Heaven and Hell - Birmingham NEC 13th November

Let's get the negative stuff out of the way first...
  1. I have never seen the NEC curtained off into such a small venue.. 1.5 blocks of seats on each side and none at the back... it was more like Shepherds Bush Empire.
  2. I missed Iced Earth
  3. I didn't miss Lamb of God.
Due to a double booking (Disney on Ice..just don't ask) I couldn't attend the gig at Wembley with everyone else, so Billy-No-Mates went to Birmingham on his lonesome. Gone are the days it seems of arriving at gigs, sitting in the bar and having a few JD & cokes..no I arrived in car park S5, ate a ham sandwich and drank a flask of tea.. Rock n Roll you Muthas!

I heard the rumblings of Iced Earth fading away as I entered the arena..picked my spot (there was plenty of space to choose from) and waited for Lamb of God to start.

The sound for L.O.G. was crystal clear which was a shame as it meant I could hear every turgid thrash metal riff that they played. Nothing special. Not impressed. They youngsters in the baggy shorts at the front seemed to like them and each to their own but not for me. Sorry. Iommi & Co. had let L.O.G. use a significant amount of their lights and it did look impressive for a support act..luckily though this never extended to the use of the spotlights so we never got to see their, no doubt, happy smiling faces. Although I suspect if their looks are on a par with their music they must be Fugly.

The light show for Heaven & Hell was simple but very effective..gothic type backdrop as you'd expect.. (nice touch to have the lights coming in through the side windows).. mini screens, projections.. and surely they must get an award for Best Use of LED Lights on a Lightrig.

E5150 started...the place erupted, (this is Tony & Terence's home town after all).. and into Mob Rules.. which I was chuffed about as the live album builds up with E5150 then drops into After All.. so good to see they've had the sense to change that. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole set.. Children of The sea, I, Southern Cross, Voodoo, Computer God, Falling off the Edge of the World, Die Young, Heaven & Hell, and Neon Knights. That was it though, there were a few missing from the US leg of the tour but who cares when the music is this good? It meant I got to witness a good gig and still get back down the M40 and home on the same day I set off (just).

These guys might be getting on a bit now and Dio's voice was sounding tired (but strangely only when he was talking.. he can still belt them out!) but, Christ almighty when you get them riffing away like bastards on the fast sections of Die Young, I, Heaven & Hell and especially Neon Knights.. well it just does not get any better than this.

There were many musical highlights of the evening (Die Young was a cracker!) but my favourite moment of the whole gig was from Tony Iommi. Dio had been throwing devil-horn shapes out all evening, so after Tony finished his guitar solo, he did a sneaky, "blink-and-you'll miss-it" devil-horn of his own, but in a kind of embarrassed/piss-take way as his hand never actually moved above waist height, and he broke out in a huge grin.

I know Ozzy is a much loved institution and what I'm about to say is probably the equivalent of pissing on the Queen Mother - but I prefer the Dio era Sabbath. Don't get me wrong I love the Ozzy stuff but in terms of what I play the most, the tracks they played tonight win easily..no question.

I've seen Dio play some of these songs dozens of times.. right from the first ever gig at Donington to the Holy Diver Anniversary tour and it's always been nothing short of superb.. but tonight it showed that no matter who you get on stage with you to play this stuff, no one is as good at it as the originals... I hope they continue but suspect they won't.

NR.

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