Black Sabbath
Moderator: Priests of Syrinx
Siggs asked for a full report so, *shrugs* it's long, but it's not in triplicate!
Entering Canada
I'm always nervous when I cross the border. I worry about what I will do if they say I can't get in. It isn't something I really should worry about as I have a clean record and am not committing any crimes, have my papers with me, all that, but I still do. And this time? The border guard asked me what the purpose of our visit was and I told him we were headed to Vancouver for the Heaven and Hell concert the following night. Ho boy, was that a bad choice! He immediately started writing things down, asking me all sorts of questions. Then he told me to park and go inside the immigration office. We were in there for about twenty minutes as the immigration officer checked over our papers and looked us up in two different computers. I kept telling myself not to freak out, not to have an anxiety attack or anything like that because that would only make them think there really was a reason I shouldn't enter Canada. They let us go finally and we didn't have trouble getting back home to the US on our return. Whew!
The Weather
It rained. Then it rained. Then it rained. It quit raining the day after the concert. Our hotel was 1.6 km from the venue and we got soaked, but it was worth it! *grins*
Down
We had gotten general admission tix to the floor, and there were no seats so we could sit or stand wherever we wanted. We stood about twenty feet from the stage for Down. Close enough to see well, but not so close that wee me would get caught in a mosh and crushed. The venue was far from full when Down started, but the crowd loved them. Phil was really, really, really appreciative of the audience's response to their first gig in Canada. Their set was loud and they laid down some great grinding grooves.
Megadeth
Dave says Glenn is a better guitarist than he, and they worked really well together. Shawn's drums came out on a rack mount system. It was on wheels and they just rolled it out, covered, set the brakes, put some metal grating at the bottom for looks, did a quick sound check on it behind the curtain, and then Glenn and Lomenzo. No introduction by Dave, no hello, just straight into a song, then without a pause, straight into Wake Up Dead and the crowd noticed within the first measures and went wild. They did A Tout le Monde even with the controversy (and I say good for them!). Dave snarled at the audience off and on. Sometimes he would just walk over to the front of the stage somewhere during a part without vox and snarl. Of course, we loved it. They did a few new songs, one I remember specifically was Washington's Next, and a great deal of favorites. This line-up is a good one. According to Dave, we, the audience were great, they were Megadeth...you know how it goes.
Heaven and Hell
Last time I saw RJD was 21 years ago when I was pregnant with Aero. He and Vinny were together in Dio then. Vinny has put on weight, but his drumming is definitely not suffering from that! Of course, as I said, it's been 21 years, so putting on weight is not a big deal. His kit rocked! He had floor toms mounted so the heads were vertical on either side of him and the mounting system was such that they could rock back and forth and he would get them swinging while he was pounding them. He had a kick drum set up up behind him too. If you've seen Vinny before you know he can't stay seated. He pops up and down. Fun! He had a solo and got a really sweet groove going on the toms. Not a typical rock or drum solo groove, it danced. He interacted well with the audience too.
There was a man at the gig with his kid who looked to be about seven years old. The kid has long hair and a brand new Heaven and Hell shirt. Dad was wearing a Dio shirt. The dad would put his boy on his shoulders and the kid would be full-out throwing the horns with both hands while dad would belt out the lyrics along with Ronnie. It was great to see!
Ronnie's voice is as good as ever. He was active on the stage, as he always is. No wonder he stays so trim! lol He chatted with the audience, showed us appreciation, joked with us about how he couldn't tell us what the next song was about because if he did we would throw things at him and then he'd have to throw Geezer at us and also about how he wanted us to sing along with him on H/H and we were to just "Follow the bouncing Ronnie." lol
Tony and Geez showed that they are masters of their trade. Some bands run around all over the stage while they play, but Tony and Geez don't need to do that. They have no trouble keeping our attention. Geezer planted his thumb on the picking hand and his fingers just flew across the strings! Tony appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself. His playing was great. There was one point, at the beginning of one song when Tony lifted his face, closed his eyes and the expression on his face was that of a master loving his craft.
I'll put some pics in Pics of Us after they finish uploading to my SmugMug.
Entering Canada
I'm always nervous when I cross the border. I worry about what I will do if they say I can't get in. It isn't something I really should worry about as I have a clean record and am not committing any crimes, have my papers with me, all that, but I still do. And this time? The border guard asked me what the purpose of our visit was and I told him we were headed to Vancouver for the Heaven and Hell concert the following night. Ho boy, was that a bad choice! He immediately started writing things down, asking me all sorts of questions. Then he told me to park and go inside the immigration office. We were in there for about twenty minutes as the immigration officer checked over our papers and looked us up in two different computers. I kept telling myself not to freak out, not to have an anxiety attack or anything like that because that would only make them think there really was a reason I shouldn't enter Canada. They let us go finally and we didn't have trouble getting back home to the US on our return. Whew!
The Weather
It rained. Then it rained. Then it rained. It quit raining the day after the concert. Our hotel was 1.6 km from the venue and we got soaked, but it was worth it! *grins*
Down
We had gotten general admission tix to the floor, and there were no seats so we could sit or stand wherever we wanted. We stood about twenty feet from the stage for Down. Close enough to see well, but not so close that wee me would get caught in a mosh and crushed. The venue was far from full when Down started, but the crowd loved them. Phil was really, really, really appreciative of the audience's response to their first gig in Canada. Their set was loud and they laid down some great grinding grooves.
Megadeth
Dave says Glenn is a better guitarist than he, and they worked really well together. Shawn's drums came out on a rack mount system. It was on wheels and they just rolled it out, covered, set the brakes, put some metal grating at the bottom for looks, did a quick sound check on it behind the curtain, and then Glenn and Lomenzo. No introduction by Dave, no hello, just straight into a song, then without a pause, straight into Wake Up Dead and the crowd noticed within the first measures and went wild. They did A Tout le Monde even with the controversy (and I say good for them!). Dave snarled at the audience off and on. Sometimes he would just walk over to the front of the stage somewhere during a part without vox and snarl. Of course, we loved it. They did a few new songs, one I remember specifically was Washington's Next, and a great deal of favorites. This line-up is a good one. According to Dave, we, the audience were great, they were Megadeth...you know how it goes.
Heaven and Hell
Last time I saw RJD was 21 years ago when I was pregnant with Aero. He and Vinny were together in Dio then. Vinny has put on weight, but his drumming is definitely not suffering from that! Of course, as I said, it's been 21 years, so putting on weight is not a big deal. His kit rocked! He had floor toms mounted so the heads were vertical on either side of him and the mounting system was such that they could rock back and forth and he would get them swinging while he was pounding them. He had a kick drum set up up behind him too. If you've seen Vinny before you know he can't stay seated. He pops up and down. Fun! He had a solo and got a really sweet groove going on the toms. Not a typical rock or drum solo groove, it danced. He interacted well with the audience too.
There was a man at the gig with his kid who looked to be about seven years old. The kid has long hair and a brand new Heaven and Hell shirt. Dad was wearing a Dio shirt. The dad would put his boy on his shoulders and the kid would be full-out throwing the horns with both hands while dad would belt out the lyrics along with Ronnie. It was great to see!
Ronnie's voice is as good as ever. He was active on the stage, as he always is. No wonder he stays so trim! lol He chatted with the audience, showed us appreciation, joked with us about how he couldn't tell us what the next song was about because if he did we would throw things at him and then he'd have to throw Geezer at us and also about how he wanted us to sing along with him on H/H and we were to just "Follow the bouncing Ronnie." lol
Tony and Geez showed that they are masters of their trade. Some bands run around all over the stage while they play, but Tony and Geez don't need to do that. They have no trouble keeping our attention. Geezer planted his thumb on the picking hand and his fingers just flew across the strings! Tony appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself. His playing was great. There was one point, at the beginning of one song when Tony lifted his face, closed his eyes and the expression on his face was that of a master loving his craft.
I'll put some pics in Pics of Us after they finish uploading to my SmugMug.
Onward and Upward!
The Venue where the tour began:
We found the trucks and buses.
Nice buses.
There was a cool fan vehicle in the hotel parking lot!
We found the trucks and buses.
Nice buses.
There was a cool fan vehicle in the hotel parking lot!
Last edited by awip2062 on Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Onward and Upward!
