Thursday, December 09, 2004

Cemetery Gates: A gunman killed metal guitarist Dimebag Darrell at an Ohio concert last night. The shooter continued to fire into the crowd and kill three other people before a police officer arrived and shot the gunman, killing him.

For those of you who aren't metal fans, Dimebag Darrell was one of the most talented rock guitarists out there. He first made it big with the band Pantera. After that band broke up, Darrell and his brother/bandmate formed a new band, Damageplan, whose concert was where the attack took place.

The members of Pantera hail from Dallas -- my neck of the woods -- and some friends and I even had the privilege of drinking with Darrell and talking to him briefly outside a bar. He was a cool guy who didn't talk down to his fans. Even when one of my friends accidentally dropped and broke the bottle of whiskey we were sharing, Darrell just laughed and joked, "Oops! Party's over."

Thank God a police officer was able to respond quickly and kill the shooter before more people were hurt. But the music world has lost a truly gifted and talented artist. Darrell will be missed.