Sad, sad day for rock and roll. Ronnie James Dio finally succumbed to stomach cancer at 67. Here's Wendy Dio's official statement.
I saw Dio years ago on his Magicka Tour and I think the thing that pushed me over the edge to get tickets was not just because Dio absolutely rules, but because Yngwie Malmsteen was opening up and I just had to see that Cabbage Patch Doll-looking fucker do his shtick live. It was at the Worcester Palladium, one of the last places in the Commonwealth Of Massachusetts that you can go and see a ridiculously over-the-top metal show.
Yngwie was what I expected - laughably bombastic, bloated physicially and metaphorically, doing his best to make sure that when you look up "musical masturbation" in the dictionary it says "see Yngwie Malmsteen." In other words, he didn't disappoint in the slightest.
Dio was also what I expected - a kickass metal show. They played a handful of tunes off their latest record and stuffed as many hits into the rest of the set. Ronnie crouched and leered around the stage, aping theatrically and doing his best to visually interpret the lyrics with every gesture. You haven't lived until you've seen Ronnie James Dio perform "Holy Diver" live...visually or sonically. In other words, he didn't disappoint in the slightest.
A radio deejay friend of mine - Dave Lawrence - interviewed Ronnie several times and corroborated the unanimous impression he left on fans and industry people as one of the most genuinely nice guys in rock and roll. He basically made the devil horns we now see at every concert (regardless of genre) cool, and gave new fuel to a legion of Devil Music Preachers. For both of these things - to say nothing of his unbelievable musical legacy - I am eternally grateful and totally bummed it's officially come to an end.
Why God, why? Why take Ronnie but leave us Chad Kroeger? Why is it okay for Nickelback to continue but Heaven & Hell to stop? I know, I know...Your ways are not our ways....
RIP, RJD
No comments:
Post a Comment