Dio concert review; September 9th, 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 in Rochester 9-9-94 (review)
Date: 10 Sep 1994 19:48:08 GMT

Hear are my observations of the show:
Ronnie James Dio Horizontal Boogie Bar Rochester NY USA September 9 1994

Doors opened late at about 9:20pm. Atomic opera started thier set at a few minutes after 10pm. I am not a fan of this band, and had not even heard more than a mention of them until this show. They did an excellent job and were far more suited to RJD's "style" of music than the opening acts for the show in Poughkeepsie a few months ago. Most of the crowd enjoyed the music and they finished up around 10:50ish. The band tossed copies of thier CD release out to the audience near set completion. I could not even say if the title was given, as my purpose in attending was to see DIO, I did not pay close attention.

My vantage point was located towards the rear of the establishment, just behind the sound board on an slightly elevated section of floorspace. There appeared to be NO prop/backdrop/artwork thingies ANYWHERE. Not even a billboard/marquee out front with performers listed. I was disappointed at not seeing any Strange Highways posters, but i imagine the tour has used up most of the merchandise stuff. Only 1 longsleeve shirt was left for sale with the SH logo, and the white tees with the album cover were only left in XL size. Also the cities listed on the back of the shirt i bought were from earlier in the tour and the NY dates are not even listed. :( There were hats though, which i did not notice in Poughkeepsie.

The Intro to DIO's set came at about 11:20pm and my adrenaline was way high. No dry ice could be seen from where i was, and the band appeared after the brief music/speak thingy - It sounded to me like the part in evilution where the synthesized voice is spoken over the music, but im not sure.

The band cranked into high gear with this set list

• Jesus, Mary, and the Holy Ghost
• Strange Highways
• Dont Talk to Strangers
• Pain/Guitar/Pain
• Mob Rules
• Holy Diver
• Man on the Silver Mountain
• Drums/Bass
• Heaven and Hell (Reprise?)
• Evilution
• Give Her the Gun
• Stand up and Shout
• Last in Line
• Rainbow in the Dark encore
• We Rock

Dio was in superb form as always and the band was tighter than the show i saw earlier in the tour. Ronnie commented that it had been awhile, but that it was nice to be back in Central NY. This is one awesome show to see, and for 15 bucks it is the bargain of the century.(and cheap enough for me to be able to drive 500 miles roundtrip to see!)

If anyone is able to attend the show this evening (September 10) in Buffalo please post/email your observations, as i will be unable to attend.

And to anyone who will be at the Syracuse show this Sunday September 11,
HERES TO YOU and See Ya There!
Ken Dupre Duprek@rpi.edu