Grunge legends Alice in Chains have paid tribute to Vinnie Paul during their set at Hellfest. The band dedicated their song ‘Nutshell’ to the late drummer.
Before ripping into their track they shared this heartfelt message with the crowd.
“Almost every night, we like to play a song for our good friend Layne Staley and Mike Starr, and we’re gonna do that. But I’d like to play this one for Vinnie Paul.”
Check out the footage below:
In an interview with Billboard, Jerry Cantrell, Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist reflected on when he first met Vinnie Paul and his brother, late Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell.
“I graduated in ‘84 and was going to winter semester of college, and then got the bright idea to put school off for a year and try to put a band together with a bunch of buddies of mine. So we drove to Dallas in a van and got jobs. We jammed and went to clubs at night. One of the clubs we went to was a place called Cardi’s in Houston. They had rock bands all the time — I saw Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force, Talas, all sorts of cool fucking bands. Pantera was one of the bands I saw there. I remember talking to Dime after the show, just about gear and about how much I enjoyed how he played. I thought he was an amazing guitarist and he turned out to be an even better person. That started a long, long friendship.”
