Pantera bassist Rex Brown misses fourth reunion show
After a 21-year absence of playing shows, heavy metal band Pantera returned to the stage for a reunion tour this December, beginning in Mexico. However, just four days into the tour, bassist Rex Brown has already had to take time off due to ill health.
On Sunday, December 11th, the band appeared in Santiago, Chile, to play Knotfest. Since Brown couldn’t perform, he was replaced by Cattle Decapitation bassist Derek Engemann, who also plays alongside Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo in Philip H. Anselmo and The Illegals, and Scour, a black metal supergroup.
The organisers of Knotfest posted a statement: “The bass guitarist of the band Pantera, Rex Brown, could not perform at Knotfest due to health problems. We regret this situation. However, the show proceeded as normal.”
Pantera’s drummer Charlie Benante posted a video after the show, during which the band played 12 songs, including a cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘Planet Caravan’. In his caption, he wrote: “We missed Rex tonight, get better buddy!”
Although the band haven’t released an official statement declaring Brown’s illness, Chilean radio station Futuro FM reported that the musician tested positive for Covid-19 after their show on Friday (December 9th) in Columbia, thus forcing him to fly home to the US to quarantine.
The band are set to play another show in Santiago tonight (December 12th) at the Movistar Arena, although it seems as though Brown will also be absent.
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