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DIO DISCIPLES In New Bedford, MA By Jay Roberts, Massachusetts Contributor Monday, August 6, 2018 @ 1:08 PM
Whether a straight up cover band or a tribute act to the music of a particular artist, I've been seeing a lot of local opening bands lately. I'm not plugged into the local music scene all that much, if at all. So the two bands that opened up the show for DIO DISCIPLES were decidedly unfamiliar to me.
BURNIN' TIME hails from Dartmouth, MA and they bill themselves as "bringing you songs from the 80's to present". While they had a decent range of artists in their song selection on this night, for the most part I wasn't really into their set that much. There were a couple of tunes that I did like and they really represented a wide swing of musical styles. Singer Hayley B gave a decidedly different take on METALLICA's "Sad But True", with more hip movement than James Hetfield would ever be able to attempt, no matter how many lessons he would have to take with Shakira. The band then followed that up with BON JOVI's "Never Say Goodbye" which ran the gamut of emotion and saw the singer up the ante on the emotional vocals with even more concentrated oomph. Otherwise, sad to say, I had a hard time getting into the band. And when the bassist quite literally smashed his guitar at the end of the set, I was deeply horrified as I thought of the John Hiatt song "Perfectly Good Guitar" and the line "Maybe there ought to be a law/You smash a guitar and you go to jail".
https://www.facebook.com/BurninTimeRocks
Set List:
Delving into not only metal bands you might expect to hear in a set, they also played songs from bands that might surprise people as well. And not just in some kind of half-ass way either. The musicianship was top notch and Vanchot's vocals were impressive. Plus, with SAVATAGE being my favorite band, when you whip out a rendition of "Hall Of The Mountain King" and do it so well that even my extremely picky tastes are satisfied, you know this is a band that has something great going for themselves. A cover of my favorite LIZZY BORDEN song "Me Against The World" was equally impressive.
I can't say that I'm usually eager to see cover bands repeatedly, but knowing that METAL:101 is going to be back at the Greasy Luck to open for HOUSE OF LORDS in October would have made me want to buy a ticket even if I hadn't already planned to do so.
The band states that they bring a "full-on high energy show with top notch pro musicianship and quality showmanship"...They are so telling the truth!
https://www.facebook.com/Metal101rocks
Set List:
As for the night's main event, the "celebration of the music and legacy of the greatest singer in the world, Ronnie James Dio", DIO DISCIPLES never once failed to rise to the standards set by that billing. I've been somewhat vocal about my dislike of the band using a hologram of Dio in their European shows. It may be sanctioned and all that, but it just rubs me the wrong way. That said, on this night it was Tim "Ripper" Owens on vocals and the reservations I have about said hologram were pushed to the back burner.
Featuring members of the last ever DIO band lineup, DIO DISCIPLES held the crowd in the palm of their hand throughout their smartly focused (although far too short for my own personal wishes) set. With guitarist Craig Goldy handling the six string pyrotechnics and Owens performing impressive vocal calisthenics, the band opened with a trio of DIO tracks starting with "Holy Diver" and then going into "Stand Up And Shout" and a really smoking version of "Egypt (The Chains Are On)".
I was right up in front for the entire show and along with the rest of the crowd, cheering my damn fool head off with each successive song. Keyboardist Scott Warren, drummer Simon Wright and bassist Bjorn Englen round out the DIO DISCIPLES lineup and watching them from my "front row" vantage point was pretty impressive.
The set closed on the encore of "Rainbow In The Dark", arguably best known solo track as it is the one I hear still getting radio airplay. It was a fitting way to finish off the night as DIO DISCIPLES wove their magic spell across the audience in such a way that no one could go home unsatisfied. Myself, I was overjoyed to share in honoring the memory of Dio. Ronnie James Dio left us a treasure trove of greatness in his work and the band honors that legacy with flying colors. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll and Long Live Ronnie James Dio!
http://www.ronniejamesdio.com
Set List:
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I'm not usually a fan of guitar solos (at least not anymore) but Goldy's solo was great because it fit within the show itself rather than being overly self-indulgent. Seeing RAINBOW songs like "Tarot Woman" and "Man On The Silver Mountain" live gave me a new appreciation of the tracks. Meanwhile, I loved when Owens talked about how he always wanted to perform BLACK SABBATH's "Falling Off The Edge of the World" but had never gotten the chance to with any of the bands he'd been in before.