Dio Disciples Islington Academy 17-06-11
I entered a compo to win tickets as at £25 a go wasn't sure. Got an email from them to say you haven't won but I can put you on the guest list and you pay £5 to Ronnie Dio's Cancer Charity.
Ok I thought.
Arrived at 7.10 to see The Rods (Ronnie's cousin on vox/geetar) who at times seemed to play just a complete medley of songs.I did pick up on Wild Dogs, Nothin’ Going On In The City, Crank It Up and Power Lover. The sound wasn’t great but Feinstein can still play a mean geetar. Straight off and due to the 10 pm curfew The Disciples were on in 15 minutes.
Now I really couldn't make my mind up about the rights and wrongs of this band as I hate current Thin Lizzy's tribute act as they are all short of cash!! After seeing some footage of the first couple of gigs and the very positive comments over the net I went with an open mind.
But this really worked. Maybe as it is only a year since Ronnie's death it felt like a celebration of the great man's life.
Ripper Owens and Toby Jepson on vox, James Lomenzo on bass, Simon Wright on drums, Scott Warren on keys(still pissed and playing the odd note)and Craig Goldie on geetar. Dougie White did 2 song songs on vox too!
Here’s what they played
Stand Up and Shout (lead vox Owens)
Holy Diver (Owens)
Don’t Talk To Strangers (Owens)
Egypt (The Chains Are On) (Jepson)
The King Of Rock n’Roll (Jepson)
Catch The Rainbow (Jepson)
Stargazer (Owens)
Neon Knights (Owens)
Straight Through The Heart (Owens)
Children Of The Sea (Jepson)
Killing The Dragon (Jepson)
The Last In Line (Owens)
Long Live Rock n’Roll (Doogie White)
Man On The Silver Mountain (Doogie White)
Heaven And Hell (Owens and Jepson)
Encores of Rainbow In The Dark (Owens)
We Rock (Owens and Jepson)
For 100 minutes we celebrated the great man’s life.
The vocals were split with Owens taking the harder edge songs and Jepson the ones with a more melodic edge. It really worked with on a couple one of instances one singer starting and finishing the song and the other taking the main part.
I suppose it shows how good Ronnie was if it takes 2 singers to do what he did on his own.
Owens was exceptional a real frontman with an almighty roar and it was also great to watch Craig Goldie in full flow. He didn’t miss a note all night.
It will be interesting to see how long and how often the band plays. Although they have the full backing of Ronnie’s wife Wendy (who was at the gig) will they over play it. I hope not, this gig showed it can work if done correctly it was just a shame it wasn’t in a larger venue which Ronnie deserved.
Finished at 9.50 only £4.50 in the car park.
A top nite.
10/10.
Ok I thought.
Arrived at 7.10 to see The Rods (Ronnie's cousin on vox/geetar) who at times seemed to play just a complete medley of songs.I did pick up on Wild Dogs, Nothin’ Going On In The City, Crank It Up and Power Lover. The sound wasn’t great but Feinstein can still play a mean geetar. Straight off and due to the 10 pm curfew The Disciples were on in 15 minutes.
Now I really couldn't make my mind up about the rights and wrongs of this band as I hate current Thin Lizzy's tribute act as they are all short of cash!! After seeing some footage of the first couple of gigs and the very positive comments over the net I went with an open mind.
But this really worked. Maybe as it is only a year since Ronnie's death it felt like a celebration of the great man's life.
Ripper Owens and Toby Jepson on vox, James Lomenzo on bass, Simon Wright on drums, Scott Warren on keys(still pissed and playing the odd note)and Craig Goldie on geetar. Dougie White did 2 song songs on vox too!
Here’s what they played
Stand Up and Shout (lead vox Owens)
Holy Diver (Owens)
Don’t Talk To Strangers (Owens)
Egypt (The Chains Are On) (Jepson)
The King Of Rock n’Roll (Jepson)
Catch The Rainbow (Jepson)
Stargazer (Owens)
Neon Knights (Owens)
Straight Through The Heart (Owens)
Children Of The Sea (Jepson)
Killing The Dragon (Jepson)
The Last In Line (Owens)
Long Live Rock n’Roll (Doogie White)
Man On The Silver Mountain (Doogie White)
Heaven And Hell (Owens and Jepson)
Encores of Rainbow In The Dark (Owens)
We Rock (Owens and Jepson)
For 100 minutes we celebrated the great man’s life.
The vocals were split with Owens taking the harder edge songs and Jepson the ones with a more melodic edge. It really worked with on a couple one of instances one singer starting and finishing the song and the other taking the main part.
I suppose it shows how good Ronnie was if it takes 2 singers to do what he did on his own.
Owens was exceptional a real frontman with an almighty roar and it was also great to watch Craig Goldie in full flow. He didn’t miss a note all night.
It will be interesting to see how long and how often the band plays. Although they have the full backing of Ronnie’s wife Wendy (who was at the gig) will they over play it. I hope not, this gig showed it can work if done correctly it was just a shame it wasn’t in a larger venue which Ronnie deserved.
Finished at 9.50 only £4.50 in the car park.
A top nite.
10/10.
