10th July – Rolling Live Studios Live Stream
Ronnie James Dio was one of the greatest rock and metal vocalist’s that the world has ever seen and what better way to celebrate what would have been his 79th birthday than with a star studded birthday live stream bash. Organised by Ronnie’s wife and manager, Wendy Dio and hosted by Eddie Trunk and Matt Pinfield, this event would be truly special.
Opening up with a montage of clips of various Dio performances and artists who are hailing Dio’s greatness, this is a great show opener and really brings home the respect that Ronnie has within the music industry. Some of the artists in the opening montage, the likes of Duff McKagan and Sammy Hagar, we will be hearing more from later on. Eddie Trunk and Matt Pinfield, perhaps the perfect hosts for this event then introduce the first band, Dio’s Disciples. Fronted by Oni Logan on vocals, with Rowan Robertson on guitar, Simon Wright on drums, Scott Warren on keyboards and Bjorn Englen on bass. They are the house band if you will and feature throughout the show with a number of different singers fronting the band.
The opening riff of Black Sabbath’s ‘Children of the Sea’ begins, Rowan Robertson expertly plays Iommi’s riff and then Oni Logan starts to sing, what a voice. No one can come close to that Dio sound, but Oni absolutely nails the song. A wonderful tribute and great start to the show and actually, a song that perhaps isn’t as popular as some of the others we will hear later on. Next up, a young band who absolutely blow the roof off. Liliac are an internet sensation and really prove themselves as true artists with their rendition of ‘Last in Line’.
Following Liliac’s incredible performance, we are back with Dio’s Disciples, this time fronted by Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, who absolutely and unsurprisingly nails another Sabbath song, ‘Mob Rules’. Ripper’s vocals are absolutely top drawer, in fact over the past few years, I think vocally he has well and truly surpassed himself, delivering vocal performances better than ever. Ripper is another veteran of Dio’s Disciples having performed with them quite regularly a few years ago and seeing him back here is a welcome return!
We’re only three songs in and already we have one of the most incredible drum battles, EVER. Opening with ‘Don’t Talk to Strangers’ the song then segways into an almighty drum battle with some of the industries best drummers. Kenny Aronoff, Frank Ferrer, Brian Tichy and Aynsley Dunbar among the drummers turning it up to eleven behind the kit! Following the incredible drum battle, Mike Pinfield enters the stage and introduces Joey Belladonna from Anthrax who delivers a stunning rendition of Heaven and Hell. There is another addition to the band, the incredibly talented, 18 year old guitarist, Jasmine Star. Jasmine is well and truly holding her own with the rock royalty she is playing with. Maybe I’m witnessing the future of rock and roll right here!
This is not the last we see of Joey, he makes numerous appearances throughout the show. Absolutely nailing each performance. The same can not be said for Rob Halford’s rendition of ‘Man on the Silver Mountain’. When I learnt Rob Halford was due to take part in this Dio show, I was excited. I really looked forward to seeing what the Metal God could do with such epic material. Having seen Priest countless times and knowing Rob’s range, vocally, what a perfect fit to sing a Dio track. Unfortunately, he sang the majority of the song in his lower register, not stretching his pipes at all. Unlike the rest of the show, that had lots of acts super imposed and green screened in to give the impression they were singing together in the band, Rob opted to sing, or mime along to a track that was recorded a few years ago, in what looked like his living room with a few laser lights. Bad karaoke at best, which was a huge let down, given Rob could deliver so much more. To almost heighten the amateur effort from Halford and to add insult to injury, straight after Rob, Joey Belladonna and Dio’s Disciple’s play the same song. Even Matt Pinfield comments that it’s great that Joey is doing it because he can really nail it, sadly, and I say this as a huge Priest fan, Joey’s rendition is in a completely different class.
I loved the little interviews in between songs, all these incredible musicians saying what Dio meant to them. Lita Ford got quite emotional recounting that Rainbow Rising was out when she was on tour with The Runaways and even now, she uses Stargazer as a warm up song, and if she can’t hit the notes, she isn’t ready to go on stage. Alice Cooper had some great Dio tales too as did Sebastian Bach.
Back to the music, Lzzy Hale delivered a red hot rendition of ‘Straight Through The Heart’. What an incredible vocalist she is and the final note she hits was absolutely incredible. Lzzy was backed up by James LoMenzo on bass, powerhouse drummer Kenny Aronoff and Jasmine Star on guitar who shreds a stunning solo halfway through. Tenacious D are up next delivering a two song medley that includes ‘Heaven and Hell’ and ‘Holy Diver’ and then Joey Belladonna is back again, with a stunning electric ‘Holy Diver’.
An unexpected moment of brilliance came from Lena Hall’s performance of ‘Rainbow in The Dark’. A real stand out performance, I loved it. What an incredible vocalist! Another wonderful moment was an acoustic flamenco style rendition of Heaven and Hell. Terry Ilous took lead vocal duties and it really worked well. Acoustic guitars and a cajon completed the line up and it worked brilliantly. A really special moment in the show.
I have to mention Ricky Warwick’s rendition of Thin Lizzy’s ‘Southbound’, it was beautiful. Just him and an acoustic guitar. Such a heartfelt performance. What a great version. Wendy Dio chats to Mike Pinfield about the importance of cancer research and checking yourself and catching cancer early. Such an important message. Following Wendy, a number of stars wish Ronnie a Happy birthday, Geezer Butler, Duff McKagan, Tony Iommi, Rob Halford and finally Sammy Hagar.
We’re nearing the end of this great show, but not before we are treated to yet another great rendition from Joey Belladonna, this time, his take on the Rainbow classic, ‘Long Live Rock and Roll’. Again, a stunning performance. Gilby Clarke picks up guitar duties and Frank Ferrer is behind the kit. An Absolutely epic performance.
To play us out, it’s the Dio’s Disciples again, with Oni Logan and Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens sharing vocal duties on ‘We Rock’. What a fitting finale and both Ripper and Oni demonstrate their vocal prowess once more. Overall, what an absolutely brilliant show. I would have liked more of the Rainbow years, I felt Dio’s time with Rainbow was slightly under represented, with the main focus of the show being his time with Sabbath and his incredible solo career. But, that aside, what a great night of entertainment remembering such a rock icon and a wonderful fundraiser raising money for the Dio Cancer Fund
