February 24, 2001 Pop's Saloon located
in Sauget, Illinois (directly across the Mississippi River from
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA)
Ronnie James Dio and bandmates met with fans a few hours before the show to sign copies of the new Dio disc "Magica." I participated in the CD-signing. Ronnie and bandmates (Craig Goldy, Jimmy Bain, Scott Warren, and Simon Wright) were all friendly, outgoing, and in good spirits. Ronnie was particularly happy and is definitely one of the nicest "rock legends" that I've had the chance to meet! He signed my CD along with a few vinyl Dio albums that I brought along. I also had a picture taken of myself along with Ronnie and Jimmy Bain. A big "Thank You" goes out to Ronnie and band for doing the CD signing.
I saw the show with three good friends: Don Hogan, Ron Newcomer, and Ed Albers. Armored Saint opened the show and I suppose that I'm not into that type of metal but some of the crowd liked it. The next act was Lynch Mob with George Lynch (guitarist formerly with Dokken) and the crowd really warmed up to him, as he is an amazing guitarist. Lynch Mob played about 50 minutes.
Next of course was Ronnie James Dio and band. Ronnie sang excellently and the band played great. I can't remember all of the songs they did but they played almost non-stop. I'm a little bit of an older rocker (38 years old) so I enjoy the older stuff and know those songs very well. I'm sure that they played Sunset Superman, Stand Up and Shout, Holy Diver, Don't Talk to Strangers, Rainbow In The Dark, Invisible, Last In Line, and maybe We Rock (but I'm not sure about that one). They also did Heaven and Hell, Man on the Silver Mountain, and Long Live Rock 'n Roll. As a bonus for St. Louis they did Neon Nights, which was the last song of the night. Of course a large portion of the show was from the latest disc titled "Magica" and it was great to hear newer music too. Dio and band played for a solid 2 hours. The band sounded fantastic and Craig Goldy is an awesome guitarist. I was very much impressed with his playing. Ronnie's voice sounded as strong as ever.
Later that week I called into the local Rock radio station in St. Louis (KSHE-95) and was put on the air. I said that "Ronnie's voice is as every bit as good today as what it was 26 years ago when he did Man On The Silver Mountain and how he can put on that type of a high quality show night after night is incredible." I also mentioned that "Ronnie was smiling for the people in the crowd who were taking pictures and you could tell that he loved the crowd and loved being on stage."
My friends and I all enjoyed the concert very much. Overall, I give it a 10 out of 10 and I would definitely go to see it again. A word to the wise out there thinking about going to see Dio... the show that I saw was "SOLD OUT" and there were quite a few people outside who couldn't get in so please don't wait until the last minute to get your tickets. The first time that I saw Dio was with Black Sabbath on Sept 30, 1980. Hopefully I won't have to wait nearly 21 years to see him again.
Thank you for reading my review. Best wishes to all Dio fans out there.
Signed, Mark Varwig, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA (email: chuckmeister2112@juno.com)
Take Care, Mark Varwig, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
P.S. Editorial comment: Ronnie James Dio is the exact opposite of Axl Rose (Guns 'n Roses) when it comes to interacting with the fans. About ten years ago when Axle was in St. Louis, he got angry with someone that was taking pictures and jumped into the crowd, punched the person in the head, got back on stage, threw down the microphone, and would not sing the rest of the night. A riot quickly ensued and all sorts of stuff got trashed including all of the Guns 'n Roses gear. Besides... Ronnie sings excellent "live and in concert". That is something Axl is still working on. Hats off to RJD and band.
Dio Concert in Grand Rapids Michigan at the Orbit Room December 3rd 2000
Here's my review of the 12/3 Dio show at the Orbit Room in Grand Rapids, Michigan:
The show was to start at 8PM, so Brian and I were in line when the doors opened at 6:30PM. Upon entering we made our way to center stage against the barrier as this was a general admission show. The show started before 8PM with Doro Pesch doing a half an hour and Malmsteen doing about 45 minutes. That's not why we came.
Finally, after waiting for 3 and a half hours, Dio took the stage at 10PM. Now things started to heat up. Ronnie started out with a few Dio songs before playing almost all of the new Magica CD with the exception of track #9. I heard he took it out of the setlist after the Detroit shows when an unruly fan flipped him off and gave him alot of grief for playing a slower song. After finishing with Magica, the band broke into the real meat of the show. This was where the moshers and body surfers tried to take over. I wouldn't have minded, but the body surfers always seemed to come flying in right over Brian and I. This was not to be a concert for the weak hearted, but we managed to hold our own and stay front and center despite the surging crowd which picked up more energy everytime the band would play another popular song. The show seemed to be wrapping up around 11:30PM, but Ronnie stayed on stage as the others left. They quickly returned and cranked out a few more hits. The entire band then left only to return for 2 more encores before finally wrapping up right around midnight.
I was able to come up with a meet and greet pass from someone so I stuck around until 1AM when the band members began to come out at different intervals. I was able to get autographs from the entire band on my Magica insert. Ronnie was a real treat when he finally came out, shaking hands and full of smiles, just like he was on stage. I had a picture taken with Ronnie as he gave me a strong hug with one arm and extended the other in his trademark 2 fingered salute that he got from his grandmother. We didn't sleep much that night as we both had to work the next day, but it was well worth it. During the show Ronnie came out to the edge of the stage several times to make contact with those up front. We must have made hand contact 2 or 3 times during the show. Ronnie's voice is still incredible after all these years even though the acoustics at the Orbit Room are not kind to vocals. The wall of sound created by Jimmy Bain and Craig Goldy on guitar was incredible. I should have brought my sound pressure level meter. I have been to many many shows that all seem to run consistantly around 110 decibels. This seemed alot louder. In the small setting of the Orbit Room the sound was thunderous. I make a habit of bringing earplugs since I go to a fair number of shows and boy did I need them that night.
Here's the setlist as
best as I can remember. The order is not right, but I think
I've got everything they played:
Sunset Superman
Don't Talk to Strangers
You Can Be Invisible
Stand Up and Shout
Magica CD minus track #9
Last in Line
Holy Diver
Rainbow in the Dark
Mob Rules
Heaven and Hell
Man on the Silver Mountain
Long Live Rock and Roll
The next day I opened the local paper and found a picture of myself in the entertainment section. It was taken during the concert and shows me shaking hands with Ronnie during the concert. It just doesn't get any better than this!
/Daniel
Torben Askholm writes about Dio at Train, Århus, Denmark June 2000
Rush Hour!
Pedalling home from work, a quick bath, getting into my "gear" and finally I just had to wait until my ride arrived. Fully loaded with Beer and Booze, cranked up stereo and ready for things to come the four horsemen raced towards the Magical country.
It's Magic!
Arrived at "Train" an hour and a half later on high spirit so we immediately rushed to the bar closest to the stage (I picked up a bottle of my fave Brew Newcastle Brown Ale) greeting some of my buddies from Aarhus who just arrived as well. While we were talking about the upcoming show Ken and Ronnie from Pretty Maids showed up at the bar so we got some inside information on the coming album which sounded very promising indeed! Finally the intro came on.
Stand Up And Shout!
"Sunset Superman" roared through the speakers and Ronnie had the biggest smile on that I've seen for ages while Craig wielded his axe like it was the devils spawn and without letting go the went into "Invisible" while the crowd got more and more excited - This was the real Thing-
Beam me up Scotty!
A drum solo so early in the set was quite surprising, but Simon knew how long he could hold the attention of the Screaming crowd - short precise and adequate - so "Stand up and Shout" followed and YES my Fave Dio song "One Night In The City" came on rolling into "All The Fools Sailed Away" which was a definite crowd-pleaser.
Magica Time!
Admitted I was a bit loaded at that time, but the constantly jumping shook me up a bit and when "Lords Of The Last days" hit my ears like a hammer the crowd was one big wave .Yeah we were all having one hell of a good time.
A bit Blurred!
Time was taking it's toll and me as well (a little shaky that is) and finishing the well thought Magica section Dio led us all into the Classic "Holy Diver" making the rest of the show a feast of Rainbow, Sabbath and Dio material making it clear that DIO is Back no matter what!
We Rocked!
What a night with the Best Dio show that I've seen for a long time, so now we just have to wait until......!!!
-Torben-
May 18th – Pratteln (CH) – Z7
I decided to leave from my town (50 km. from Milan – Italy) at 12.00 a.m., with my young faithful brother-in-law. I bought some "Prosciutto di Parma, ham, Parmigiano Reggiano" for my dear friend Dane (a very pleasant girl of the "Z-7" staff who knew in 1998, during that Dio European Tour): I had promised to bring her some good italian food. I hoped that she would help me to meet Ronnie (the dream of my life: I have been a Dio fan since the 70s, but I am very shy and so I’ve never had any chance to meet him).
We started our travel, listening to "Magica" on my old Opel: the stereo was playing loud and we were looking forward to be there. We reached Pratteln (near Basel) at 6.30 p.m.: I met Dane and gave her the food (she was really happy to see me and so was I).
At 8.00 p.m. we entered the "Z-7 Konzertfabrik" with our backstage passes, waiting for the Tell’s performance: it’s a Swiss metal band with guitar,bass and drum; Roberto, a very good drummer, "Bobby Rondinelli style", is an italian guy. But the audience (900 people about) was not very hot.
Then, after Tell, at 9.40 p.m., behind the smoke, Dio and the guys appeared on stage!
Unfortunately the sound was not perfect: all the instruments were not well mixed: the bass was too loud and there was too much echo. But fortunately, after 4 songs, the situation improved. Here are the songs:
The last time I saw the band on stage was in 1999 in Germany, during the open air festival, and I was really happy: my abstinence was finally over! I found Ronnie wonderful, as always, Craig in a great shape and so Simon.
As the concert was finishing (after 1 h., 33’), I was becoming sad, as usual. But after 30’ we reached the "security zone", waiting for the topic moment. The security man let us enter the backstage after few minutes: it was the first time for us, and our emotion was running fast inside our souls!
Ronnie was still eating at that moment, but we could not see him; but we met Simon and talked to him. He is a very nice person. When I told him "For Ronnie I could drive until the North Pole", he laughed and answered: "Why don’t you take a plane?". Great!
There were only 5 fans: we two, two French and a Greek guy (who had really taken an airplane!). Then Ronnie appeared upstairs, and I could not believe to be so near my idol… When he came down, with his personal manager (I think), Dane approached to him and told him that she wanted to introduce a friend, Marcello, who came from Italy. So Ronnie looked at me and gave me his hand, telling: "How are you, my friend?". In that moment a big emotion inside me was becoming higher and higher: as he touched me, I could feel the power, the heat, the positive energy of that man; it’s difficult to explain a sensation, but I realized he was a very special person… Because of my emotion, I was only able to tell him that 15 years ago, in Italy, one of his trucks (containing all the instruments and part of the scenes) had an accident on the road to Milan (place of the show), but thanks to Ronnie (who borrowed the instruments) the concert could take place all the same and it has been great. He told me he remembered that and let me take a photo with him. I did it and so did my brother-in-law: we all were so happy!… Ronnie was very kind with me and the other ones. Then he went away and left us together, chattering around a table.
Dane was touched and very happy for me: I could see that in her eyes. She knew very well how important was for me: the dream of my life come true!
We embraced each other and then we left: it was 1.00 a.m. and I had 400 km. to do! But I was too happy. On the way I was always thinking to those magic moments… A concert was just over, and I was looking forward to see another one, the day after tomorrow in Milan: 50 km. from my home!
But that’s another story.
Marcello
May 20th – Milano (I) – Alcatraz
As sooon as my friends arrived, we moved on with my faithful car, an Opel 13 years old, and my stereo playing loud "Magica", looking forward to see another show. Two days before I was in Switzerland for the Dio’s concert!
We arrived al Alcatraz at 9.15 p.m. and we found a lot of people waiting at the doorway.
I suddenly could get my aftershow pass and then I reached my friends in a good position, not too far from the stage.
The audience (1800 people about) was already hot when the show began, at 10.00 p.m.. Looking at the smoke and hearing the "intro", I felt the emotion up and down my backbone! The sound was not perfect, but later everything become O.K.. The songs were the following:
After the first songs I realized that Ronnie enjoyed the audience: in fact the partecipation was really hot. I was glad because I knew that R.J. Dio likes Italy, even if there are not many chances to see him in our country; my friends and I were singing and jumping, and we felt very happy to see such an enthusiasm among the crowds all around us.
I was sure that Ronnie was appreciating all that feeling, with chorus, flags and banners; the band presented two songs more ("As long as it’s not about love" and "Losing my insanity"). But the time flies when Dio sings, so we suddenly found ourselves at the last "encore": at the end of the show we were satisfied, but simultaneously we could not get enough of the music and a little sadness was coming…
Some minutes later, I tried to enter the backstage, but a fucking stupid bouncer did not let me in. I tried to explain him that I had the right to go there, I showed him my regular pass, but it ain’t no use: he was too ignorant and rude, so he sent me away. I thought: "You won’t steal my dreams!" and I looked for the director of the "security", but he was really impossible to find, in such a confusion of the music hall. Luckily, after half an hour, I could find the boss of that place, smoking a cigar, and after a long and tiring speech I convinced him to accompany me in the backstage.
I was the only fan: when Craig and Scott said "hello" to me, I was feeling better; then I talked for a while about the show to Craig, who was drinking a glass of beer. Simon even remembered that I was "the one who would drive until the North Pole for Ronnie"!
In the meanwhile I knew a kind guy of the "Spitfire Records", who promised to introduce me to Ronnie. I thought: "I’ve been a Dio fan since the 70s, but I’ve never meet Ronnie! And now I’m going to meet him for the second time in three days: life is very strange!"
When Ronnie came and that guy asked him to stay for a while for us, he looked at me and recognized me; so he asked me smiling: "Another pic?" Naturally! He embraced me while the guy took a snapshot and it was really unbelievable! I showed Ronnie the photo of my little daughter Eleonora (6 years old) in my living – room; on the wall behind her there are 4 pictures of famous big musicians: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and… R.J. Dio! He appreciated it very much, specially when I told him that my little daughter loves his music and always sings "This is your life". I could also tell him "thank you for all the songs you wrote so far; you’re the only one and really magic".
When we said "goodbye" to Ronnie, I tried to shake his hand, but he wanted to embrace me and that was really unexpected for me and made me very happy.
I reached my friends and I was feeling lucky for what happened to me: I was so happy that I could not sleep that night, because of my big emotion.
Everything happened in such a short time… "but the magic that we feel is worth a lifetime"!!!
Marcello
Dio at K2 Fregatten, Åkersberga, Sweden, 23rd of October 1998
I took the plane to Stockholm in the morning, and then spent a
few hours shopping. Later this day I met my friend Gusten, that I
was going to the Dio show with. We ate dinner and then took the
subway and a train to get to Åkersberga. We arrived to K2
Fregatten about 8 PM. The doors to concert hall was closed, so we
had to wait in the bar for a while. The place got more and more
crowded. At about 9.45, the doors were opened, and music came
from the speakers. Dio was supposed to start their show at 10.30,
but nothing happened. We waited and waited, still hearing the
recorded music in the speakers. There were some people running
around at the stage once in a while, fixing some stuff. 20
minutes before midnight, a man got on stage, and told the
audience to stop throwing bottles onto the stage, or otherwise
they had to stop the concert. He also said that Dio was supposed
to get on stage soon. Dio started playing 10 minutes after
midnight. The setlist was as follows:
Intro
Evilution
Straight through the heart
Don't talk to strangers
Holy diver Drumsolo/Heaven and hell
Children of the sea
I speed at night
Stargazer/Mistreated/Catch the rainbow/Guitar solo/Stargazer
The last in line
First encore:
Neon knights
Rainbow in the dark
Second encore:
Man on the silver mountain/Long live rock 'n' roll
Third encore:
We rock
The sound was OK, very heavy music, but the vocals was a bit
too "screamy mixed". The audience was quite into the
music and definately seemed to enjoy the show. We were singing
very well during 'Heaven and hell'. It was very difficult to move
around because it was really crowded. They thought it was about
1100 people at the show, and the place was not very big. I think
the show was great. It lasted for about 90 minutes.
In the beginning, Ronnie seemed a bit irritated, but it seemed to
get over pretty soon. He was giving beer to the front-row people,
and sang as good as always. The band at this show was Ronnie,
Tracy G, Simon Wright and Bob Daisley on the bass. I couldn't see
Scott Warren anywhere, and I don't know what happened to Larry
Dennison.
After the show we had to wait for a long time to get our jackets
back from the wardrobe, so I asked if I could the setlist from
the stage, but the man up there just ignored me ... When we got
out of the arena, there were no communications back to Stockholm,
so we had to share a Taxi with 2 other Dio fans. We got to bed at
about 4 AM. I was very happy to have seen Dio for the second time
in my life, and yes - my ears were ringing!
Garvaren, Ljungby, Sweden, 24th of October 1998
We had to go up early to catch train to Alvesta at 7.12 AM. I slept for a while at the train, and when we arrived, we took the bus to Ljungby (it took about 4,5 hours with train from Stockholm to Alvesta). In Ljungby, we took a couple of hours to relax.
We went to Garvaren at about 9.30 PM. At about 10 the opening
act, Southpaw, started their gig. They have members from swedish
bands like Europe, Treat, Swedish Erotica, Talisman. They were
quite heavy with some good riffs, but the vocals was too bad
mixed, so you couldn't hear very much of it.
During the show, a man I recognized, came and took place beside
me - it was Tracy G. Cool. I asked him if he could sign my ticket
from the Åkersberga show the day before, and he did! Then he
gave the band on stage a thumbs up. After about 30 minutes,
Southpaw left the stage.
Dio started playing at 11. I had a good place at second or third
row center. Scott Warren played the keyboards on this show, and
Bob Daisley still handled the bass. They played the same set as
the day before, except they also played 'Mob rules' as a second
encore after 'Man on the silver mountain/Long live rock 'n'
roll'. During 'We rock', someone threw a pair of glasses (not
sunglasses), up on the stage, and Ronnie took them on and
pretended to be stumbling around - Funny!
The audience in the first rows were very into the show, but the
people at the back of the arena were a bit cooler. The sound was
better this day because it was cleaner. Dio left the stage after
about 95 minutes. Great show once again! They said it were about
1300 people at this show, but the place was much bigger than in
Åkersberga, so it didn't seem as crowded as there.
Dio - thanks for 2 great shows!
Written by Mårten Jacobsson
DIO ROCKS Cleveland!!! 2nd of July 1998 - writtten by*TeRRy*
Well.....as some of you might remember - I was kicked out of the Columbus DIO show at The Brewery district......When I talked to Ronnie, he asked me to come to Cleveland and he would make it worthwhile for me. So....how could I refuse a personal invite from The Man Himself??? I had been writing to several people that were supposed to have been meeting me there - So, not getting much sleep from going to bed at 5 AM, I hurried to meet them , and left with little sleep at 9 AM. Halfway there, I had to take a nap, but I still managed to get there at 3 PM.
The Nautica Stage was across from downtown Cleveland, separated by the river. The stage itself was behind a brewery and had a huge towering sculpture of a leftover (I was told) train support. When I got to the entrance I found about 8 people already there, waiting for Maiden. I retreated to my car, where I was able to still watch the line, and started getting myself....uh.....prepared for the show. When I got back, there were still the same people there, and I was able to go right back to where I first was waiting, right at the gate opening. It was about another hour before they finally opened the doors. I was the 1st one in and I survived a minor search. Went right over to FRONT ROW CENTER and settled down to wait. Although the stage was big, there was hardly enough room to move around on there, as all the equipment was using up most of the free space.
The stage was looking into the sun. I expect that they did this to keep the sound facing away from town, although it was not the best view for a performer, being stuck facing directly into the sun. The setup was similar to The Brewery District, with the way the high school gym seating was arranged. The seating was much better here and I would say the place held about 1500??? But this time it looked like everyone could see the stage decently.
Dirty Deeds came on a little sooner than I had expected. They did not have much in the way of being introduced, I just looked up and they were about to start. ³Hello Cleveland - We are not a covers band - This is what we do....² Since I had some extra tape and I had seen them play, I recorded them also. They still only did 5 songs and the crowd was wanting more but they said they could not do it. We were again treated to a run around the arena by the guitarist during the last song. ³At the end of this f***in Œtract I¹m coming down.......²
The wait between the sets was not long. Deeds got their stuff off, and still there was very little room for DIO to play. Before long I hear DIO¹s Intro music. And then the DIO DIO DIO¹s....By now there was a wall of people there at front. Most were being nice and maintaining their space, except for a few jerks that had on Maiden shirts. They were trying to push their way thru the people, and they made it to my left. I met a guy named Dave Stanley that was there on my left also and he was there just to see DIO. About 3/4th thru DIO¹s set, those Maiden people succeeded in pushing him out. Then they tried to start giving me their elbow in the face crap. I had to give them one back in the mouth, to let that asshole know that I was not about to be moving.
Ronnie opened with a GREAT version of Evilution. Tracy was Rockin¹!!! I could tell that they were ³ON² tonight!!! As Ronnie came on, he comes to CENTER and looks and sees me there and gives me a big smile and a wave and a thumbs up. From there, they went right into Straight Through The Heart. YEP!!! This show will ROCK!!!
This time the stage backdrop was the Angry Machines curtain, instead of the Strange Highways one they used in Columbus.
One thing I did not like, was the big gap in the stage between the audience that was home base for the security freaks. As I was there waiting for the show, I was listening to them talk about what freaks the people there looked like. I have to wonder where they dig up these assholes??? I could not believe that these jerks would try to grab the guitar picks and put them in their own pockets. Before DIO came out, one of his crew came out and passed out drumsticks that had Simon¹s name on them (I got one). I hear the security talking about trying to get some as they ought to be able to get $20 for one of those........What ASSES!!!
During the show, at 2 different times, someone handed Ronnie a poster and he signed them both and bent down to the edge of the stage and reached over to make sure that they were the one that received it back.
From there, Don¹t Talk To Strangers...... This is where the crowd got going and we started getting packed in tight. DON¹T Talk..... Then into Holy Diver. Now Simon Fucking Wright!!! Tracy does a solo that leads into Simon¹s solo. Slightly shorter drum solo than before.... Got good mob reaction!!! Breaks into Heaven and Hell, perfectly. Everyone singing!!! Tracy kicks on this one!!! And Ronnie is in GREAT voice!!! ALL RIGHT!!!........ One good Black Sabbath song deserves another....... Children of the Sea ......Look OUT!!! Neon Knights (Hot new Tracy solo) ³I guess being in the daytime is not so bad........² Into The Last In Line (EXCELLENT!!!) During this song , you can hear Ronnie interject ³nice tits² when some girl flashes for him. End of set........ HEAVY DIO DIO DIO DIO DIO......... Comes back and thanks Dirty Deeds for being there and goes into: Rainbow in the Dark - Also PERFECT!!! I was watching the time and I see that it had been 55 minutes and I figured that Rainbow in the Dark would be the last song. Right near the end of it he looks at me and gives me a thumbs up and whispers to Tracy and they break into We Rock!!! The crowd was going nuts now. They were begging for more.
Ronnie thanked the crowd and started to leave and then turned back around and came right in front of me and kneeled down and stretched out and shook hands with me. There was some guy trying to climb on top of me then and Ronnie gave him a slap as he pulled back and left the stage. The mob went crazy til they turned on the music. And.....I got an EXCELLENT recording of ALL this!!! DIO ROCKED Cleveland!!! You can BET that Ronnie has earned some new fans after this show.
Right after the show was done, I pushed myself back into the mob and watched as 3 people started to fight over my FRC spot. I was outa there.......and VERY HaPPy!!!
I went back to the car to drop off my recording gear and to then get my camera. I did not want to chance any pics there with the problems I heard about security. From where I was at, it would have been impossible not to see it, if I attempted a picture.
At the back of the stage, the busses were all parked and waiting. When I got back there, I was the only one waiting, for about 15 minutes, until a few others showed up and said they would rather meet DIO than see Maiden. A short time later an ambulance came and took someone away. Then a few minutes later another came. A asked and the guard told me that one guy passed out and another had a heart attack. I guess those old people should not go to a DIO Concert!!! Then some guy came and tried to start a fight with security. They subdued him and took him to the edge of the parking lot and let him go. he goes back in and starts more problems and they maced him. From then on, his day was ruined as they search him and find something and then the cops put him in the limo and give him a ride to his new home. One guard told me to get the people smoking dope behind the trash can in the alley to stop or the cops will be taking them also.
I met a few people from the net there a little later. I forgot your names.......SHAME on me!!! They brought a huge ELF banner with them that Ronnie had signed several times before. I got some pictures of them and it. Tracy came out and signed it and we all talked with him for a while. He is such a nice person to hang with his fans like that. I gave the him tapes of the shows from Ft Wayne, Cincinnati, and Louisville. He was real happy that they were DAT and thanked me. We all hung around for a long time just waiting for Ronnie. While we were there a limo came in and stayed for a bit and then we find that it was Jimmy Page coming to visit Ronnie and Tracy. That was so kewl!!! I told someone that I thought Page/Plant was on tour and I was wondering how he could be there. They tell me that Page and Plant was playing the Gund Arena the next night. Oh hell!!! Now I have to get a ticket for that!!! A little later Iron Maiden finally completed their set. It was another half hour before Ronnie appeared. By the time he came out, there were about 50 people gathered around. Everyone starts chanting DIO DIO DIO......and Ronnie came right on over to us. He first came up to me and gives me a handshake and a big hug and asks me to hold his beer for him (Rolling Rock). I gave him a Birthday card that he had Willie hold onto while he was in the mod. He said that whatever we do, it will have to be quick as they have to leave for Montreal real soon. Then he proceeded to sign everything that was handed to him. He did that ELF banner again and we got some pics of that. There were people that had nothing to sign, so Ronnie was signing arms and chests. Willie was there also taking pics with Ronnie¹s Digital camera (Epson). I was the last to get a pic with him. It came out GREAT and I am really proud of it. I will get it posted soon. Then, since I did not want to ask Ronnie to sign a Iron Maiden ticket stub, I asked him to sign my DAT tape box. He knows that I was doing the show that night and I think that he did it perfect for me because he knows that this will be the one his net friends will have. Signed IT: Cleveland ³Magic² 98 - RONNIE JAMES DIO
Then he leaves, he gives me another big hug and says he will see me soon. They take off and we all watch as his bus rolls out and onward to Montreal......
I had decided to stay in town. I was going to go to Cedar Point Amusement Park the next day, but with Page/Plant in town, I decided that I needed to see that instead. I went to The Flats where I met a couple girls that were asking me who that was on my shirt. So I gave them a DIO history lesson and after a few drinks and etc....we took off and I got us a room at some hotel across the street from The Gund Arena. While there, we met some people from the Page/Plant Tour, and I was asking about a ticket. They say that I should go by the next day at the sound check and they will try to get me one.
The next day, I went over to the sound check and just as I got there, Jimmy Page was coming out of the back. He saw me looking at him and asked me if he had seen me at the DIO show last night. We talked for a few minutes and I told him I was trying to find a ticket, as I did not even know that they were playing there, or I would have gotten one the day they went on sale. Now it was sold out and I would do anything to go. He reached in his pocket and told me that he had an extra one and I could have it!!!!!!!! I thanked him (more than words could describe) and he got in his limo and told me to enjoy the show and left.
I still had some time before the concert and so I went to the Rock Œn¹ Roll Hall of Fame and checked it out. $14.95 for an hour and a half of looking around. It was interesting to see the Led Zep stuff that was there, on the night of their big show. While there, I also went to an OmniMax movie next door about Everest. That was real good. Almost feels like you are there. By the time that was over, I went back to The Gund and for a parking spot. Can you believe $12 just to park there??? Damn!!! (But it was a really nice ³quiet² spot HAHAHA)
There was a radio station doing a live broadcast there, when I floated by. I went on in, and to my surprise I was taken to a 2nd row seat, right in front of where Page would be. I could NOT believe this!!! The opening act was kinna decent. Forgot the name, but it was a girl that was doing electric violin. Do I need to tell you that I was extremely lucky to have an extra tape with me and so I just had to tape that show!!! The only problem was wondering if I could get it all on the only tape I had with me there. As they got lose to 2 hours, I was beginning to get afraid that I would lose a ClaSSiC song when the tape ran out. I was SOoooo Lucky!!!! It ended right at under 2 hours......and all I can say was that this should NOT have been called a Page/Plant Concert, but The Return of LED ZEP!!! Except for 3 songs (one really good one), this was a ZEP Concert.......and I had THE SEAT that people would have killed for!!! And now it is Forever DATed for me!!!
I did not stay after the show. I know that they would be gone as soon as it was over, as they did in the ZEP years. I left town and got a room on the way to Columbus, where I was going for the METALLICA 4th of July show (Polaris) that I had 10th row right center seats for. They played for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Although it was a good show, I thought the last tour was much better. I also got a DAT of this show.
Tuesday the 7th I go to another Metallica show, here in Cincinnati at Riverbend, where I have 4th row center. This is a good spot to tape from too. Then I recover my hearing until Aug 7th when I have 2nd row pit seats for Megadeth, also at Cincinnati Riverbend. This is the last show of their tour so I guess I will be forced to record that one also.
Tracy and Ronnie told me that they are starting work on a new album as soon as the tour is done. I sure hope that they DON¹T make us wait too long until the next album and tour. I would bet that they now have, a much BIGGER fan base than before this tour...... Cause ya KNOW that ANYone who sees DIO.....KNOWs that:
***DIO RULES***
TeRRy
DIO Rocks San Antonio, July 10th 1998
This review is written by Jeff.
Last night was Ronnie's Birthday Performance in San Antonio. The show was surprisingly sold out at Sunken Gardens. It was hot as hell, the temperature was over 100 at the start of the show. I was in the third row, amongst a lot of Dio fans.
Now for a review of the show:
The first band was Dirty Deeds. They are on Steve Harris' record label Beast Records. They only played five songs. They were very good. Their album is due out in September, and may be worth picking up. During the last song, the singer/guitar player did an Angus Young and ran through the crowd. There was hardly anyone there to see them though.
After a very quick changeover, DIO was up. He had the Angry Machines backdrop. But other than that nothing but him and the band as far as visuals go. The intro music started playing, and a few people started going for the stage, so I said fuck it and went up there as well. I was as close as possible without getting on stage. The band came on and ripped into Evilution (I would have preferred another number for the opener). Then Ronnie came out. He took one look at the crowd and looked shocked. I guess he couldn't believe so many people had shown up. He started shaking hands with the crowd, and yes I got to touch the man. He walked off stage and got put on a pair of sunglasses. The sun was blazing. It seemed the heat kinda bothered him at first. Plus, he was also looking dead into the sun. I stayed up front until security decided to be assholes and make everyone go back to their seats during Straight Through the Heart. It was Ronnie's birthday and he was pumped. He put on as good as a live performance as I have ever seen out of anyone. There were a few banners that wished him a Happy Birthday. A couple made it to the stage. Ronnie was constantly smiling and it is easy to tell he truly enjoys what he is doing. After The Last In Line, I also made to to the stage and shook his hand again and wished him a Happy Birthday. He just smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up. After the encore, I also got to shake Tracy G's hand and I also caught one of his guitar picks. Dio's set was a little longer than from what I ahve read in the newsgroups. Maybe it was because of his B-day or maybe IM has seen the light and are giving him his due.
Here is the setlist:
Evilution
Straight Through the Heart
Don't Talk to Strangers
Holy Diver
Drum Solo
Heaven and Hell
Children of the Sea---Ronnie introduced this as saying "One
good BS song deserves another"
Shame on The Night
Mistreated
Catch the Rainbow
Guitar Solo
Stand Up and Shout--"It is really hot so we're going to play
something slow"
Neon Knights
Last In Line
Encore: Rainbow in the Dark
I could have left right then, very happy. RJD is without a doubt the best opener I have ever seen. The crowd was really into it. No one was sitting during his performance. He played only older stuff with the exception of Evilution. He could have played a lot longer as far as I was concerned.
Then it was time for IM. I'll post a review of their show on the IM board. I thought they put on a pretty good show. The thing I did not care for is that they played too much of their newer stuff and seemed to have forgotten their classic material. I grew up on Maiden and DIO, so this was a dream show for me. But I left feeling glad that I was able to see IM in their prime, back in the early 80's. Don't get me wrong Maiden can still rock, but they need to take a lesson from Ronnie and always remember the stuff that got them where they are today. Ronnie really had the crowd going his entire set. There were people actually sitting during Maiden's performance.
In closing, Ronnie put on a performance of a lifetime. I had a
feeling he would do something special on his birhtday, and he did
not disappoint.
Here comes a review written by Daniel Dressel:
Hey
Here's my review of the Dio show i saw on Feb.10 in Palo Alto,CA:
I had just been picked up from school by my Dad.We had to go and rent a car for the drive up to Palo Alto. It took about 4 hours from Fresno to drive there. We arrived at the Edge at about 6:30. There was a line of about 10 people alongside the wall. I had brought a picture with me of a close up of Ronnie with Rainbow in 77'. We waited around for about 45 minutes. The line grew pretty long going almost all the way around the building. We also noticed that Ritchie was going to be there on March 19th. I got one of the flyers from there.
The doors opened at about 8:00. They did a search of everybody. They had little flyers of the Tracadero show the next day (didn't get to go, had to get back to school). When we got in, there was about 15 or 20 people in there. I found a DIO-Angry Machines hat for $10 and bought it. We found a place to sit down (a bench over near the wall).
After about an hour of listening to the DJ,the lights went out. Then Mystic Rage (I think that's their name) came on. They were kind of like Slayer. Couldn't understand the singer. They threw some stuff to the crowd at the end of their show. Then after they left, everybody started to chant: "DIO!DIO!DIO!" then Roadside attraction came on. Some guy with a whinny voice. Everybody was yelling 'DIO' through their whole set. Then the lights went out and the rumbling started ...
Murray:
"Raise the dead, we'll take your soul, now get ready for some RocknRoll!!" Then the Scream. The electrifing screech of Tracy's Guitar signaled the start of 'JMHG'.
It was a great opening song. Then 'Straight Through The Heart'! The crowd went wild! Tracy did a great job on that solo. 'Don't Talk to strangers' was my favorite! 'Holy Diver' came on. That was one I will remember.
The drum solo followed. James Kottak did a good job filling in for Vinny Appice. Then the familiar drums-into-'Heaven and Hell'. I loved this one live. 'Double Monday' was an interesting one live. 'Stand up and Shout' brought the crowd back into it. 'Hunter of the Heart' was good. The bassist did a short bass solo. Then 'Mistreated'; Ronnie:"Well, we always try to do a song from a band that I was in about 50,000 years ago or so it seems. It had a great Guitar player ... Ritchie ...???? guy yells"Blackmore!"; "Yeah thats him.Well, this is one that you won't expect. It's from the album 'Rainbow Live on stage'. It's called 'Mistreated'."
This one was cool. Tracy played it well. Ronnie Nailed it. The 'Catch the rainbow' part was cool. Then Tracy's solo. I think it was good, except for it was too long. 'Then Last In Line' came on. This is my favorite Dio song. It ruled in Concert. 'Then Rainbow in the Dark'. A classic in concert. 'Mob Rules' was the encore. Thats when a Mosh pit started. Then it all ended.
The setlist was as follows:
Jesus, Mary and the Holy Ghost
Straight Through the Heart
Don't Talk to Strangers
Holy Diver/Drum Solo
Heaven and Hell
Double Monday
Stand up and Shout
Hunter of the Heart
Mistreated/Catch the Rainbow/Guitar Solo
Last In Line
Rainbow in the Dark
Mob Rules
After the show I got to meet Ronnie and have him sign my
picture. He signed it: "To Daniel, Magic! Ronnie James
Dio." That had got to be one of the greatest days of my life
Here comes a review from Dio's gig in Stockholm February 23rd
1997. Published in Aftonbladet (the biggest newspaper in Sweden)
February 24th 1997. Translated into english by Mårten Jacobsson.
YES, THE MAN CAN STILL DO IT!
++++ (4 of 5)
Ronnie James DIO
Place: Electric Garden, Stockholm with Original Sin as support
Length of the concert: 2,5 hours
Crowd: 650 (sold out)
Best: Ronnie himself who has never sung better, and his very
talented soundtechnician
Worst: The guitarist, Tracy Cox (!?) solo
According to himself he is 56 years old - others says that he is 59. Apart from the age, Dio has never been better. He sounded like a castrated brat during the Sabbath-period.
It was a magic evening, when all overaged hardrockers like myself had to experience nostalgia in that words best meaning. 'Holy Diver', 'Rainbow In The Dark', 'Heaven And Hell', 'The Mob Rules', 'Mistreated'. A small shit to a man (shorter than Magnus Uggla and thinner than Steven Tyler) who has maybe the most powerful voice in the world - and it has only been more fat and powerful during the years.
Ronnie (almost) refused to play songs from the two latest albums, which no one doesn't want to buy anyway. Instead he took us back to the times when hardrock was heavy and merciless. He could have been bitter, a man who filled up enormous arenas in the 80's could have felt misplaced in a club. But not Ronnie, he gave us the optimate sound, so cruel and perfectly mixed that you sometimes wondered if it was playback.
Ronnie's show yesterday had only one fault, he doesn't understand that no one wants to hear a drum-solo in 1997 (even though Vinnie Appice is a great drummer) and even less a solo from such a boring guitarist as Tracy Cox (!).
But on the other side, if you're 60 years old soon, you got to
have the time to drink some water once in a while. One of the
years hottest and most powerful rock-nights. The ones who misses
Ronnie in Gothenburg tonight only have theirself to blame.
DIO - ELECTRIC GARDEN, STOCKHOLM
(February 23rd 1997)
This is my first concert review ever but I will do my best to make it interesting.
Dio has been my favourite band since I heard 'Rock 'n' Roll Children' in 1985, but I have never seen them play live. Then I read about their forthcoming gig in Stockholm, I hurried to ask a friend if he would like to follow me to the concert, and he said yes.
Then I got the tickets and just had to wait for the day to come when I would be able to see Dio live for the first time.
I live on an island so me and my friend flew to Stockholm the day before the show.
When we came to the club where Dio should play, we asked the t-shirt seller who was supposed to be the support band to Dio. He said he did know excactly, but it should be a swedish band.
At 8 PM a band came on stage and started to play. I did not know who they were, but it sounded pretty good - quite heavy, but with good melodies. They played six songs. The last song they played was Black Sabbath's Symptom Of The Universe, which seemed to be the most appreciated song by the crowd.
After the show, I still didn't know the name of the band so I asked my friend Anders, and he thought that the singer had introduced them asDoomsday. But that was wrong. I read in the paper the next day that their name was Original Sin.
Then where was a break for at least 20 minutes before Dio should play.
Dio came on stage about 9 PM, starting with 'Jesus, Mary & The Holy Ghost'. It was great to see Ronnie and the other guys this way. The stage was small, but Ronnie didn't seem to have a problem with that. He seemed to have very good contact with the audience, and it looked like he was happy with what he was doing. The show continued with 'Straight Through The Heart', 'Don't Talk To Strangers' and 'Holy Diver'. Those tracks were really appreciated by the audience. After this classic set, it was time for Vinny's drumsolo. It sounded much like the solo I've heard on Dio's live videos, but still very good.
The next song was the Black Sabbath classic 'Heaven And Hell'. It sounded really good, and Ronnie made the audience sing along. After that Dio gave us 'Double Monday' and another classic track - 'Stand Up And Shout'.
Before the next song, Larry got the time to play a bass solo/intro, and then 'Hunter Of The Heart' started. And after that we got another classic - Rainbow's 'Catch The Rainbow' with Tracy's guitar solo included. I didn't like the solo very much. I think Tracy should play with more feeling ...
The last song on the "original setlist" was 'The Last In Line'. But we all wanted to hear more from Dio, so we got an encore with 'Rainbow In The Dark' and finally 'The Mob Rules'.
After the show I saw Ronnie's wife Wendy, and asked her to sign my ticket, but unfortunately either one of us had any pencil.
I really liked enjoyed Dio's gig. But I have liked to hear more songs from the later albums. They didn't play anything from 'Sacred Heart', Dream Evil' and 'Lock Up The Wolves', and only one song from 'Strange Highways'. The set was also a bit short - only 80 minutes! Anyway, it has been a experience to finally see my favourite band.
