One-Year Anniversary

[Damian]

Well, August 29 has the bitterest/sweetest memories for me. One year ago on this day I got to meet my idol from back when I was a teen. I got to hang out backstage with him, and got to go on stage and document the experience of being "on tour" with Heaven and Hell.

It was really a Sab-fan's dream come true, being able to spend time with the crew, chat up the rest of the band, etc. By all accounts it was a night to remember. However, it was also a night to remember because unfortunately it was also the last time Ronnie James Dio would perform in front of an audience. It was also the last time he worked with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice. He, his manager Steve, myself, and my cameraman were the last four people hanging around backstage after the show. The idea that he would be diagnosed with stomach cancer in two months and be dead in eight months would have been the last thought to enter my mind.

I think back on that night, and how Ronnie was a showman to the very end, and the classiest of elder-statesman once the fans went away and he could be himself, and I just really miss him. Its not like he was struck down in his prime, we all knew his best days were well behind him, but the best of times are pretty much gone from all of these guys now. Just keeping at it and working, recording, and touring was the greatest gift he could give the fans, and he did just that for so very long. My heart continues to go out to his wife, to his solo bandmates, and to all of the fans that Ronnie's music reached. I hope that Ronnie's legacy will be remembered one day with the respect and admiration that he deserved but didn't always get while he was alive. Going to spin "We Rock" now and turn it up to 11.

Rest in Peace, Ronnie.

[8bit Fighter]

Cheers man. I have Live Stargazer on right now from a 1976 Bootleg. It's awesome.

[nunoni]

you summed it up perfectly with kind touching words, thanks. I wish I had been at that concert... I'm playing the boot right now.,

[Sabbathman]

Thanks Damian for your heart-felt reflections. The world was truly a different place just one year ago.

We both experienced not only many grand times with Ronnie James Dio performing live either with his own band or with Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell but also an iconic & ultimately a final night with Ronnie, a huge show followed by an eternally memorable meeting with the man himself. Neither of us knew that the night would be the very last time with Ronnie.

Ronnie elevated his fans to far away heights while he performed live, he also elevated his fans while he met them - his presence was always magical and life-affirming...and will always be through his musical legacy. Hopefully new archived releases will soon start emerging in his honour & for our pleasure.

RONNIE JAMES DIO

I'll see you in Magica...

[-E5150 StarWanderer-]

Listening to the Long Live R&R/Man On The Silver Mountain medley from the Evil or Divine DVD. I could have just dreamed of meeting the man, but it would have been beyond magical. I simultaneosly envy and feel glad for those who had that honor.

Long Live Rock & Roll

[Charger]

I wish I would have gotten the chance to meet Ronnie...that is one of my life's biggest regrets...But atleast I got to see him preform three times, that's something.

Thanks a bunch Damian again for sharing those memories...

[H&H]

Thanks for posting your thoughts. It was a night to remember. I was there with a good friend, right in front of Ronnie that night, with Serpentine and his wife next to me. We had an awesome time. I have been close at a concert before, but never that close for Black Sabbath. The 4 of us tried our hardest that night to get backstage, even offering one security guard $400 to get us back stage. He worked it good, but alas, no luck.

We drove 600 + miles to get there. It was a kind of pilgrimage and mid-life crisis all wrapped up in one. We drove from 9 PM - 1 AM Friday and then 7 AM - 2 Pm on Saturday to get to Atlantic City from Detroit. We had as much fun driving there and back as we did at the show.

The show has since taken on new valor for me, as I was lucky enough to see Ronnie perform his last show. It was one of 3 shows in 8 days on TDYK tour I saw. I had this feeling as the tour was coming to an end, that this could be their last show. I knew I had to see it. My thoughts were that something always had this line-up not together, little did I know what was going to happen to Ronnie.

Dio Sabbath has and always will be my favorite band, and I am so happy I was able to see them as much as I have over the years.

RIP RJD

[IommiRules]

Thanks for a look into a special day for you. Sounds like it was everything a long time fan could ever hope for.

[sarsippius67]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Damian, that show will always hold an almost mythical place for me as well. I watched all my video from the show again last night. It was a great performance, we were about 3 deep from the stage on Tony's side.....which was a great spot to be during his super-extended solo in the middle of an AMAZING 18 minute rendition of Heaven and Hell! They really gave us a special end-of-tour treat there, I hope the band knows (especially now hope Ronnie knew) how much that performance meant to the vast majority of those in attendance....and how we all apppreciate thae fact that the played a 3.000 capacity club with the same ferocity that they always played with in the big venues. To me that speaks volumes.