Dio Boots
I'm sure you're all tired of the scene reports so this week we're going to take a break from the Sailors, Guilloteens, Animals, Jewelry and Clouds. This week we're going to talk about an American institution. You know who I'm talking about - The Rainbow in the Dark, The Last In Line, The Holy Diver himself - fucking Ronnie James Dio! I saw the dude ages ago...maybe it was the Last In Line album or maybe it was the Sacred Heart album, I can't really remember but the show is one that sticks in my head. I mean it's high school, the tour was dubbed "Magical Mythical Metal", and Dio was supposed to battle some metal warriors - how could I not go?
Now, it doesn't take a genius to realize that the advert was a bit of a stretch from reality and, sure enough, the metal warriors turned out to be these two mechanical knights at either end of the stage who would "battle" Dio in what amounted to the knight turning towards Dio on a turntable and stiffly raising and lowering a sword wielding arm. Yeah, kind of like those wind-up toys you buy at the five and dime except they were really big and they were being challenged in battle by a smallish fellow with long curly locks from New Hampshire.
Not impressed? OK, at least Dio brought out an arena sized dragon! You think Sonic Youth would have the balls to have an arena sized dragon on tour? Hell no! But Dio did and, more importantly, did so with not so much as a wink of self-consciousness. You could totally imagine Dio and his tour manager sitting at a table planning the tour when some intern comes in with coffee and asks why have a mechanical dragon in the first place. Dio and his manager then turn and reply in unison "Because it was just fucking cool to have an arena sized Dragon!" then proceed to kick his sorry poser ass.
In practice it was abit less imressive. Dio dodged, parried, and thrust with his sword (bigger than him by the way) and the mechanical beast would slowly move into position so that Dio could slay him. I mean the dragon may just as well have said "Is this working for you? I can move closer if that's too far for you to reach. No, really, I can." Yeah I know, hardly the heroic Beowulf scene. The Dragon (despite the flames and the size) was as much of a threat to Dio as the Washington Generals were to the Harlem Globetrotters but you know who fucking cared? Nobody, that's who. And guess what? Nobody cared that Vivian Cambell's guitar work was as sloppy as a drunk's or that Vinny Appice played with the skill of your 90-year-old grandma. All the stoners and the metal heads knew was that Portsmouth's finest was putting on a frikkin SHOW for them and somehow that was good enough. Amen brothas, it was good enough for me too!
On a completely different Dio topic, what the hell is the deal with Dio's boots in Rainbow in the Dark?! Somewhere in England these boots are sitting in a thrift store calling my name! If you know of their whereabouts please contact us at the NAP.
Super Neato Bonus: Check out these early Dio Pictures here and I'm not talking Metal Dio either! You'll note the bottom dio picture where he's playing a bass (yes Dio plays an instrument) he looks a hell of a lot like one Scott Grimm.
[And thus end the first year of NAP as it should be - with Metal! Tomorrow we turn one year old.]
Now, it doesn't take a genius to realize that the advert was a bit of a stretch from reality and, sure enough, the metal warriors turned out to be these two mechanical knights at either end of the stage who would "battle" Dio in what amounted to the knight turning towards Dio on a turntable and stiffly raising and lowering a sword wielding arm. Yeah, kind of like those wind-up toys you buy at the five and dime except they were really big and they were being challenged in battle by a smallish fellow with long curly locks from New Hampshire.
Not impressed? OK, at least Dio brought out an arena sized dragon! You think Sonic Youth would have the balls to have an arena sized dragon on tour? Hell no! But Dio did and, more importantly, did so with not so much as a wink of self-consciousness. You could totally imagine Dio and his tour manager sitting at a table planning the tour when some intern comes in with coffee and asks why have a mechanical dragon in the first place. Dio and his manager then turn and reply in unison "Because it was just fucking cool to have an arena sized Dragon!" then proceed to kick his sorry poser ass.
In practice it was abit less imressive. Dio dodged, parried, and thrust with his sword (bigger than him by the way) and the mechanical beast would slowly move into position so that Dio could slay him. I mean the dragon may just as well have said "Is this working for you? I can move closer if that's too far for you to reach. No, really, I can." Yeah I know, hardly the heroic Beowulf scene. The Dragon (despite the flames and the size) was as much of a threat to Dio as the Washington Generals were to the Harlem Globetrotters but you know who fucking cared? Nobody, that's who. And guess what? Nobody cared that Vivian Cambell's guitar work was as sloppy as a drunk's or that Vinny Appice played with the skill of your 90-year-old grandma. All the stoners and the metal heads knew was that Portsmouth's finest was putting on a frikkin SHOW for them and somehow that was good enough. Amen brothas, it was good enough for me too!
Super Neato Bonus: Check out these early Dio Pictures here and I'm not talking Metal Dio either! You'll note the bottom dio picture where he's playing a bass (yes Dio plays an instrument) he looks a hell of a lot like one Scott Grimm.
[And thus end the first year of NAP as it should be - with Metal! Tomorrow we turn one year old.]
10 Comments:
It is fitting that after a year of watching this blog, there is finally a post on a worthy topic.
But Ramon, you don't have to go to a thrift shop in London to find RJD's boots -- the other day, I was sitting at Brazil and watched a slightly-past-her-prime hottie striding out of American Apparel in cutoff jeans, wearing RJD boots. I asked my non-fashion-impaired wife whether perhaps this woman was expecting snow, and she said something to the effect of "Those are Uggs, fool".
Now you just have to find your size...in Women's.
One of my wife's lifelong wishes is to sing like Dio or Dickenson. Just think if Frodo Baggins could do that!
you can keep RJD's boots. i want rob halford's leather vest.
Sparrow, uggs don't have heels, even less Dio approved heels. Are those stiletto heels in that picture? Cause you know Dio would never be caught on camera without some kind of lifters, isnt he shorter than Prince?
those are 80s vintage suede slouch boots with a cuban heel said the frequent ebay shopper.
One of my wife's lifelong wishes is to sing like Dio or Dickenson.
I think we'd all like to sing like Dio or Dickenson.
Actually Justin, I would like to play the bass as well as Steve Harris, but
Ramon's post was about Dio so I'll leave it alone.
Holy cow, he looks exactly like me when I was in high school!
Who did I go see Dio with? Megadeth opened, along with whatever metal band did "Hall of the Mountain King". Dio fought a giant mechanical spider, and his guitarist shot lasers from his guitar.
Does anybody happen to know what band really inspired Spinal Tap? It might be Dio. But then, he got his stage sets right.
I saw that tour as my first concert, it blew my young little mind.
Wednesday, to answer your question, it was Black Sabbath that inspired the Stonehenge set in Spinal Tap. There is a decent Sabbath documentary called "The Black Sabbath Story" (on Netflix) where they interview Ian Gillian about it. Most of the good stories are in the outtakes/special features section.
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