Dio concert review; May 28th, 1997 by Chad Reese

The following is a review of a Dio show on the fourth North American leg of Angry Machines tour, originally posted to alt.music.dio.

From: creece@binary.net (Chad A. Reece)
Subject: Dio in Omaha,NE 05/28/97
Date: Thu, 29 May 1997 12:11:19 -0500

Went and saw the great one last night at the Ranch Bowl in Omaha, NE. Evening went as follows.

The show was supposed to start about 9:00 so my wife and I arrived around 5:00 to throw a couple of games and get in line early. As we were walking into the bowling alley section through the main doors Ronnie was walking out. He noticed that I had on a Strange Highways T-shirt and remarked that the band that did that show was pretty cool. Needless to say, my jaw hit the floor. I asked him for a couple of signatures and a picture and he willingly obliged by signing all of my Dio CD's and leting my wife snap a couple of pictures of us side-by-side. All I can say is that it made an uneventful year seem a whole lot more worthwhile.

After he left, I found out that My Dying Bride had cancelled as the opening act and that Dio was just going to take the stage at 10:00. The doors opened at 8:00 and everyone settled down to a good evening of drinking before the show. Dio came on right at 10:00 and blew everyone away. He still has the magical voice. After the third song, the bassist broke a string and Ronnie kept taking pot shots at the roadies for not having everything up to par; he even referred to himself and the band as F-Troop when they got back on stage after about a 5 minute wait.

The rest of the evening was spent sucking down brews and listening to some of the greatest songs ever created. Overall the show was fantastic. Dio's voice only gave once at the end of the show, during the Last in Line.

Signed "Dio Fan Now, Dio Fan Forever."