Dio concert review; April 9th, 1997 by Jim Duncan

The following is a review of a Dio show of the second US leg of the Angry Machines tour, originally e-mailed to me.

From: jfduncan@dstsystems.com
Subject: Dio/My Dying Bride/Motherlode
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 1997 13:48:31 -0500

Jim F. Duncan@DST
04/11/97 01:48 PM
DIO
MY DYING BRIDE
MOTHERLODE
Medusa's [The Club]
Kansas City, Missouri
April 9, 1997

On an unusually cold night for early April in Kansas City (there was a rain/sleet/snow mix falling outside), Ronnie James and the boys warmed the capacity crowd of 800 at Medusa's with an hour and thirty-five minutes of metal at its best.

Motherlode (a regional act based out of Kansas City that has toured internationally) started the show at 9:00 p.m. with a respectable 35 minute set. After a 20 minute changeover, Dio's Mayhem Records label mates My Dying Bride hit the stage. They reminded me of Mercyful Fate/King Diamond on a number of fronts. First, many of the lyrics were dark and/or gothic in nature; second, the music and the musicians were very impressive; and third, however, the vocalist seemed to hold the rest of the band back (his vocals were extremely low as opposed to the ear-piercing high screams of King Diamond). On a whole, their 35 minute set was impressive. Quite a way for them to make a mark on their first tour of the States.

Following a 30 minute changeover, the lights were dimmed for Dio to hit the stage. And hit it they did. Unlike the first leg of their U.S. tour, this one seems to be straying away from the "Angry Machines" release a little bit in lieu of songs from R.J.D.'s Rainbow and Black Sabbath days. The band on this evening (Vinnie Appice [drums], Larry Dennison [bass], Tracy G{rijalva} [guitar], Scott Warren [keyboards]) was very tight, except Vinnie seemed a bit slow and tired (which is to be somewhat expected considering he is coming back from pneumonia). Some recent reviews have been bagging on Tracy, but not on this evening. He sounded crisp and on top of his game. The surprise of the evening was the band coming out for a second encore and covering some classic Rainbow. The audience was not expecting this and went nuts. The complete set list consisted of:

• [taped intro.]
• Jesus, Mary & 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
• (bass solo)
• Hunter Of The Heart
• Mistreated
• {Catch The Rainbow/(guitar solo)}
• The Last In Line

• Rainbow In The Dark
• Mob Rules

• Man On The Silver Mountain
• Long Live Rock 'N' Roll

The crowd was welcomed to bring audio cassette recorders to tape and cameras to photograph the band live. We were also given the opportunity to meet them afterward and get autographs, but the inclimate weather kept many from taking advantage.

On a side note, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow came through Kansas City exactly one month earlier (the Beaumont Club, March 9) and played all the Rainbow tunes that Dio did (including Mistreated). It's too bad that the rumors circulated earlier this year could not come true and have Ritchie and Ronnie James tour together (either with their separate outfits, or better yet, under the same moniker).