Dio concert review; March 23rd, 1997 by David Kriegh

The following is a review of the last Dio show of the second leg of Angry Machines European tour, originally mailed to me. Republished here with permission from the author. I had to edit the layout a little bit for better outlook on web, but all the information is still intact.

From: dkkriegh@colby.edu (David Kriegh)
Subject: Review: London 23.03.97
Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 16:54:12 -0500

Below is belated review of the final show in the European leg of the Angry Machines tour. I tried to focus on items Chris Ryan, the other reviewer, didn't cover. I'd appreciate it if you'd add this to the review list.

Dave

I knew that at some point in my life I'd be seeing Dio perform, but I didn't realize it would be in London. I was studying there this past semester, and I noticed the ad for the latest Dio concert. So on 23 March I headed to London's Astoria Theatre to see the man himself.

For a first concert, I was impressed. Whether or not the band was in top form, the bottom line was that people were having fun. Ronnie held my attention most, and he was downright brilliant. The others were solid, but nothing special - they sounded good.

The audience was something else. Unfortunately, I arrived rather late and only saw the end of the opening act, some band called Deadline. They pretty much sucked, and they seemed to be losing their cool because everyone chanted "Dio" after every song. I wasn't paying much attention, but I swear one of their songs swiped the "Turn Up The Night" riff. The ungrateful bastards slinked off stage, essentially giving two fingers and splitting. Because I was so late, I was confined to the back, where nobody seemed to be getting into it. Up front, people were tossing full cups of beer and jumping up on stage. Now I know why people put up with warm-up bands!

Nothing super special about the set. Very close to what they played at the other shows. I remember the first three songs were Jesus, Mary and the Holy Ghost, Straight Thru The Heart and Holy Diver. As much as I enjoy the Holy Diver album, I was disappointed that Ronnie had to keep falling back to the classic material. I loved "Double Monday" - I wish he put his all into some more Angry Machines tracks and had faith in what he's putting out now. Hunter of the Heart seemed a bit shaky, for example.

My favorite moment is where somebody jumped up on stage and Ronnie pushed him right back off and yelled: Hey! I'm the fucking star here! At one point, he stayed back until he felt the audience had had their fill of "gracing" the stage.

Two things are for certain: One, Ronnie knows how to entertain, and, secondly, while other rock voices deteriorate, his persists with remarkable clarity for the workout he gives it. I can't wait to see another show.