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PART II Suddenly heavy metal sound starts coming out of the venue. I recognize the tune. It's "Killing the Dragon" ! Oh shit !!! The show has started an I am still outside waiting for the f*** list !! Oh god what shall I do now ? I have travelled so many miles for that show and now I am losing it !!! Ronnie sings : "In silence we hunt, in silence we kill !" Oh no !!! My favorite part of the song ! And I lost it !!!! That's it ! Enough ! I am going in !!!
Just one second before I turn and leave the ticket desk, I hear a guy saying "Hey look! the woman with the list just arrived !!" "At last !!! The list is here ! I am so lucky at the very end !!" I thought … I run at the desk and ask for our passes. And there I receive the second shock ! "I am sorry sir but there is a problem here. I have the passes but I don't have the list! So I don't know what to do them!" I couldn't believe my ears ! But I wasn't ready to give it up so easily. "Listen to me lady ! I am the leader of the Greek Dio Fanclub. I have arranged photo and after show passes with the official Dio fanclub and I want them ! I have made a whole trip from Greece for them !" The woman says "OK you won", and hands me the passes!!! Almost flying of happiness I leave the ticket desk, running inside the venue. While leaving I noticed that the "strange" italian guy got his after-show pass as well. As I entered the venue, Dio was singing "Egypt" . I grab my digital camera in my hand and run into the photo pit. I raise my head and I just can't believe my eyes ! Ronnie James Dio is standing just some inches above me , alive, in flesh and bones, singing "in the land of no tomorrow …" Suddenly I feel I cannot controll my body and mind anymore. I am completely under Ronnie's spell …. I start singing and screaming and headbanging inside the photo pit ! One crazy greek wizard among the photographers and reporters! "maybe one day you'll be just like me but still your chains are on!". Jimmy Bain sees me , he smiles and closes his eye to me !
"Egypt" changes into "Children of the Sea". Oh shit! It's so difficult taking photos while headbanging! Mission impossible ! Anyway, at that time I tried to concentrate myself and start acting like a photographer "Ken will kill me otherwise" I thought :) But Dio kept obstructing my task through his music all the time! "We sailed across the air before we learned to fly.."
Slowly "Children of the Sea" finished and it was time for "Push". And for me it was time to get some photos before they threw me out of the pit! :) Ken I hope you liked the final result considering my condition! LOL
The complete set list of the gig was : Killing the Dragon - Egypt / Children of the Sea - Push - Drum solo - Stand up and shout - RnR - Don't talk to strangers - Motsm - Guitar solo - Long live RnR - Lord of the last day - Fever Dreams - Mob rules - Holy Diver - HnH - Last in Line (Encore)
If I had to comment about that gig, I would say that it was a good one but not a very good one. The sound wasn't always that good, Ronnie looked annoyed some times due to the sound problems. The venue wasn't full. The crowd wasn't that hot all the time . And there was only one song played as encore. No "Rainbow in the Dark" , no "We rock". The time limits of the show shouldn't be exceeded cause Alcatraz was operating as a disco club right after the gig ! But I didn't care. I was there and I was enjoying every single second of the show. I was enjoying my favorite music, my favorite songs, my favorite singer and I was having a great time.
And I knew that the best thing hadn't come yet: Our after-show meeting with the band ! |
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