On July 24, 2010, the surviving members of Heavy Metal legends Heaven and Hell reunited at the High Voltage festival at Victoria Park in London, England to bid their fallen comrade one last good-bye. Ronnie James Dio lost his battle with cancer on May 16, 2010 and it was the cry heard around the Metal world. Fans from far and wide flooded all avenues of the internet with condolences, memories and best wishes to his family and friends.
It was announced that Heaven and Hell would honor their booked appearance at the High Voltage Festival and use it as a time to pay their respects to the late great Dio. As opposed to attempting to fill his shoes, new shoes were drafted in the form of two close friends of Ronnie’s, Norwegian Metal vocalist Jorn Lande and the legendary Glen Hughes. Each one took on the task at delivering some of these all time Metal classics but in my opinion it was Lornde who reigned supreme. While Hughes sounded pretty damn good, he sounded tired and lacked the power and punch these songs originally had. Lornde on the other hand had no problem making these songs his yet keeping the spirit of Dio very much alive to the demanding but appreciative crowd.
The setlist was as follows (vocalist for each track listed in parenthesis):
01. The Mob Rules (Jorn Lande)
02. I (Jorn Lande)
03. Country Girl (Glenn Hughes)
04. Children Of The Sea (Glenn Hughes)
05. Turn Up The Night (Jorn Lande)
06. Voodoo (Jorn Lande)
07. Bible Black (Glenn Hughes)
08. Falling Off The Edge Of The World (Glenn Hughes)
09. Die Young (Jorn Lande)
10. Heaven And Hell (Jorn Lande, Glenn Hughes)
11. Neon Knights (Jorn Lande, Glenn Hughes, Philip Anselmo)
The performance was shot by a local TV station and will broadcast on August 28 at 9:00 p.m. local time, U.K. on the cable satellite channel Sky Arts. We can only hope that some of this amazing footage will surface here in the US. I still say I would love to see an actual US Tribute Show take place where many great Metal singers would join Heaven & Hell to pay their respects to the Man on the Silver Mountain. Europe has has their opportunity to do so. Let us have ours!
About The Author
