Free Republic

I wanted to get all of your takes on something that irked me. Some of you probably heard about the murder of heavy metal star "Dimebag" Darell Abbott (formerly of Pantera) and several other people by a fan at a club here in Columbus, Ohio, last month. Today, the Columbus Dispatch ran a large story about the killing. Their picture of the killer, Nathan Gale was of him in his Marin Corps uniform. Gale had been discharged from the Marines after serving less than two years of a four-year stint because of issues related to his weight, and, possibly, his...

I was telling my son about the band who was shot at a week or so ago, but couldn't remember their name.

HEROES The DamagePlan Shootings - Columbus, Ohio - Dec 8, 2004 Today I was contacted by two local Columbus Roadies that were both eyewitnesses to the DamagePlan Shootings exactly one week ago tonight in Columbus Ohio at the Alrosa Villa club. They are members of the local stage crew in Columbus, and work several venues including the Alrosa. "Jon" is the club's stage manager and "Tubbs" is the club's F.O.H. (Front of House Sound Man) and was working monitors that fateful night as he normally did when a national act like DamagePlan played the club. Neither Jon nor Tubbs have...

The man who shot former Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and three other men to death at a nightclub was obsessed with the popular heavy metal band and made bizarre accusations against it, a onetime friend said in reports published Friday. Jeramie Brey said gunman Nathan Gale once showed up at a friend's house saying he wanted to share songs he had written. The pages of lyrics were copied from Pantera, but Gale claimed he had written them, Brey said. "He was off his rocker," Brey told The Columbus Dispatch. "He said they were his songs, that Pantera stole them...

According to TotalRock.com, former IRON MAIDEN frontman Paul Di'Anno was attacked during his show in Tel Aviv, Israel on Friday (Dec. 10). A crazed fan apparently got onstage, and lashed out at the shaken singer. Fortunately, Di'Anno suffering only minor injuries, and was able to finish the gig. Di'Anno performed in Israel as part of the Heavy Metal Monsters melodic metal festival, which is scheduled to conclude tonight (Dec. 11) in Haifa, Israel. Di'Anno is reportedly playing a very long set consisting of 70 percent IRON MAIDEN songs and 30 percent his own material.

An unlikely assortment of retired neighbors and young fans gathered Thurdsay outside the home of Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott, leaving flowers, a Confederate flag and a poster declaring him "the people's rock star". The 38-year-old guitarist, who was fatally shot during a performance Wednesday night in Columbus, Ohio, was remembered in this semi-rural enclave as an approachable star who never strayed far from his roots in blue-collar Arlington. "He was a hick with an attitude, and I say that respectfully," said neighbor Jim Evans, 63, a retired computer executive who said he frequently walked dogs with Abbott. "We'd talk conservative politics....

VANITY of VANITIES

At Least 3 Dead, 4 Wounded In Nightclub Shooting Witnesses: Alleged Gunman Went Onto Stage, Fired Shots POSTED: 10:32 pm EST December 8, 2004 UPDATED: 11:36 pm EST December 8, 2004 COLUMBUS, Ohio -- At least three people died and four others were wounded after a shooting at a Columbus nightclub on Wednesday night, NBC 4 reported. The shooting took place shortly after 10 p.m. at Alrosa Villa, located at 5055 Sinclair Road. Two members of the heavy metal band Damageplan were reportedly shot and killed, including Dimebag Darrell, formerly with the band Pantera, NBC 4's David Wayne reported. The...