Stay Metal, Stay Cool!
Although I mentioned Friday's Heaven & Hell concert (with Megadeth, no less) as an option on my last concert calendar, I had pretty much decided against going. Tickets were expensive, xhollydayx wasn't interested, and I've seen Dio with his band, so why bother seeing him lead the reunited 1980 Black Sabbath lineup?
However, a great many of my metal-head friends from the station were going, so I planned to pre-party with them. I told them I wasn't going to the concert partially because of financial concerns, and that was that. Or so I thought. My good friend Roger of Children of the Metal Movement managed to hook me up with a free ticket. How could I refuse? I met Mikhail and his buddy Todd before the gig. On the way there we picked up Stella & Mike, then we ran into Ace, Angelo and later Roger. Sprout, Ben and Charles were also there for the show.
And what a show it was. The first opener, Machine Head, was ok. They played five songs and weren't amazingly impressive. Megadeth was next, and the show really picked up steam. Or as I told Mikhail, it was 1990 all over again as Dave Mustaine led this lineup through some of Megadeth's greatest hits. Frankly, after Megadeth left the stage I was thinking that night hadn't been wasted even if H&H sucked. Little did I know that Dio and company would take the stage and blow Megadeth out of the water with straight out hard rock & roll goodness. Or evilness, if you prefer. They were playing only songs from Heaven & Hell, Mob Rules & De-Humanizer, but that was more than enough to blow the roof off of Tower City Amphitheater and to convince all present that the Dio-era Black Sabbath was much better than the Ozzie-era Sabbath.
Oh my was it good. It started strong with a bass line that Mikhail swore was the best he'd ever heard live. Sign of the Southern Cross was just as good as it should be. Sure there were a few weak points in the middle as they delved into the obscure reaches of the Black Sabbath song book. I didn't recognize some of the songs, and at times it felt a bit slow. Then there was a borderline ridiculous 8 minute drum solo which caused some people to walk out. Their loss, because the last three songs were as good as anything I've ever seen. Scratch that. They were as good as ANYONE has ever seen. The highlight of those three songs was a long version of Heaven & Hell, which featured a wicked Tony Iommi guitar solo and was the best hard rock song I've heard live. Ever. Not 'arguably', not 'this year'. Ever. That wrapped up the set, but the encore, Neon Knights was almost as good. The set had us saying things like "Fuckin' A Right", "I'd fly anywhere to see a show this good", "Ozzie who?" and "The guitar solo is not dead."
Dio may be the creepiest little fucker ever (think Richard Simmons evil twin), but there's no denying that he's got a hell of a voice and serious stage presence. They had a great set (graveyard, of course) that wasn't too over the top. I'm very glad I went. Thanks to Roger for hooking me up.
However, a great many of my metal-head friends from the station were going, so I planned to pre-party with them. I told them I wasn't going to the concert partially because of financial concerns, and that was that. Or so I thought. My good friend Roger of Children of the Metal Movement managed to hook me up with a free ticket. How could I refuse? I met Mikhail and his buddy Todd before the gig. On the way there we picked up Stella & Mike, then we ran into Ace, Angelo and later Roger. Sprout, Ben and Charles were also there for the show.
And what a show it was. The first opener, Machine Head, was ok. They played five songs and weren't amazingly impressive. Megadeth was next, and the show really picked up steam. Or as I told Mikhail, it was 1990 all over again as Dave Mustaine led this lineup through some of Megadeth's greatest hits. Frankly, after Megadeth left the stage I was thinking that night hadn't been wasted even if H&H sucked. Little did I know that Dio and company would take the stage and blow Megadeth out of the water with straight out hard rock & roll goodness. Or evilness, if you prefer. They were playing only songs from Heaven & Hell, Mob Rules & De-Humanizer, but that was more than enough to blow the roof off of Tower City Amphitheater and to convince all present that the Dio-era Black Sabbath was much better than the Ozzie-era Sabbath.
Oh my was it good. It started strong with a bass line that Mikhail swore was the best he'd ever heard live. Sign of the Southern Cross was just as good as it should be. Sure there were a few weak points in the middle as they delved into the obscure reaches of the Black Sabbath song book. I didn't recognize some of the songs, and at times it felt a bit slow. Then there was a borderline ridiculous 8 minute drum solo which caused some people to walk out. Their loss, because the last three songs were as good as anything I've ever seen. Scratch that. They were as good as ANYONE has ever seen. The highlight of those three songs was a long version of Heaven & Hell, which featured a wicked Tony Iommi guitar solo and was the best hard rock song I've heard live. Ever. Not 'arguably', not 'this year'. Ever. That wrapped up the set, but the encore, Neon Knights was almost as good. The set had us saying things like "Fuckin' A Right", "I'd fly anywhere to see a show this good", "Ozzie who?" and "The guitar solo is not dead."
Dio may be the creepiest little fucker ever (think Richard Simmons evil twin), but there's no denying that he's got a hell of a voice and serious stage presence. They had a great set (graveyard, of course) that wasn't too over the top. I'm very glad I went. Thanks to Roger for hooking me up.