I’ve had a lot of respect for Flynn for some time now. He comes across as a straight-talker, is honest about his points of view and doesn’t pull his punches. I genuinely enjoy his occasional emails/blog posts about life on the road and opinions on current affairs. Even if I don’t agree with them, he voices his own opinions very well indeed.
OK, so I’m pissed that he doesn’t talk to online press on tour, but hey – we all have our faults!
He was at the recent Dimebash and played a song with Phil Anselmo prior to the “white power” incident which I’m sure you’ve read about by now. He can also clarify one or two points being made about the excuse given, and about Phil’s character in general. The video below is eleven minutes long and features some unpleasant language but it’s well worth a watch.
In brief, the main points:
- There was no white wine backstage at Dimebash
- Phil sat down with him to discuss playing some other songs at the festival, but pretty much began the conversation stating that he didn’t like Machine Head’s “n*gger era”
- During “A New Level”, he sings “Power” followed by mouthing the words “white power” and throwing the nazi salute
- Everyone seems to know Phil does this, nobody ever calls him on it, because, you know, Phil
- Machine Head will no longer play any Pantera songs.
That last one is a punch in the gut as MH are known for celebrating Dimebag’s birthday with a tune or two if they’re playing live that night. But I can understand Robb’s reasoning. Phil has tainted not just his own name, but that of Pantera and his old bandmates.
All the views in the video are Robb’s, obviously, and you can take them as you hear them. In my opinion, he’s hit the nail on the head. The evidence does seem to be mounting that Anselmo is a racist, who’s just been hiding it in the closet. He’s entitled to be a racist. Normal people are entitled to revile him for it.
Don’t expect us to be covering anything to do with Anselmo in future.
