Kory Grow of Rolling Stone reports:
After debuting at last year’s Wacken festival in Germany, a hologram of late heavy-metal singer Ronnie James Dio will set out on a world tour, backed by musicians who played with him, this fall. The trek, dubbed Dio Returns, will begin with a European leg of performances in theaters on November 30th in Helsinki before hitting South America, Australia and Asia. The tour will arrive in the U.S. in the spring of 2018 and hit select festivals next summer…
…this hologram project…gives the fans that saw Ronnie perform an opportunity to see him again and new fans that never got to see him a chance to see him for the first time. We hope everyone will enjoy the show that we have all worked so hard to put together,” says the singer’s widow, Wendy Dio.
The Dio estate has worked with hologram company Eyellusion so the singing specter could perform many of the late vocalist’s hits, including Holy Diver, Rainbow in the Dark, We Rock, King of Rock and Roll, Black Sabbath’s Neon Knights and Heaven and Hell and Rainbow’s Man on the Silver Mountain, among others. The production uses audio of Dio’s live performances from throughout his career with a live band backing him up in front of a stage set that hearkens back to the singer’s Sacred Heart and Dream Evil tours. The hologram’s set will differ from night to night, and audiences should expect to see the Dio Band also perform with vocalists Tim “Ripper” Owens and Oni Logan on select dates.
The Dio Band consists of guitarist Craig Goldy, drummer Simon Wright, keyboardist Scott Warren and bassist Bjorn Englen. The musicians have previously made appearances as the Dio Disciples…
…The response Goldy has gotten to the hologram performances has been mixed. “Ronnie was, and still is, so revered by his fans, which really are his extended family, and they, too, had a special relationship with the man himself which entitles them to a voice. Like all families, not everyone agrees, but this was a gift to the fans that was created in the very same spirit in which Ronnie gave throughout his whole career and created these amazing stage shows that rivaled Madonna and Michael Jackson.”
Read more at Rolling Stone.
Dio Returns Tour Dates
November 30 – Helsinki, Finland @ The Circus
December 3 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Fryshuset
December 4 – Oslo, Norway @ Rockefeller Music Hall
December 6 – Warsaw, Poland @ Progresja
December 13 – Barcelona, Spain @ Bikini
December 15 – Santander, Spain @ Escenario Santander
December 17 – Bucharest, Romania @ Arelene Romane
December 20 – Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix
December 21 – Tilburg, Netherlands @ 013
source: rollingstone.com
19 Responses
It’s such a sucker punch to the Dio fans; that ad…it automatically triggers a response…it’s the power of advertising…you get excited but then this sick feeling takes over….It’s way beneath Gene.
I am glad you brought up seeing Ronnie; you brought some memories front and center: I saw him three times on the Dream Evil tour…the first was at Irvine Meadows Ampitheater and he used so much pyro…it was just ridiculous….it was so over the top…just boom boom boom…. Sunset Superman was just when the sun was going down…it was a magical night…..then there was Nashville where it snowed and maybe 500 showed up to this arena that holds 10,000…the show started with a curtain of lasers, then an explosion and Ronnie comes prancing out through the smoke, this determined look on his face…I’ll never forget it…then when he saw how empty the place was, his face turned red…I guess no one told him.. ? but he played like it was packed…full show…total professional….then there was the Dehumanizer tour right after my grandfather died…I was still shell shocked and seeing Ronnie singing After All the Dead…just so much power…Ronnie was still other worldly to me…then he made fun of Ozzy’s singing. on the classics….Ronnie is a performer you just don’t forget about…he leaves a big freaking cloud behind. This show is being pedaled to the folks in third world countries who never got to see Ronnie…and they will probably sell tickets.
Totally agree, Shannon. I remember the DREAM EVIL tour! The pyro was AWESOME! I remember the first time seeing RJD. It was on the Sabbath HEAVEN AND HELL tour, with Saxon opening! When they did “Heaven and Hell”, I was hooked! RJD could do no wrong! When he left Sabbath, and I heard he was putting together a solo band, I couldn’t wait! When DIO played anywhere close to where I grew up, I was there! He was such a professional, and always had time to sign autographs and meet fans. I was devastated when I heard of his passing. RJD will always be remembered by his fans. We don’t need a stupid hologram show! He’s in our hearts forever!
Great stories, Shannon. Thanks for sharing. My first time seeing Dio was on Black Sabbath’s Mob Rules tour when I was in high school. The concert was on Good Friday (The Friday before Easter celebration). Us being Catholic, my parents were reluctant to allow me to attend the concert because it was on Good Friday, a day for remembrance. When they asked what band was playing, and I replied “Black Sabbath”, my parents almost fell over simply because of the band name. They had never even heard of Black Sabbath, but the name alone was enough to scare them!! :o)
I wish I could’ve seen that Sabbath lineup, I was in Knoxville TN and didn’t go to either Mob Rules or Diary….I was too scared to go to be honest…just thought I might get killed…it’s kind of funny now, I was so unfamiliar with that terrain at that point…even though I played the hell out of Mob Rules…I would listen to it all night, I just kept flipping the thing over….and to this day, it’s still my favorite record along with Alive II and probably Fair Warning. When I went to school the next day after Ozzy played, the weird kid of the school who loved Ozzy (see what I’m sayin’? in Knoxville in 1982 only a psycho would go to that show) told me Randy had just died…and, deep down, I thought Ozzy would quit music altogether…..I knew Oz would be devastated, I thought he was done.
So, you guys both have one up on me….you saw THE tours (I would bet you saw Ozzy with Randy too) I am pretty jealous to be honest…Love how the Catholic parents freaked out, but, the irony is that Sabbath is the most Catholic band on the planet.
This totally sickins me. A total cash grab, don`t give me the bs about “an opportunity to see him again and new fans that never got to see him have a chance to see him for the first time”. I hope no one shows up for these shows and they lose their ass on there investment. Freaking t–t, I`m really curious what Eddie thinks about the hologram of his friend Ronnie. I cant seem to find anywhere where he comments on it. I`m guessing he doesn`t want to ruffle feathers because he`s still close with peeps in Ronnies camp but damn tell us how you feel about it Eddie. can you somehow justify this crap?
Ray, Eddie has had both Wendy and the guy who makes the hologram on his radio shows a couple of times. On one, people called in, and in complete contrast to this board, almost everyone was positive.
Eddie’s been diplomatic, acknowledging that this tour provides work to musicians like Simon Phillips and Craig Goldie, although I would guess that at some point those guys will be replaced by no-namers just for the tour to remain economical.
Some Fans praise this, while others don’t. To me, as a Dio Fan, I think that it is a great idea for Fans, like myself, who never saw Ronnie live. I’ve only been a Fan for 15 years and I never got the opportunity to see RJD live. If I could see the Dio hologram it will be just like he was still alive and performing on stage. People think that this is Wendy trying to make money off of his death. I guess her making money to go back into the Dio fund for Cancer research is a rotten thing to do, to me it’s a great idea to help raise money and awareness about Cancer even if it means to have her late husband get his Fans to help out. Remember Ronnie loved us and he had said that the Fans deserve to have the best time at Dio show. Also if the Fans who think that Wendy is doing this in poor taste then why are you buying his music, DVDs and t-shirts after his death if you think that it’s a money making ploy?! Think about that.
I’m sorry Richard but the truth is you will never see Ronnie live…this whole thing is so wrong….it’s like telling someone his or her loved one is coming back from the dead, and it’s a hologram…what if that was your loved one? or your pet? The reasons being bandied about for this being a good way to make money are not convincing. Maybe those musicians should get another job, for God’s sake from what I’ve seen it’s like a hologram and the walking dead…they are so concerned with being in time with this hologram it’s not much of a performance really….no chemistry…it’s like the Twilight Zone, Rod Serling should do some play by play, then maybe it would have some viability.
The point is that you ARE NOT seeing RJD live! It can’t happen, because the guy is dead! What you are seeing is a live band coupled with a figure projected on a screen based upon videos of previous live performances. I have a problem with Wendy trying to milk RJD’s legacy for cash, even though she says it is for a good cause. But if people are willing to pay good money for something like this, so be it. Buying his music is NOT the same as someone trying to sell a hologram as being the same as seeing RJD live, not even close! RJD’s music came from his soul, and he made it for his fans to buy and enjoy forever. Wendy is using this new hologram technology to make money, albeit for a worthy cause. She is using RJD’s performances as a vehicle to do this, and is trying to equate this with seeing RJD live. IT’S NOT THE SAME!! Again, if you want to buy a ticket for this, good for you! But to me, as someone who did get to see RJD live several times, it is a VERY poor substitute. Sorry, but I will not participate. RIP RJD!!
One of the most memorable moments for me of Dio was when he cut the piss out of Gene Simmons’s “anything to make a buck”-behaviour in the *Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey*.
So to my mind, there is no doubt he is rolling in his grave over this cash grab.