The DIO Band Thread

[Jack the Stripper]

Dedicated to all things Dio solo band

[Jack the Stripper]

So came across this last night which kinda inspired me to start this thread as I didn’t know where to post it. Was uploaded to YouTube only 2 years ago. Dio live in Melbourne September 16 1986 at Festival Hall which was one of my earliest metal shows and my first time seeing Ronnie in concert.

Was 15 years old at the time and still remember the whole day like it was yesterday and have story to tell about it. Still to this day in my top 5 favourite shows ever.

Hope more footage from the videographer exists and is uploaded. 

This is better than finding gold for me

[Zzzptm]

Man, that's back when recording concerts was some shady stuff that only the hardcore guys who would sneak a very expensive camera into an event would attempt.

[Jack the Stripper]

Man, that's back when recording concerts was some shady stuff that only the hardcore guys who would sneak a very expensive camera into an event would attempt.

Which makes me think there’s gotta be more footage. Why go through the trouble of lugging/sneaking in a big camera to only video 2 songs? Unless the videographer got busted and booted out or told to put it away.

I was actually positioned on the same side as where the footage was taken, just a little bit further right to the camera.

Saw many a band at that same venue. With Deep Purple in 84, Maiden in 85, Dio in 86 and Metallica in 89 being the best of them.

[Zzzptm]

Security may have put eyes on him but chose not to be heavy, just a "you got your 2 songs, now cut it out" sort of deal.

But soundboard recordings are another deal entirely - witness Charger's report of the lost Motorhead tapes from Norwich 1998. Those were ones that were either band-authorized... or the board operator's best mate got to roll tape without anyone being wise to it... but those are the best bootleg recordings to find, short of ones done for official radio/television programmes.

[Charger]

Pretty cool little video clip! Thanks for posting.

Quite often these older audience videos are incomplete for what ever reason....usually probably due to the cameras being rather big they were easily spotted by the security teams and removed...batteries dying was another big thing...

I could check some of my known videos lists and see if there's a mention of Melbourne 1986...

EDIT:

Yes a full recording of that show exists:
1986 Melbourne , Australia 09/16/86 @ Festival Hall / Camshot (A) 93min.

So it is out there...

[Zzzptm]

^ Looks like Jack just got a mission!

[Zzzptm]

Wanting to get back to Dio... what were his reasons for going industrial starting with Strange Highways? I've always wondered about that direction.

[Charger]

Industrial?

I always just saw Strange Highways as a pretty straight forward sequal to Dehumanizer...as a really heavy doomy metal.

Heavy Metal was pretty much dead and dying in the 90s and most bands changed their sound to suit that time...darker, heavier...It was kind of like a fuck you to the whole "Metal is Dead" thing...Radio and MTV isn't playing us anyways so why even bother making radio friendly happy sounding shit?

I think part of it came out of frustration as well...

Angry Machines has one track that you might consider bit industrial and that's Stay Out Of My Mind with that big synth part in the middle...not the greatest thing the DIO band has ever done I must admit.

But even so Angry Machines is pretty far from Monster Magnet or other industrial metal bands sounds I think.

But had Ronnie never gotten back together with the Sabbs I don't think we would have gotten albums as heavy as SH and AM...

[Zzzptm]

For me, though, Strange Highways didn't really gel. There were about two tracks I remember liking from SH and when I heard AM was in the same vein, I just gave it a pass. Is it time to revisit those albums?

[Charger]

I absolutely love Strange Highways...It's just a great heavy piece. Tracy G is a great riffer...might not be the greatest soloist but his riffs are really unique sounding.

Angry Machines gets a lot of hate and I can understand part of it but not all of it. It too has some great tracks but it is I guess stuffy...in lack of a better word. It would benefit from a bit more clearer production.

I would most certainly recommend revisiting Strange Highways...it's my third favourite DIO album right after Holy Diver and Magica.

[Zzzptm]

Will do. Shall we start up a song by song thread for it?

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

I just realised I don't have Strange Highways, I thought I had all his albums after I got Angry Machines the other year. Don't know how that happened!

[Jack the Stripper]

Pretty cool little video clip! Thanks for posting.

Quite often these older audience videos are incomplete for what ever reason....usually probably due to the cameras being rather big they were easily spotted by the security teams and removed...batteries dying was another big thing...

I could check some of my known videos lists and see if there's a mention of Melbourne 1986...

EDIT:

Yes a full recording of that show exists:
1986 Melbourne , Australia 09/16/86 @ Festival Hall / Camshot (A) 93min.

So it is out there...

Well that’s good to know. I hope the full show does exist.

^ Looks like Jack just got a mission!

Hmm… Contacting the YouTube uploader might be a good place to start.

[Zzzptm]

So I gave Angry Machines a listen just now. First reaction is that the final song is a masterwork of Dio's. Absolutely wonderful, beautiful song.

The rest of the album didn't really impress me that much. It's heavy for sure, but I'm not really moved by it, similar to how I felt after listening to Strange Highways.