DIO tribute band THE SOUTHERN CROSS.

[Purveyor Of Evil]

Holy shit! Check out this lineup! I'd kill to see this!

Former BLACK SABBATH And DIO Members To Pay Tribute To RONNIE JAMES DIO With THE SOUTHERN CROSS - Apr. 27, 2012

Before legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio died in May 2010, his former guitarist Rowan Robertson got in touch with a Norwegian drummer, Rick Hagan, and started talking about doing a few shows featuring the material from Rowsn's period in DIO, which Ronnie had not played for 20 years. With bassist Are Gogstad and singer Nils Patrik Johansson, the lineup was stable and toured in Norway twice under the name QUEENSTREET. But there was one part missing, and with the addition of 25-year BLACK SABBATH member Geoff Nicholls, THE SOUTHERN CROSS became the natural representation of what DIO musically stood for in the Eighties and early Nineties.

THE SOUTHERN CROSS's 2012 tour sees the band visit highlights from RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH and DIO. Songs like "Man On The Silver Mountain", "Falling Off The Edge Of The World", "Lock Up The Wolves", "Don't Talk To Strangers" and, of course, the classics "Heaven And Hell" and "Holy Diver" are all featured in the concerts.

So now it's time to dig out your old RAINBOW and SABBATH LPs again and rediscover the power of "Heaven And Hell", "Rainbow Rising", "Mob Rules", "Holy Diver" and all the other immortal records Ronnie James Dio left us with.

The full lineup of the band is as follows:

* Rowan Robertson (DIO, DC4) - Guitar
* Nils Patrik Johansson (ASTRAL DOORS, LION'S SHARE) - Vocals
* Are Gogstad (PAUL DI'ANNO, RIPPER OWENS, A.S.C.) - Bass
* Rick Hagan (PAUL DI'ANNO, RIPPER OWENS, 21ST CENTURY ROX) – Drums
* Geoff Nicholls (BLACK SABBATH) - Keyboards

 

[labrekk]

I'd be really interested to see that show...
\m/ \m/

 

[modernwizardry]

Awesome. I'm guessing this would never make it to the US though.

 

[lane_miller]

Dio was awesome - that huge voice in such a small body. I have seen him a number of times with Deep Purple. Specifically, I had seen him in 1999 at Royal Albert Hall during the 30th anniversary of Deep Purple's Concert with the London Symphony Orchestra. Prior to the actual Concerto, Ronnie sang Love is All, a song that Roger Glover wrote for a children's cartoon show back the 1970's. (Ronnie also sang on the original recording.) His voice was just as amazing on this softer material. Here it is:



Later, I also had seen him sing Rainbow in the Dark with Deep Purple backing him in Strasburg. It was an amazing performance, pretty much stealing the show. Here is another performance on the same tour in Dortmund:



You can also hear the official performance of Rainbow in the Dark with Ronnie and Deep Purple on Deep Purple's Live CD "Live in Rotterdam Ahoy":



Purveyor, thanks for the post and see you in September!