In the same column as his enthusiastic plug of the annual Stinky Town appearance of the
Allman Brothers, NY Times music critic
Ben Sisario gave this lame one-liner for tonight's sold-out
Heaven & Hell show:
"Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio in place of Ozzy Osbourne. Again. Which means it’s effectively 1980 and not very exciting. Again. At 8pm, Radio City Music Hall." Again, he likes the
Allman Brothers. Isn't that sort of like having a
Christina Aguilera fan review
Robert Johnson?
Nonetheless, Larry had arrived from the
flat lands and soon we were in line for the sensory feast of a lifetime...
While Lar, the purist, went exclusively for the geezers on stage, my interests included the
more general freak show:
the loyal fans...
This Stinky Town
Heaven & Hell concert reportedly sold out in under 30 minutes. As the crowd waited patiently for the gold curtain to raise at Radio City, I took inventory. Although there was a sprinkling of all ages, we estimated at least 80% of the mob to be in their late forties or early fifties. Also, roughly 96% male and 99% Caucasian.
All types in attendance, too. Obviously there was a ton of lifers and burned-out headbangers, but I also saw a bunch of very excited Dads with their skeptical offspring in tow, lots of clean-cut Wall Streeters, a steady stream of Hells Angels and even a grandfather sporting the double devil horns at every applause. And while the ladies were sparse, they made themselves known with tall hair and tight concert Ts from 1981.
Then, the lights went out, the curtains went up and everyone stood. As I stared over a sea of balding heads, a very loud
E5150 shook the hall and the band slowly came out on stage, one by one. They
played non-stop for more than 2 hours.
The crowd was not disappointed, including Larry and myself. While Geezer's fingers were a blur and Tony/Vinny blew out everyone's eardrums, little Dio ran around
locking horns with the front row of his fans. By the time
Mob Rules was over, the once well-behaved mass of middle-aged 9-5ers had quickly reverted into the teenage metalheads of their lost youth. I haven't witnessed so much beer guzzling, pot smoking, pill popping man love in all my life. These guys were truly in HEAVEN!
A grand freak show, indeed. Despite the contact high, I'm glad we went clear-eyed and chem-free this time. Unlike the
3/30/86 tour, I remember nearly every detail from 3/30/07. Can't wait to see
the boys again on their next Dio-era reunion... say, 3/30/28?
In the same column as his enthusiastic plug of the annual Stinky Town appearance of the Allman Brothers, NY Times music critic Ben Sisario gave this lame one-liner for tonight's sold-out Heaven & Hell show: "Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio in place of Ozzy Osbourne. Again. Which means it’s effectively 1980 and not very exciting. Again. At 8pm, Radio City Music Hall." Again, he likes the Allman Brothers. Isn't that sort of like having a Christina Aguilera fan review Robert Johnson?
Nonetheless, Larry had arrived from the flat lands and soon we were in line for the sensory feast of a lifetime...
While Lar, the purist, went exclusively for the geezers on stage, my interests included the more general freak show: the loyal fans...
This Stinky Town Heaven & Hell concert reportedly sold out in under 30 minutes. As the crowd waited patiently for the gold curtain to raise at Radio City, I took inventory. Although there was a sprinkling of all ages, we estimated at least 80% of the mob to be in their late forties or early fifties. Also, roughly 96% male and 99% Caucasian.
All types in attendance, too. Obviously there was a ton of lifers and burned-out headbangers, but I also saw a bunch of very excited Dads with their skeptical offspring in tow, lots of clean-cut Wall Streeters, a steady stream of Hells Angels and even a grandfather sporting the double devil horns at every applause. And while the ladies were sparse, they made themselves known with tall hair and tight concert Ts from 1981.
Then, the lights went out, the curtains went up and everyone stood. As I stared over a sea of balding heads, a very loud E5150 shook the hall and the band slowly came out on stage, one by one. They played non-stop for more than 2 hours.
The crowd was not disappointed, including Larry and myself. While Geezer's fingers were a blur and Tony/Vinny blew out everyone's eardrums, little Dio ran around locking horns with the front row of his fans. By the time Mob Rules was over, the once well-behaved mass of middle-aged 9-5ers had quickly reverted into the teenage metalheads of their lost youth. I haven't witnessed so much beer guzzling, pot smoking, pill popping man love in all my life. These guys were truly in HEAVEN!
A grand freak show, indeed. Despite the contact high, I'm glad we went clear-eyed and chem-free this time. Unlike the 3/30/86 tour, I remember nearly every detail from 3/30/07. Can't wait to see the boys again on their next Dio-era reunion... say, 3/30/28?
2 comments:
Wow. Wish I coulda been there! And not just to shorten the average girl fan's hair length.
And poo poo on Ben Sisario.
I'm in one of your pics. Was 8 years old when this stuff hit firswt time around. Got thrown out of church for wearing Live Evil T. Never looked back.
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