From the subject line, I think you can guess what this post might be about. Let's run down the pre-game activities. I meet up with Brian McIrish at the dollar parking lot that I have introduced him to, which is good, since all attempts to hit an ATM on the way, have failed for me, so luckily Brian is able to lend me a dollar so that I can park my car legally, which is a rare thing for me - to those of you that know me, that should come as no surprise!
From there, we meet up with my good comrade Chris Akin - believe it or not, Chris and I do not hate each other, and to prove this, we hang out sometimes....although I say that, and remember that this is actually the first time that we have hung out in months.
Anyway, Brian, Chris and I head down to find Machine Head's tour bus. Chris has an interview with Robb Flynn, and we're going to hang out with him while he does that. Machine Head interview happens, and we head on up to the beloved Hard Rock Cafe to grab some food and otherwise.
Lucky for us, we've managed to choose to go to the Hard Rock Cafe on a day that there is apparently a huge childrens birthday party of some sort. Welcome to hell, everyone. Hey, at least our bartender is cute, right?
Exit the Hard Rock, and head down to the venue. Stop to drop something off in Chris' car - Chris realizes that he has lost his keys. I volunteer to go back up to the Hard Rock Cafe to see if he left them there. Turns out, cute bartender picked them up, and was holding them for safe keeping. She offers me a piece of stale gum along with the keys - I politely decline, and head back down to Chris and Brian.
Interesting people that I ran into - hell, long list of those -
Ryan of the late great Tocsin - always great to see you
ex-Girth man Dave - holy crap - tell the drunken campground story, and then run into Dave on the same day? That's a first!
Metal Marsha is there for people watching...and there's certainly plenty of that.....
but hey, about the show......
(all pix courtesy of Brian McIrish) The newly rechristened Time Warner Cable Amphitheater at Tower City was the unlikely scene for the second coming, though it's probably not the second coming that you were thinking of. Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio (cleverly disguised as Heaven & Hell to avoid the wrath of Sharon Osbourne) is on the road in 2007 bringing the most unexpected and welcome musical reunion to the masses worldwide. The Heaven & Hell tour is without a doubt, THE metal tour of the year, and it was definitely a giant metal family reunion, with the entire Cleveland metal fan base present and accounted for. Stage difficulties kept Machine Head from taking the stage at their scheduled 6:45PM start time, and they finally ended up on stage shortly after 8PM. Machine Head set the bar high from the opening moments of their set with Imperium, the blistering opening track from their 2004 release Through The Ashes of Empires, which set the tone for their short and brutal "half hour of power" as MH mainman Robb Flynn termed their opening slot in a pre-show interview.
The set included new material from the band's latest masterpiece "The Blackening", including the moment of the night that brought goosebumps as Flynn introduced "Aesthetics of Hate," a smoldering track that was lyrically inspired by an anti-Dimebag article that ran mere days after the guitarist's tragic death in Columbus in 2004. The all-to-brief set came to a close with the proven not-so-secret weapon in the Machine Head catalog. "Davidian," which brought Machine Head's time on stage to a close after less than a half hour and a total of four songs with not a second of stage time wasted. The Machine Head set, set the tone of brutality for an evening that could be best described across the board as "No F*cking Ballads." The tour brings together 3 generations of metal on stage, and as Flynn shared with the Cleveland audience, "without Megadeth and Heaven & Hell, there would be no Machine Head."
Machine Head have had a career resurgence and return to form with their last two recorded efforts, and Megadeth are enjoying a similar renaissance with their recent recordings. The new Megadeth release "United Abominations" lands in stores on Tuesday, and frontman Dave Mustaine and crew previewed the release with a set that featured tracks from the new release including the thundering set opener "Sleepwalker", as well as a hefty selection of choice older material including "Wake Up Dead" and "Tornado of Souls." If you were expecting any mellow moments from Megadeth…..well, you were left waiting. The amps were tuned to 11 for the duration of the set, which finished with a somewhat predictable one-two shot of "Peace Sells", followed by "Holy Wars" as the encore track. Though the setlist may have seemed a bit by-the-numbers for longtime fans, it definitely worked well considering Megadeth's slot as direct support for Heaven & Hell. If it was their job (and Machine Head's as well) to get the crowd fired up for the headliner, they definitely did that, and then some. I don't think that there was a single person in the house disappointed by the set, which like Machine Head's set, was fantastic.
This current lineup of Megadeth with the Drover brothers on guitar and drums and James Lomenzo (ex-White Lion) on bass is one of the finest lineups that Mustaine has assembled to date. Glen Drover is a monstrous presence on the guitar, and seeing this lineup on stage, I doubt that James Lomenzo has any regrets that he will not be out on tour with White Lion this summer. Drummer Shawn Drover had a drum kit that even as a Dream Theater fan, was one of the most over-the-top kits that I have seen in a while. It was a bit much, and I feel bad for the roadies that have to deal with it on a daily basis, but damn, it was a nice kit….but I don't think I've seen cymbals that high since perhaps the Slaughter video for "Up All Night." I kept expecting to see "Space For Rent" on one of the drums.
After a short changeover, it was officially time for the main event. Black Sabbath, err, Heaven and Hell took the stage with Ronnie James Dio, the one and only godfather of all that is heavy metal. As Robb Flynn remarked in the pre-show interview, Ronnie James Dio is singing better now, than the first time that he heard Dio as a music fan. It's certainly true and amazing that at 67 years of age (give or take a few); Ronnie James Dio hasn't lost a step from what you remember. The set opened strong with "After All (The Dead), and was followed by "the track you probably expected us to open with," the Black Sabbath classic "The Mob Rules."
One major thing that is interesting and different about this tour, is that they have opted to not perform any tracks from Ozzy-era Black Sabbath on this trek, which opened the door to a setlist that features a number of Dio-era Black Sabbath tracks that haven't been played live in years, and seldom heard tracks like "I" from 1992's "Dehumanizer" album, which was clearly a favorite Dio era nugget for all in attendance. The lack of Ozzy era material hasn't kept fans from attending these shows, and it was clear that it was an envelope pushing setlist that got the collective thumbs up from the Cleveland fans. It was the type of setlist that you dream of as a music fan, yet so rarely get from your favorite band. One thing that was apparent is that everyone is having a lot of fun on this tour, and I'm not just talking about the fans! Legendary guitarist Tony Iommi and bass player Geezer Butler (who Dio once called his favorite rock and roll bass player) are obviously thrilled to be playing a setlist that doesn't feature "War Pigs", "Iron Man," or any of the other Ozzy-era tracks that they have played for years in a setlist that rarely changes with Osbourne at the helm.
The set featured two out of the three new tracks from the recently released "The Dio Years" anthology, including "The Devil Cried," which Dio introduced as "something that opened the door for us to do this." Iommi delivered a scorching solo that led into another favorite from the "Heaven and Hell" album, "Die Young". As the set wrapped up, Dio introduced the title track from "Heaven and Hell" as "something that really made it possible for us to do this." The band returned for a final encore with the Sabbath classic "Neon Knights," wrapping up the most solid bill of metal in recent memory. You wanted bang for the buck? We got it all, and then some, on a Friday night in Cleveland.