Video: MICHAEL ANGELO BATIO Pays Tribute To DIMEBAG In Colombia

Fan-filmed video footage of renowned guitarist Michael Angelo Batio (NITRO) paying tribute to late PANTERA axeman "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott during his March 16 concert at Teatro Libre in Bogota, Colombia can be seen below.

In a 2009 interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com, Batio stated about his tribute to Dimebag: "This is something of a departure for me, because a lot of people don't associate great lead playing with great rhythm playing and I never knew why that was. One of the things that I always worked hard on, and that's how I got on a major label in the first place, was to be really good on rhythm guitar and accurate as far as timing and tone. And Dimebag's sound is not easy to get with all those pinched harmonics and the groove that he plays over the drums; you have to really have a feel. And so do I sound like Dimebag at all? No, but I wanted to capture the essence of it and that's his groove … Because Dime was supposed to play on my 2005 solo album, 'Hands Without Shadows'. We had a track all ready before he got shot and I knew him fairly well. And obviously he's an iconic figure with Dean guitars. I've always wanted to show people that there's another side to being a good lead player and that's being a good rhythm guitarist. And there's no better song from metal that I can think of than [the song] 'Cowboys From Hell'."

He added: "I met Dime when PANTERA was touring for their 'Cowboys From Hell' CD. He told me that he had studied my 'Star Licks' instructional video and that it had helped him a lot. He dedicated the set to me that night. I was amazed at the aggression of his tone and the ferocious riffs that he was playing. I immediately realized he was something special."