Rex Brown was forced to miss Pantera's fourth comeback show at Knotfest Chile (Dec.11) due to "health problems" and bassist Derek Engemann stepped into the role in his absence for most of the set, with former Down guitarist Bobby Lundgraf also helping out toward the end of the night.
The festival issued a statement which has since been deleted from social media pages and, per Metal Hammer, that statement read, "The bass guitarist of the band Pantera, Rex Brown, could not perform at Knotfest due to health problems. We regret this situation. However, the show proceeded as normal."
Additionally, local radio station Futuro has reported that Brown has contracted COVID-19 and flew from Bogotá, Columbia (where Pantera played Knotfest Columbia on Dec. 9) to the U.S. to quarantine.
This claim has not been publicly confirmed through any official Pantera channels, nor by the event's organizers.
Helping Pantera power through their 12-song set at the festival was Engemann, who has some ties to the group through frontman Philip Anselmo, serving as the bassist in Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals and as the guitarist in Scour, another band starring the Pantera singer. Engemann also played bass in death-grinder Cattle Decapitation from 2010 through 2018, performing on their Monolith of Inhumanity and The Anthropocene Extinction albums.
In other words, he's qualified and, in the fan-filmed video footage seen toward the bottom of the page, he handles the material well while Brown recuperates. And with Lundgraf playing alongside Anselmo in Down from 2013 through 2018, it helped keep things a bit in-house there too.
Drummer Charlie Benante also took time to share footage from Knotfest Chile, stating, "Chile was on fire!!!!! We missed Rex tonight, get better buddy!"
Pantera's next show is tonight (Dec. 12), again in Santiago, Chile though not as a continued part of Knotfest Chile. It's one of the band's last three 2022 concerts with a big year ahead opening for Metallica in North America and with other dates booked around the world. See all of their upcoming dates here and get tickets for their concerts opening for Metallica here (check listings carefully — Metallica have different openers depending on the night).
Pantera Setlist — Dec. 11, 2022 (Knotfest Chile - via setlist.fm)
01. "A New Level"
02. "Mouth for War"
03. "Strength Beyond Strength"
04. "Becoming"
05. "I'm Broken"
06. "5 Minutes Alone"
07. "This Love"
08. "Fucking Hostile"
09. "Planet Caravan" (Black Sabbath cover)
10. "Walk"
11. "Cowboys From Hell"
12. "Domination" / "Hollow"
Pantera, "Cowboys From Hell" with Derek Engemann on Bass — Dec. 11, 2022 (Knotfest Chile)
Pantera, "Walk" with Derek Engemann on Bass — Dec. 11, 2022 (Knotfest Chile)
