The Man On The Silver Mountain

One year ago today we lost Ronnie James Dio.

It's part of getting old I guess, that your heroes start pass away.

Ronnie James Dio will always have a special place in my heart, as he was the first rock star I ever saw live. The 11th of December 1987 my life changed forever.

I know that sounds like a pretentious thing to say. But I was a wet between the ears 16 year old, still looking for direction, and my musical tastes were still all over the place! Yes I was dabbling in the dark arts of heavy metal, but hard rock had still to hit me square between the ear holes!

My mate in work asked me if I wanted to come with him and his older brother to Newport Centre. I said, go on, I'll give it a go! I listened to the Dream Evil album, and thought, I like this. My rock education up until this point was largely Bon Jovi and Europe. I was being given tapes in school of Anthrax and Metallica, but this still sounded like a load of noise to me. My hair was still short. The shoulder length perm was still another 12 month away!

So off we went on that cold December night to a foreign city, I hadn't been further east than Cardiff on my own at this point. The support act was Doro Pesch's Warlock. I knew who she was, she adorned the back door in a full size poster, courtesy of Kerrang! Magazine.

I remember a few things of that night! The smell of dope! Never been in a building with so many people smoking so much dope before. As I said, I was wet between the years, and very naive!

The second thing was the pure energy that rock concert can generate! Nothing else in the world comes close! I've been addicted to it ever since! (Well it's healthier than dope!)

The concert itself was on the grandiose scale that Ronnie James Dio was known for. Yes it was Spinal Tap! Yes there were giant mechanical spiders dropping from the ceiling, being zapped by Craig Goldies guitar, yes there were fireworks, but most of all, there was this diminutive man, a rock legend, there, not 20ft from me! And this man was holding a thousand odd people in the palm of his hand! What a gift to possess! Very few have in the years that passed since then!

As I say, my life changed on that day. I began to climb my Silver Mountain! I am only a few days away now from another peak. Roger Waters - The Wall. I will never see Pink Floyd live, but this is damned close! Another album that has been with me all my life!

When Ronnie James Dio passed away a year ago today, I remember feeling a little bit of my past died with him. I was a very lucky young man to have seen him live, and he will always be the first of the hundreds of live concerts I have been to since. For that, and all the other fallen heroes of mine, I salute you in the only way I can. Horns up to you gentleman! May you Rock In Peace!

\m/ \m/

Ronnie James Dio (Dio, Elf, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Heaven And Hell)
10 July 1942 - 16th May 2010

Scott Columbus (Manowar) (1942-2011)

Richard Wright (Pink Floyd) (1943 - 2008)

Darrell Dimebag Abbott (Pantera) (1966 - 2004)

Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy) (1952 - 2011)

Every day I live, I remember the sacrifice
Every day I live, I ensure it?s not in vain
For those who gave their all

You shall live again through me
My solemn vow you are now forever
This may be the last time we see our hero

This is an oath to the fallen heroes
This is an ode to the ones we lost
This was then and now,
The last days before the return
The memory will not be silenced or erased
In the glory of your worth

God Forbid - To The Fallen Hero (2005)

This blip forms part of my Musical May Challenge. Other blips from fellow blip friends can be found in this search box.

Amazingly when researching this blip, I found this tribute from that gig at Newport Centre.