I can strike a line through a couple more musicians I wanted to see as I had the pleasure of seeing both Ronnie James Dio and Tony Iommi last night as Heaven & Hell rolled through Vancouver with Coheed & Cambria in tow. I still have the ring in my ears to prove it!
Ended up with primo seats as we were in the second row pretty much right in front of Dio. You can't complain much about that. The show was at UBC Thunderbird Arena, which I've never been to and seemed like a pretty decent venue. They obviously weren't expecting the huge crowds like when I went to Maiden, but it was an alright turn-out.
We didn't get there until Coheed was entering into their second song of the set, which was disappointing, but I still go to hear "Ten Speed (Of God's Blood" and "Welcome Home", so that pleased me. They put on a decent show considering a lot of metal heads were just there for the main event and I heard numerous people saying afterward, "I don't know who they are but they rocked it pretty good!". They were selling a signed CD/DVD combo of their last album, "No World for Tomorrow" and if I didn't already own it, I probably would've bought it instead of a tour shirt.
I was this close to catching one of the drummer's sticks as it bounced off the tips of my fingers. I probably wouldn't of kept it anyway since the girl behind us was way more into them than I was with all her bopping around, screaming, and "I love you's" - I might've been a nice guy for once and given it to her.
Went to the merch table and bought a tour shirt which is basically the "Devil You Know" album art on the front and dates on the back. It's suitably evil enough to annoy all the religious freaks in his hypocritical town.
Then it was time for H&H. A band nobody knows who they are until I just say, "They're Black Sabbath without Ozzy".
THE SETLIST:01. E5150 / The Mob Rules
02. Children Of The Sea
03. Bible Black
04. Fear
05. Drum Solo
06. I
07. Falling Off The Edge Of The World
08. Time Machine
09. Follow The Tears
10. Die Young
11. Heaven And Hell
Encore: Country Girl (snippet) / Neon Knights
I went into the show wanting to hear "Mob Rules" and "Neon Knights" and my wish was granted. My friend, Ray, was wondering beforehand if they would play any solo Dio stuff or older Sabbath and I told him they probably wouldn't because they're trying to distance themselves from the name.
Having never seen Dio in person before, I'm going to confirm reports of him looking like a "Hobbit" are pretty close. For a guy so tiny, he has one Hell of a voice. And he sounded really good. There was a good vibe to the entire show though because it felt like everyone on stage was enjoying themselves with Iommi smiling through the entire thing, drummer Vinny Appice getting to do an overlong drum solo, and bassist "Geezer" Butler attacking his instrument with vigor. I know everyone was there for Dio and Tony but I found my attention kept drifting back to Butler - I didn't realize just how good he is.
I know that twelve songs doesn't seem like a big set for the main act but there were moments that broke down into impromptu jams and it's not like we were at a punk show. "Heaven and Hell" cleared ten minutes all by itself.

Here's Dio bathed in red light looking "evil"

And Mr. Iommi doing what he does best.Highlights of the show, for me, included Dio throwing his famous horns for the first time of the evening, the smoke machine that wouldn't quit, and the guy beside me playing endless air guitar.
I've read in a few places people complaining about the crowd's energy and I can assure them it was pretty energetic up front. Don't whine about the bands getting "no respect" and just enjoy the fact you went to the fucking show in the first place. Douche.
That is all. Up next is Mastodon/Dethklok with Coverge and High on Fire in October. I'm thinking I need volume deadening ear plugs for that one...