“Vinnie was the first guy to fall in love with Disturbed,” said David Draiman
David Draiman , vocalist of Disturbed , commented on the influence of Vinnie Paul and Pantera on the band.
“Musically, when I joined Disturbed, stylistically they were very similar to Pantera,” said Draiman. “ Mike Wengren , our drummer, is a Vinnie fan. One of the reasons he started playing drums.”
He continued, “When we met the guys from Pantera, which happened during our first Ozzfest , they were always very warm, Vinnie, Dime , and Rex . Phil Anselmo wasn’t at his best right now. But they taught us what was important: to be inclusive of other bands and not feel superior to them,” he explained.
“Vinnie was the first guy to fall in love with Disturbed,” Draiman added. “Dime didn’t get it right away, to be honest… They came to our show at the second Ozzfest . It was the time we were going to play in a place for 100,000 people, but there were 25,000 waiting for us. So Sharon Osbourne said, ‘we have to put you guys on the main stage.’ They witnessed it. It was an incredible moment to have Vinnie and Dime be a part of it.”
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