News | Guitar World Column | Interviews | Pictures | Album Reviews | Gig Reviews | Release Dates | History | Articles | Setlists | Upcoming | Contact Ronnie James Dio Public Memorial Service: Event Report By Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal May 30th 2010, Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills CA: This was a truly special day, one that will remain in my heart and memory for the rest of my life. It was a privilege to be a part of it and here I am now trying my utmost best to do justice to it and provide you with a recap whilst I listen to some beautiful, timeless classics from the Rainbow catalogue. We got there at around 11.30 in the morning. I saw three protesters who were here to represent the Westboro Baptist Church. They weren't allowed inside the main gates of Forest Lawn as it's a private property, so they were standing outside, quite a distance away from the Hall of Liberty, and that's about the closest they got to achieving whatever their aim was. We drove up to park just outside the hall. At this time of the day, the line of people waiting to get in was decent at best and most of the people were scattered around the space. There was a separate queue to buy the commemorative shirts, with all of the proceeds from the sale going to the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Benefit Fund. I went into the lobby to have a look around. In the outer room they had portraits of Dio, a table full of flowers and posters given by fans. Further inside there was a table covered with a white cloth being filled by tributes written by one and all, myself included. The tribute pieces given by Dio's colleagues and musician friends were displayed as well. I would like to share what I wrote on that white sheet: "You rocked my world. Your lyrics and music have and will continue to inspire me every day of my life. The world will not be the same without you" After this I was just walking around outside trying to find and talk to people I knew. I have tremendous respect for all the people who came out for this event, specially those who came early. It was a sizeable gathering that was increasing steadily as time was passing by. The seating inside was very limited I was told, holding a total of merely 600 people. This meant that most of the people were going to have to remain outside. But the organizers had taken care of this aspect as well. There was a giant screen and chairs set up just outside the hall. It was nearing 2 o' clock and I went in to grab myself a seat in the balcony. The event began with a rendition of the song 'This Was Your Life' by Heaven And Hell keyboardist Scott Warren. Eddie Trunk, host on VH1 Classic's 'That Metal Show' and various radio broadcasts, was our host for the night. He introduced himself and expressed how privileged he felt to be given a chance to do it. The whole event was a unique eulogy through musical performances that chronicled Dio's glorious life. So, the proceedings began with a live performance of two songs from the pre-Rainbow days, 'Singing In A Dream' and 'Homeward' from an album called Butterfly Ball. The performers included Oni Logan from Lynch Mob and early years Dio keyboardist Claude Schnell. The first speech of the day came from Dio's high school friend Harold. He shared some great stories from back in the day, telling us about rock concerts that cost merely a nickel. After this, Eddie told us some little known facts such as Dio playing trumpet at the age of 7 but giving it up to pursue vocals. Some pictures of Dio's childhood and teenage years, including group photos of his earliest bands were shown on the screen and people inside the hall were in complete admiration even as they broke out into laughter on some of those. We had started doing the chants of 'Dio! Dio! Dio!' already and this was just the beginning. The next person who went up on stage to speak touched our hearts with his tribute, none other than Ronnie's son Dan Padavona. His words were emotional but even then he kept it endearingly funny for the most part. He talked about how his father and Dimebag Darrell must be playing together in heaven. This brought some loud cheers from the audience. He ended his deeply thoughtful speech with the words 'Dad, I love you' as he threw up the devil horns and looked skyward. Eddie continued from where Dan left off, telling us about a phone conversation he had with Ronnie a few months back. He had called Ronnie to lift his spirits up after news of the cancer but Ronnie ended up lifting Eddie's spirits up, showing how cheerful and nice a human being he really was. Moving on to Ronnie's next band Elf, a song of theirs was played on the screen. Ronnie's connection with the fans has been widely known, and after the Elf song, his cousin Dave threw light on some of this with some of his road stories. The cheers and chants in the crowd became a lot louder as Rainbow was the next band to be talked about. Before the next set of live performances, Ronnie's long-time booking agent for gigs outside the US Neil Warnock came on stage to give his input to the proceedings by yet more amusing anecdotes. 'Catch The Rainbow' and 'Rainbow Eyes' were performed by a group of musicians that included Rudy Sarzo of Dio, Ozzy and Quiet Riot fame. From time to time, Eddie kept mentioning and addressing the fans watching from outside the hall, a very nice gesture on his part. Next he read out an announcement that had come in from the Los Angeles council. We listened to it in amazement and sheer delight as May 30th was officially sanctioned as Ronnie James Dio day in Los Angeles. I love this city and it definitely loves its rock n' roll. The inevitable moment fans were waiting for had arrived in the eulogy, the Black Sabbath era. A classic live video of Neon Knights was played on screen, following which Sabbath crew member Nick Jackson shared the most amazing road story with us from a gig at Hammersmith Odeon back in the day, where he blew three holes into the stage via a pyro mess-up and how it ended up getting great press for the band instead of him losing his job. Ronnie's personal assistant Willie added to the fun by adding his experiences. 'Sing me a song, you're a singer!' chanted the crowd as John Payne from the band Asia performed the title track from the Heaven And Hell record. He did complete justice to it through his version of it, after which it time to move on to the Dio solo band. Guitarist Craig Goldy came up on stage amongst huge applause to pay his homage and tribute to the great man. Everyone who had spoken so far and spoke during the rest of the day, were all connected to Ronnie in their own unique ways, having their own different stories and experiences, and none of them failing to mention the love Ronnie had for wife Wendy, who was in attendance of course. Some clips from the Sacred Heart era of the band were shown, following which came a performance that literally floored me. Joey Belladonna from Anthrax sang 'Man On The Silver Mountain'. It was a beautiful tribute by a great voice to the greatest one and the choice of song was perfect. Drummer Simon Wright and roadie Big Scott were the next people to grace the stage with touching yet humorous stories of theirs. Paul Shortino from the bands Quiet Riot and Rough Cut did something different compared to the other performers, choosing to perform a John Lennon song instead of one featuring Dio. Before doing so he also mentioned how much he started missing John Lennon when he had passed away, and he feels the same today for Ronnie. Every possible facet of Ronnie's career was covered here as we even had some footage from Ronnie's collaboration with Ian Gillan for the London Symphony Orchestra shown to us. Glenn Hughes, former vocalist for both Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, quite a rare feat in itself, came on to give the first of his two performances, singing and playing guitar on 'Coast to Coast'. For me he definitely stole the show. It was one of the most amazing voices I've heard in a long time. Ronnie's final band Heaven And Hell was talked about next. The clips from the 2007 New York show on screen really proved how timeless Dio's voice really was. He sounded as good at 65 as he did at 30. Eddie shared with us the most incredible fact about that show, telling us that Ronnie was actually sick before and during that gig. Even though all of Ronnie's bands had been chronicled already, the event wasn't over yet. Scott Warren came back on, this time to speak, followed by a message from Jack Black and a video clip from the Pick Of Destiny movie. That famous movie clip featuring Ronnie brought rapturous cheers and whistles from the audience. I was thrilled to see Geoff Tate from Queensryche on stage to perform 'Hallelujah' with his ensemble of musicians. It was a voice that truly fitted the monumental occasion. There was just one more live performance to come, but we got plenty more to witness, including a message from the currently touring Motorhead and a clip of Ronnie being inducted into the Guitar Center Hollywood Rock Walk. Children Of The Night was a charity Ronnie did a lot of work for, and the founder of the organisation spoke a few words on what it was about and how Ronnie got involved. The all-star jam for Hear N' Aid was also talked about and shown on screen. The final speeches of the day were by Dr. Kapoor and Adam Parsons. Kapoor was the doctor who remained with Ronnie till his last breath, like Wendy. His story was intense, to say the least. He also talked about the new cancer benefit fund set up in Ronnie's name and urged us to make a contribution to it. A most fitting end to this very, very special event came from Glenn Hughes who lent his voice to the timeless Rainbow classic 'Catch The Rainbow'. I for one was left completely speechless. From the speeches to the video clips to the performances, everything about this event was spectacular. I am sure the man himself would be happy seeing this. If you think we gathered here to mourn the death of Ronnie James Dio, you are completely wrong. We were here to celebrate his life and to prove that even though he isn't with us anymore, he always will be. The following words are befitting to the timeless and ageless legend that he will remain to be. I'm a wheel, I'm a wheel

I can roll, I can feel

And you can't stop me turning

Cause I'm the sun, I'm the sun

I can move, I can run

But you'll never stop me burning