In 2005, over the course of two months, Ronnie James Dio embarked on a tour unprecedented in its concept. During the concerts, the first and most famous album by the band DIO -- 1983's "Holy Diver" -- was performed in its entirety, from the first song to the last. The tour began with 11 concerts in russia; a detailed report on one of them, held at the moscow DKG, was written by yours truly and you can read it here. The tour continued with three concerts in Ukraine, one in Belarus, one each in the Netherlands and Belgium, then carried on with 11 shows in England, two in Ireland, and concluded with a concert in Tel Aviv. The October 22nd concert in London was recorded and released in 2006 on both CD and DVD. The CD setlist at first glance appears different from the DVD -- well, a few clarifications are in order. The DVD setlist is the more accurate one: indeed, three songs unrelated to the "Holy Diver" album were played first, then came the songs from the album, and then the concert concluded with several more tracks and an encore. However, on the CD, the "Holy Diver" album is given its own dedicated disc, while on the second disc the sound engineers combined the opening portion of the concert with the closing section. In principle, this is more than fair, as maximum emphasis is thus placed on the legendary album to which the entire tour was dedicated.
Disc One. So before us are nine tracks in the same sequence as on the "Holy Diver" album. A small note: at the start of the proceedings, a screen appeared before the audience showing a short animated film that gave way to a close-up of Dio, who read out the track names one after another, linking them together. But then the riffs ring out and one of the band's greatest hits, "Stand Up And Shout," fills the air -- the song that quite by chance happened to be the opener on that disc over twenty years ago. At the song's conclusion, a surprise awaits -- it turns out the album tracks are played without any breaks at all, flowing into one another; the guitar simply freezes and begins playing the riff that belongs to the title track "Holy Diver." After the third composition, "Gypsy," we hear a drum solo and a pre-recorded orchestral track accompanied by drums. "Simon Wright" -- the Maestro's drummer is introduced, and the concert continues with the pop-rock-flavored "Caught In The Middle." It gives way to the famous "Don't Talk To Strangers" -- a balladic intro transitioning into one of the band's fastest compositions; for two decades now, this song has been part of the four most iconic tracks from this album and is performed almost every time. Next come "Straight Through The Heart" and "Invisible." And of course, just as on the studio version, another first-rate hit -- "Rainbow In The Dark" -- greeted by a thunderous roar from the audience. The disc naturally concludes with "Shame On The Night," though with a few caveats. After the song is performed, a long guitar solo follows, then a keyboard solo, then a keyboard-guitar duet, after all of which "Shame On The Night" concludes and... a passage from "Holy Diver" is played once more!
Disc Two. When you begin listening to "Tarot Woman," you're tempted to say that the Maestro is far from his best form. And I would simply have written that he's no longer young and can't sing properly, had I not heard him exactly one month before this concert with the same setlist. It's simple -- this song is, after all, the first in the concert -- he's warming up, and already by the song's finale he brilliantly hits the high notes without cutting them short. Although periodically there's a sense that he's singing through sheer willpower. There are objective reasons for this: behind the 65-year-old heavy rock legend lay nearly two months of two-hour concerts. And indeed, quite a lot of raspiness, many skeptics will say, comparing today's Dio with himself 28 years ago during the RAINBOW tour -- but honestly, that comparison is simply foolish. The voice has of course lost that lightness, agility, and softness -- that's normal -- but there's no reason to say the singer is in poor shape... most of today's up-and-coming vocalists would envy him! "The Gates Of Babylon" sounds absolutely brilliant, and this is already the second hour of the concert, after the entire "Holy Diver" album has been performed. Toward the finale, a fairly standard set of songs -- an extended version of "HEAVEN AND HELL" (where would we be without it), RAINBOW hits "Man On The Silver Mountain" and of course "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" with its signature sing-along. Before the last song, Dio says that the concert material will be released in full on DVD, and then comes the phrase he has been repeating for decades at the end of his concerts: "And finally -- this is about us, what we do every day... We Rock" -- and with this high-speed anthem, one of the most famous hymns to rock music, the concert event comes to an end.
Overall, the 1998 concert is certainly more dynamic, and the 2003 New York DVD is more vibrant and energetic; however, this album is above all unique for its setlist -- the Maestro had never done anything like it before. So fans of the band can now place the live version of "Holy Diver" on the shelf right next to the studio original.