In Pantera’s long-anticipated reunion shows, Charlie Benante took on the drumming to honor Vinnie Paul. The musician recently chatted with Metal Edge along with his Anthrax bandmate Scott Ian and disclosed why he felt like a superhero whenever he played with Pantera.
The pair were talking about Anthrax’s future and what awaited the fans when the topic drifted to how age doesn’t matter as much as it used to anymore, as most old rockers have been touring and performing. Ian agreed by saying that age didn’t matter when one wanted to rock and that they now had been playing bigger shows than they did at the height of their popularity years ago.
“Exactly,” said Benante as he agreed with the Anthrax guitarist. “The thing too is when we did those dates in the UK, there were times when I felt, ‘I don’t feel of the age that I am.’ When I was in New Orleans rehearsing with Pantera, there were times when I would be playing and almost… you feel like a superhero because there’s parts coming up that you really enjoy playing and, dude, it’s like no problem at all.”
Music made rockers feel like superhumans regardless of their age. The drummer added, “It happens; your body, your muscle memory, just takes over and you get so caught up in the part you have no time to think about [an] ailment or your age. I know a lot of musicians would understand that, too; it just takes over, and you feel superhuman.”
So, age doesn’t matter much when rockers want to tour and make new music. The media and the fans have also gotten used to seeing old musicians performing. Benante discussed that he didn’t feel at his age whenever he would take the stage for some drumming.
