The following is a review of a Dio show on the fourth North American leg of Angry Machines tour, originally mailed to me.
From: Glen Miller (millergl@cadvision.com)
Subject: Dio concert review
Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 12:16:40 -0700
DIO
VENUE: COWBOYS
MAY 22/97
You couldn't tell if it was 1977 or '97 - that's how good Dio's voice has remained. It's as strong as ever. It was my fourth time seeing him - twice saw him on the first and last leg of the Mob Rules tour with Sabbath in Toronto and his solo venture on the Sacred Heart tour in '85.
Unfortunately, my prediction that the set would be cut short came true as 1) there was no opening act as mentioned on the tickets because 2) roadies were still setting up the equipment up until 10 p.m.! The show began at 11 p.m. and ended at 12:27 a.m. It was a delight to see Vinny Appice bashing away mercilessly on drums again like he did with Sabbath. He's lost nothing in terms of power - still that thundering roar shaking the foundations. The place was packed - about 1,500 or so.
Heaven & Hell was probably the highlight for me (in lieu of not hearing Mob Rules, Man On The Silver Mountain and Long Live Rock 'n Roll because of the aforementioned delay). That was a real drag because those were 3 songs that I desperately wanted to hear! Or maybe, it was just Calgary, and they said to hell with it:-) No matter, the band went over well. While I liked the drum solo, Tracy G, while a capable guitarist, could dispense with the guitar solo. It just meanders into speed/effects territory that really has no uplifting sequences. Rather hear another song instead. Overall, a good show, a bargain at the $16 ticket price. But not getting those other encore songs really was a downer.
Oh, well, it was Heaven and Hell.
Cheers,
Glen Miller
THE SET LIST:
This page is maintained by Tapio Keihänen,
E-mail: dio@iki.fi.
The page has been updated on 15.05.1999
URL: http://www.dio.net/tour/reviews/970522_GlenMiller.html,
the front page http://www.dio.net/.