On November 16th, Heaven and Hell’s final performance with the late Ronnie James Dio will be released on CD/DVD. The performance took place on July 30, 2009 concert at the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany and features a facemelting performance from our beloved Dio and his comrades in Heaven and Hell. I can guarantee that I will not watch this without crying at some point. Dio was probably our biggest loss in the metal world and the fact that this performance was captured in such amazing quality makes it bittersweet indeed. While I am so glad that I had the opportunity to see Dio both solo and with Black Sabbath, I regret never getting to see a Heaven and Hell performance. It was one of those “I’ll catch them when they come closer” moments. My buddy and I even talked about possibly driving to NYC to see the Radio City Music Hall shows but decided against it. Makes you remember that we aren’t immortal and that you have to make the effort to do these things as there may not be a next time.
Anyways, A description of the set reads as follows: “On Thursday July 30, 2009, HEAVEN & HELL took to the stage at the famous Wacken festival in Germany as part of the tour in support of their album ‘The Devil You Know’, released earlier in the year. Although nobody knew at the time, it was to be Ronnie James Dio’s last filmed concert appearance before his death in May 2010 from stomach cancer. HEAVEN & HELL were on fantastic form and played a set blending tracks from the newly released album with classics from their BLACK SABBATH days. This is a truly fitting tribute to one of the legendary voices of rock.”
You can bet your ass I’ll be all over this one and have a full review of it when it comes time!
“Neon Nights: 30 Years Of Heaven & Hell” track listing:
01. E5150
02. The Mob Rules
03. Children of the Sea
04. I
05. Bible Black
06. Time Machine
07. Fear
08. Falling Off the Edge of the World
09. Follow The Tears
10. Die Young
11. Heaven and Hell
12. Encore: Country Girl
13. Neon Knights
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