included on the bonus disc of the 2005 Gigantour DVD.
- The booklet for Static-x's 4th studio album, Start a War, contains the message '"This album is dedicated to Dimebag Darrell, we miss you"
- The booklet for Corrosion Of Conformity's 2005 album In the Arms of God contains the message "R.I.P. Dime"
- The booklet for Disturbed's 3rd studio album, Ten Thousand Fists contains the message "We would like to dedicate this record in memory of our late fallen brother Dimebag Darrell, one of the greatest guitar players to ever walk the face of the earth."
- Metal Hammer is currently preparing a Dimebag tribute, expected to be included in the November 2007 issue.
- Trivium had a rest in peace message to Dimebag written in the back of the leaflet of their latest album, The Crusade.
- Nickleback paid another tribute for Dimebag Darrell at the Festival D'Été de Québec during the summer of 2007 during a live concert at which attented more than 85000 fans who all sang along for the tribute.
- Zakk Wylde wrote a song called "The Last Goodbye" after Dimebag's death, it is also usually associated to him.
- Vital Remains paid tribute to Dimebag with the song "In Infamy" on their 2007 album, "Icons of Evil".
- The death metal band Waritory included the song "The Day Music Started to Suck" on their early 2006 release "Gods of Hunger", the song was one of many tributes to Dimebag by the band.
- In Flames performed "Fuckin' Hostile" to celebrate the life of Dimebag Darrell on their latest boxset "Used & Abused"
- Finnish metal band Kiuas honored Dimebag with a song titled "Bleeding Strings" on their album "Reformation".
