Pantera Pays Homage to the Abbott Brothers in Grand Rapids Alongside Lamb of God and Child Bite

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Written By Sherburt

The Cowboys From Hell in Grand Rapids

I have to preface this with; it meant a lot to me to do this because the 3 guys I grew up listening to this band with in high school are all dead.
RIP Joey Bags, Hansen, and Dolsen.

 

Pantera brought their headlining tour to Michigan and I drove my ass almost 3 hours to Grand Rapids to photograph it. I was 1 of only 6 photographers approved for this show and it was my 2nd arena gig ever. It felt like a hometown show right off the bat with a couple of photographers from Detroit being in the media pool, but the main reason was because Detroit’s Child Bite opened the gig. It was a helluva warm-up show for their appearance at the Garden this past weekend in New York City. Gimme some salsa ya weird metal cowboys. Anyway, the direct support for the show was Lamb of God and despite having to share the pit with 30+ VIPs, I still had no issue photographing them. I always found it weird that bands do this, and also making us sign a photo release just sends a pretty wild message. I think this might’ve been my last time photographing LOG tbh.

PANTERA NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

PANTERA

LAMB OF GOD

CHILD BITE

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Rad to see Child Bite go from small Detroit shows to playing the Garden a few days after I took these. That was a big deal for me when I signed up to potentially do this show. Considering Phil has not one but multiple bands from Detroit on his Housecore Records label, it’s no surprise he would be sidestage for their set in Grand Rapids.

Everyone takes pride in their city’s culture, or at least in my head, everyone does. Detroit is incredibly tight-knit and supportive of one another, even outside of our genre lines. Escaping this city is no easy task, even nowadays when things are perceived to be much better than it used to be. Woof, that is for an entirely different conversation and I am not doing that again here today. Instead let’s just check out the galleries below from the show!

PANTERA

LAMB OF GOD

CHILD BITE

Sherburt

SEASONED MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHER CHRIS β€œSHERBURT” SMITH IS ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT-AFTER PHOTOGRAPHERS IN PUNK, HARDCORE, METAL, AND DIY MUSIC.

I currently work for and not limited to: NOFX, The Crofoot, Tied Down Detroit, Small’s Bar, Black Iris Booking, Cold As Life, PUG Fest, Bloodlined Calligraphy, The Syndicate, and Sucker Punch Detroit.

In the past, I have worked with Less Than Jake, Suicide Machines, Negative Approach, A Wilhelm Scream, Off With Their Heads, Sinnistar, Armor For Sleep, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Dieselboy, DJ Dara, AK1200, Messinian, Rituals of Mine, Clipboards, Kickstand Michigan, and many more.

I have had my work used in or for For The Love Of Punk, Metal Sucks, Lambgoat, DEQ Magazine, No Echo, and more!

I also am an active photo contributor to the recently revived and iconic Anti-Matter Zine run by Norman Brannon of Texas Is The Reason, New End Original, and Thursday.

In 2024 you can see me across the US alongside NOFX for their final-ever tour. I will also be chugging along in Detroit in between festivals and trips. Say hi if you see me!

https://instagram.com/sherburtphoto
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