The day started off a little hazy as Ken and I woke up after getting 

home at about 3:30 AM from the Universal Amphitheater gig. We had 

such a great night that the excitement lingered into the next morning 

especially knowing that we would be seeing the show tonight as well. 

We loaded up our cooler full of killians red and blackened voodoo lager 

and packed our overnight bags and headed to LAX airport to pick up

 the one and only lovely Isabeaux flying in from Indiana state. It was 

great to finally meet her in person after conversing  with her on line 

for so long. After we picked her up we headed straight to Anaheim 

where we had hotel reservations directly across the street from the 

venue. 

Once we checked in we grabbed a quick bite and headed 

into the Disneyland park for a little while since we had time to kill. 

After that we headed back to the room and knocked a few coldies back

while we got ready to go. While we were enjoying our blackened voodoo 

lager Ken indicated to me that he would like me to take photos should 

his photo pass come through.

"Sure ken I would be delighted!!" was my response. 

Sure enough when Isabeaux, Ken and I arrived at the willcall booth we 

were all on the list. As Ken and I always say and Isabeaux as well this

time Waaaahooooo! And Ken's photo pass came through as well. Luckily

I brought my compact 35 mm with me so nobody had to go back to the 

room for Ken's camera gear. 

We headed in the door and the place was jammed as we had a few 

rounds out on the patio while Hammerfall and Kings X did their sets. 

Finally the time had arrived as the three of us split up. Ken headed to 

the top floor as Isabeaux stayed on the ground floor next to the bar. 

She gave me a big hug and kiss as I headed for the photo pit. 

It was about 6 people deep as I had to wedge my way to the entrance. 

The people didn't want to let me by thinking I was just trying to get in 

front of them so I had to point out my photo pass to them as well as 

the security guard. 

When I finally made it in to the photo area in between the stage I had 

the great pleasure of meeting Mickey one of the photographers in the 

photo area. She was a very pleasant person and I really enjoyed talking 

with her. 

The crowd was getting antsy as the lights finally dimmed and the intro 

to Killing the Dragon began. It was pretty loud as I could feel my whole 

body vibrating from the volume. When Ronnie and the boys hit the 

stage the crowd went wild. Ronnie was all smiles as usual and the band 

as a whole sounded phenomenal. 

During the photo portion Ronnie smiled and winked in acknowledgment

at me as he pranced around the stage shaking hands, smiling and 

pointing at people in the audience. There was one moment where Ronnie 

looked a little pissed off as he pointed to somebody and told them to 

come up on to the stage. I couldn't see who or what happened but I 

probably figured some jerk was flipping him off. Oh well it didn't stop 

Ronnie and the boys from kicking some serious ass as they were on fire 

that night. 

After the photo session I headed upstairs to buy a drink and ran in to 

Amy AKA The Pretender. What a pleasant surprise! I led her down to the 

area where Isabeaux was so they could meet for the first time in person. 

When we found her we had to rescue her from this guy that was getting 

kind of frisky with her. She seemed happy that we came to her aid because 

this guy was pretty aggressive. 

The set list was the same as the prior set lists of this headlining tour. I 

was so fortunate thanks to Ken for the photo pass because the rest of 

the show I just rocked out with obstructed vision of the show due to the 

large turnout. It was great to see all the DIO fans rocking out in our 

little circle by the bar. 

I was really surprised when I saw many fans singing all the words to the 

Magica material. 

At one point when I was waiting at the bar for my drink I saw Doug 

Aldrich and gave him the old thumbs up as he looked at me from the 

stage and said "JOEY" and smiled as he was ripping it up. Again DIO 

kicked some serious ass this evening. 

After the show when the house had cleared out with the exception of the 

aftershow pass holders security came out and said "Ronnie is not coming 

out so everyone has to leave!". All of a sudden Ronnie appeared as 

everyone was slowly making there way to the exit. He talked briefly with 

everyone as we had to hurry because of the curfew at the venue. He took 

photos and signed autographs as usual with everyone. Ronnie as 

always was a true gentleman. 

Ken also said to Ronnie: "You guys were on fire tonight!" and Ronnie said,

"Yes, we did kick some ass tonight." It was a perfect night as we all walked 

out with big smiles on our faces. 

We took a few photos outside with Joey Niji and his brother John, Kyoko 

from Japan Amy The Pretender and all the rest of the DIO gang. We ended 

up back at the Hotel about 3:30 AM. 

It was a great evening thanks to DIO, Annie from NIJI management and all 

the great DIO fans of this great rock and roll organization.   

JOE MONTOYA  AKA JOE FROM REDONDO

Live Photos from the Concert HERE>>

Photos from the Rainbow Club HERE>>

Aftershow Pictures HERE>>