Dio concert review; June 12th, 1994 by Kenneth R. Dupre

The following is a review of a concert on the Strange Highways US tour, originally posted to alt.rock-n-roll.metal.

From: duprek@maggotbird.rpi.edu (Kenneth R. Dupre)
Subject: Dio at The Chance 6-12-94
Date: 13 Jun 1994 21:12:19 GMT

Here are MY observations of the show on Sunday night
Ronnie James Dio The Chance Poughkeepsie NY 6-12-94

This was my first show at this venue, it is basically a bar with 2 levels - the top being tiered. Very cool to see a show and have the option to belly up to the bar for your choice of beverage [ mine being heine-cans :) ], and still being able to see the stage. On the bottom floor was a pit in front of the stage for the moshers(which was amazingly without losers flailing wildly) and there were also tables to sit at throughout the place, if you had gotten in early enough to get one.

Godspeed was the first opening act. They took the stage at approx. 8:15pm the singer tried to get the crowd going, but most audience members did not take much notice of the group. They played for about 1/2 an hour and the sound was good. I dont like to categorize music, so i cant say what "type" of music it was. They did remind me a bit of Janes Addiction but not as wild. By this the time the place was about 1/3 full.

The next act, im told, was LoveHate(sp?). the reason i say im told is that I had to ask some guy who was kind enough to tell me the name of the act. Nowhere did i see the lineup for the night posted, and no introductions were given. In fact if it was not for the net i would not have even known Dio would be playing (Thanks Tapio K. !!) close enough for me to go and see. This band was received much better, and there appeared to be several members in the audience who knew every lyric and enjoyed the set VERY MUCH. IMHO the set was excellent. I cannot say who they "sound like". Just good fun rock music to me. The set went from about 9:15 to 10:00pm.

By now this place was about 3/4 full and while it was crowded i do not think it was sold out(Total capacity 1000?) Dio did later comment how nice it was to be able to see the faces of everyone(we were all no more than 250ft? away)

At around 10:30 the fog machine started to FILL the whole place with a cloud, at first it appeared to be a malfunction, but when the lights went dim we all knew it was showtime. The show began with some (Dio chanting ?) which was altered somehow, and red lights on stage cutting through the fog slowly turning towards the crowd (anticipation killing me by now). And then the band and the song jesus, mary & the holy ghost. :)

Here is an approximation of the set list,

• jesus, mary & the holy ghost
• strange highways
• dont talk to strangers
• pain
• guitar
• heaven & hell (reprise?)
• man on the silver mountain
• drums
• holy diver
• stand up and shout
• rainbow in the dark
• evilution
• last in line
• heres to you

I know the 1st 4 are in correct order, but i had had 4 beers by then sssssoooooooooooooo the rest are guesstimates, except as reported a few weeks ago here on the net - heres to you - WAS the final encore

So here is how I call it:

The band sounded GREAT, played AWESOME and looked FANTASTIC.

From my vantage point it looked like Vinny did not even need amplification for his bass drum - id swear you could feel it crunching the floor.

Tracy G. (no one uses GRIJALVA, even Dio intoduced him like this) did an outstanding job, and while i sometimes wish it were another guitar player, he's a great guitarist and i cant wait to hear more from this band!

Jeff Pilson attacked the bass, and layed down some funkin grooves. TOO COOL and way sweaty.

Ronnie was just as expected, black outfit - awesome vocals in wicked humidity (MY voice was gone by the second song) and non stop balls to the wall R&R.

We (the minions) love Sabbath and unfortunately I missed the Dehumanizer tour so i wanted to hear at least one tune (I, or Too Late) from that disk, but alas no. However i am/was not disappointed in any way and while i always hope Dio/Sabbath will reunite once again i would not trade Strange Highways or Cross Purposes(saw Sabbath in february in NYC w/Tony Martin and it kicked ass) for the Dio/Sabbath combo at this time.I also love Ozzy but i wish he would stop dickin around and do the Sabbath thing or tour with Zakk/Vai whomever or retire for good or make up his fraggin mind fan boy! and not screw everyone Dio, Tony M. and Tony I., Geezer, Bill and Himself included.

I agree with Tapio that it is different that Dio opens with jm&thg, as we expected Stand Up and Shout as well(thats what he always use to open with) And all you people arguing about Deep Purple/Ozzy/Rainbow/Dio/Sabbath take a chill pill - its ALL good stuff so enjoy it while ya can.

Heres to YOU on Strange Highways
Duprek@rpi.edu Ken Dupre Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy New York USA

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[After originally posting this, I received email from a Peter Juergen Voelker, voelkp@rpi.edu, stating "He also played Mob Rules and Voodoo. Killer show, I really love Tracy G. (Gri Jalva)."]
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