Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story of Pantera (22 page)

Catching some surf; Gold Coast, Australia. (Joe Giron Photography)

In the studio circa
The Great Southern Trendkill
sessions. (Joe Giron Photography)

Me and my idol, Gene Simmons, in
RIP
magazine. (Joe Giron Photography)

Me jamming ballz-out … somewhere. (Joe Giron Photography)

Having a good time in Dime’s house. (Joe Giron Photography)

Touring
Far Beyond Driven.
(Joe Giron Photography)

At the Six Flags Over Texas amphitheater, 1985. (Joe Giron Photography)

One of the last of the good old days. (Joe Giron Photography)

Rex … just Rex. (Joe Giron Photography)

Touring
Vulgar Display of Power.
(Joe Giron Photography)

Somewhere in Europe. (Joe Giron Photography)

For my brother and friend, R.I.P. (Joe Giron Photography)

Touring
Trendkill
also took us back down to South America during ’97, this time touring with KISS, who were Dime and my heroes, and we were at the very top of our game. KISS were always a big-selling band down there and in that position where you want to make it count financially, they wanted the hottest opening band you can get and we just happened to be it at that time. We didn’t see much of the KISS guys except a couple of nights when we all went to the Hard Rock Café in Buenos Aires.

This was a no-booze tour for them because Ace was back out with them for the first time, so they didn’t go out much and neither did we, but while their reasons for not going out were driven by abstinence, ours were that we could cause utter chaos and carnage within the four walls of a hotel. So, we’d just go to the hotel bar or hang out in of one our rooms that had a bar.

I’ll never forget my room in Santiago, Chile, The Intercontinental. When I opened the door for the first time, this dude dressed in a fucking tuxedo grabs my bag and starts putting all my clothes away in the closet while I’m thinking, “Who the fuck is this?”

Here I am in Santiago and I’ve got this killer room divided into all kinds of separate breakfast, living and sleeping areas, then another area that had a huge bouquet of fruit and a bunch of bottles of wine all set up for me by Warner Brothers, Chile
and
I’ve got this guy. What a fucking trip! After he’d put all my shit away, the guy’s still standing there.