HEAVEN AND HELL RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL 03/30/2007 When I heard rumour of Ronnie James Dio and Tony Iommi writing new material for a new best of CD I knew it would lead to bigger & better things for us, the fans. Now reuniting with former Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinnie Appice our favorite frontman was about to hit the road yet again. Not as Black Sabbath but under the moniker of Heaven & Hell this time around, which is fine as we still know them as Black Sabbath! When the tour was announced we were shocked to hear no US tour dates until late fall. Then at last minute, a one nighter was scheduled for one of New York Cities most prestigous venues Radio City Music Hall. Selling out in 45 minutes all true Sabbath & Dio fans rushed out & bought their ticket to guarantee their chance to witness this night of magic. Even better it was to be filmed for a live concert DVD, and what better place, I dont mean Radio City Music Hall venue, I am referring to a crowd of over 6,000 die hard metal fans that came from all over the world, not being selfish this was to be our night. We have saw Ronnie several times & met him on most of those occasions since the Strange Highways tour, but never ever thought we would see Ronnie with Sabbath. We drove up from Kentucky to New York, about a 12 hour drive for us not counting the time that we were lost. We arrived a day early to get a room and shake off some of the road lag from the drive up. I was kind of bummed about not getting our regular aftershow passes for this tour after attempting several times. The same answer from different sources being there was no passes to give out for the Heaven & Hell tour, due to Ronnie's management not being involved. And seeing several people with passes before the show, mostly women we were wondering what was going on, what do you have to do to get to get some pics and talk to Ronnie on this tour? Anyway we were close enough to walk a few blocks to get to Radio City and headed down there early. The place didnt look as nice as I thought it might have been from the outside, but hey this is New York, all the buildings look the same. Something that was nice was the monitor on the outside playing live Sabbath videos's from the Heaven & Hell days. There was already a crowd hanging out front trying to get tickets & being turned away. There was a sea of fans of all ages wearing Black Sabbath and Dio shirts from all era's of the band including some Tony Martin fronted Headless Cross Shirts, Born Again, lots of Dio era Dehumanizer, Mob Rules, & Heaven And Hell shirts as well as the classic Ozzy tee's. The one I saw that caught my attention most was the guy wearing the Glen Hughes Seventh Star tour shirt, now thats a true Sabbath fan. After deciding to go and get a beer, we wound up at a place I think it was named Heartland Brewery or House Of Brews? Being basically right across the street from the Music Hall, I figured it was worth checking out. Saying that it had beers from all over the world, their beer was way over priced and I didnt even see a Bud or Bud Light on the menu. After getting something to eat we went to join the waiting line of fans beside the building waiting impatiently to get in. Doors open about 7:30 and after passing a metal detecting wand we rush inside to see how good our seats are, expecting 2nd row pit seating in BBB section, we were one better BBB was front row center. Hope & myself had the best 2 seats in the 6000 + seat house. The outside of Radio City dosent do the inside justice, excellent seating, carpeted floor, and huge stage. I was thinking in the back of my mind who booked Black Sabbath at a venue such as this, did they have any idea what could take place here. This wasnt Harry Connick JR, Celine Dion, Chicago, or any of a number of performers that I could imagine playing here, after all this was SABBATH! After checking out the tour shirts and inhaling a few beers we went to our seats. VH1 Classic host,Radio DJ, and long time DIO fan Eddie Trunk introduces the band, from where I was, directly in front of him I could see his hands shaking and he was trembling when talking about the band. The place was starting to fill up by this time and the lights started to go down. With the combined haunting sound of E5150 filling the air and the crowd chanting the fans came to their feet. The light goes to Tony first with his opening riff & then comes Ronnie out to show us why he is hands down the best vocalists in heavy metal music. Coming out in black pants & a white shirt with his usual cross on the front he launches into After All(The Dead) from the Dehumanizer album. One of my favorite songs but could have been easily replaced in the set & open with a faster pace song such as Neon Knights, or Turn Up The Night. Next up was Mob Rules, and Children Of the Sea. By the third song the press were gone & we could take our usual front row center spot. There was actually a film crew recording this show with a camera behind us & we let the camera guy have the center spot, until he was eventually pushed back into the 2nd row by Zombie's. But we returned to our Front row center, keeping out of line of sight for the camera guy behind us. One of the best songs in the entire setlist was the addition of "I" from demumanizer. This song never gets played & is due its justice, one of my favorite songs from not only Sabbath but Ronnie's solo efforts as well. Tony was having some problems with his guitar & kept shaking his head at his guitar tech, you could tell he was very upset. He changed from his Signature model Gibson SG with the Silver crosses on the neck to a standard White SG, no crosses. His solos were amazing, this guy is as metal as they come. Its amazing what he can do with a guitar & looks as though it comes natural. Vinnie was having problems with his drum rig trying to turn over, but never missing a beat he pulled it off like the true professional that he is. Vinnie is a heavy hitter and in my opinion fits the newer Sabbath material better than if Bill Ward had went on the road with the guys. Not taking anything away from Bill Ward, he is just more suited to Ozzy material being more of a jazzy player. Ronnie sounded great as always, with only a few rough spots here and there, probably due to a cold. We have saw Ronnie about 30 times solo & he never lets one single fan down. Never cancelling a show regardless of his health condition at the time. Last but not least Geezer didnt move around much, he was planted & focusing on his talent. His bass runs are the backbone of this band, it just wouldnt sound the same with anyone else playing, not to mention he is a Hell of a song writer. We never saw Scott which was supposed to be playing keyboards, on what I dont know, these songs were so heavy I didn't even notice any keys being played if any. The addition of the two new songs The Devil Cried & Shadow Of The Wind fit in perfectly with the set. Saw several fans singing the lyrics even though the Black Sabbath "The Dio Years" had not been released yet. Ronnie changes his shirt from White to black about half way through, I guess he wants us to see both sides of him, a little of Heaven & and a whole lot of Hell. Heaven & Hell was the highlight of the night as always at a Dio show. The red light was exceptionally red this time, Ronnie looked to glow, engulfed in the flames of sweet Hell. After Heaven & Hell the band exits the stage and a mixed message from the fans, chanting Sabbath/Dio filled the air & the band returned for an encore to do the last 2 songs of the night Lonely Is The Word and Neon Knights. The lights come on and Ronnie takes my usual Dio flag with Murray on the front & also my Black Sabbath Live Evil era flag and displayed them to the camera's and the fans. The show lasted about 2:30 hours and was supposed to be an extra long set due to no opening act, with the addition of the 3rd new song Ear In The Wall. But due to City Union issues it was cut short at several points during the show, not allowing any further time to be allowed. After the show the band was to be on the radio with Eddie Trunk to do an interview, I was awaiting anxiously to hear them but due to them being late & me being drunk, and hoarse from singing all night, and just plain dead to the world I passed out. If you get a chance to witness this for yourself, dont't wait, dont be The Last In Line, get your tickets. And now they plan to continue the US tour NOW, starting back again the 22nd of April due to the high level of excitement surrounding this reunion tour. I will see all you guys in Cincinnati, Cleveland, & Detroit and we will do it all over again.


HEAVEN AND HELL's setlist for the Radio City show was as follows:

01. [E5150 Intro]
02. After All (The Dead)
03. The Mob Rules
04. Children of the Sea
05. Lady Evil
06. I
07. The Sign of the Southern Cross
08. Voodoo
09. The Devil Cried
10. Appice Solo
11. Computer God 12. Falling Off the Edge of the World
13. Shadow of the Wind
14. Iommi Solo/Die Young
15. Heaven and Hell

Encore:
16. Lonely is the Word
17. Neon Knights