Heaven and Hell - PNC Bank Arts Center - Homdel, NJ - May 19th, 2007
Posted by Dan Marsicano on 05.31.2007
I haven't seen this many drunk people singing around me since my last family reunion!
The sky was dark and cloudy as I drove into the PNC Bank Arts Center on May 19th, 2007 to see the reunion of the Dio-era Black Sabbath. However, to not confuse people, the band decided to change their name to Heaven and Hell, which was the name of the first album Black Sabbath did with Ronnie James Dio. Rain was in the forcast, but nobody seemed to care that much. The first noticeable thing about the concert was the age of most audience members. Unsurprisingly, there were many middle-aged men and women, most having first heard the music being played tonight by Heaven and Hell over 20 years ago. I felt a bit out of place, since I haven’t even reached drinking age yet, and most of the people around me were getting hammered before the first band even came out. That was okay though because this was the first concert of the summer for me and I knew every band’s music pretty well.
First Band- Machine Head
Setlist:
1. Emperium
2. Now I Lay Thee Down
3. Aesthetics of Hate
4. Davidian
7:00 P.M hit and Machine Head came on stage. I was very excited to see what Machine Head could do with the limited time that they had. The Blackening is one of my favorite albums of the year so far and I had been listening to it nonstop since March. However, the set was a bit disappointing to me. There were two main reasons for my dislike. The first was that the crowd was absolutely silent for the band. This could be because most of the audience was older and had no idea who they were. A drunk man next to me stared at me with a stupid look as he asks, “Who the hell are these guys?” That seemed to be the reaction for most of the crowd, who were still getting to their seats as the band hit the stage.
The second reason was the sound quality. Unlike the later bands, the sound was horrible for the first two or three songs. Very muddy and unclear at times, I couldn’t tell what part of the song they were on at a few points. However, even with these flaws, I still enjoyed their brief set. Machine Head seemed to have a great time and eager to get a lazy crowd off their asses.
Second Band- Megadeth
Setlist:
1. Sleepwalker
2. Take No Prisoners
3. Kick The Chair
4. Wake Up Dead
5. Hangar 18
6. Washington Is Next
7. Tornado Of Souls
8. Symphony Of Destruction
9. Peace Sells
10. Holy Wars...The Punishment Due/Mechanix
I last saw Megadeth at Gigantour 2005, where they absolutely killed on stage. However, while that set was over an hour and a half long, this set was only about 45 minutes. When the band got on stage at 7:45, there was no small talk or introductions. For about 25 minutes, the band just blasted through new and classic songs. One of the surprises was “Take No Prisoners”, which I had never heard live before. The new songs sounded very good, especially “Washington Is Next”. The highlight of the show was the last song, where in the middle of “Holy Wars”, Megadeth played half of the “Mechanix”, an absolutely classic song from their first album Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good.
Main Band- Heaven and Hell
Setlist:
1. E5150
2. After All ( The Dead )
3. The Mob Rules
4. Children of the Sea
5. Lady Evil
6. I
7. Sign of the Southern Cross
8. Voodoo
9. The Devil Cried
10.Drum Solo
11. Computer God
12. Falling off the Edge of the World
13. Shadow of the Wind
14. Guitar Solo/ Die Young
15. Heaven and Hell
16. Neon Knights
Heaven and Hell came on stage around 9 p.m and, for almost two hours, dazzled and entertained the crowd with their tight performance. Opening up with “After All” was a bit odd, but the slow pace of the song helped to build to the classic, “Mob Rules.” The band was on fire, especially the lead singer Ronnie James Dio. Even at 60 years old, he impressed the crowd with his high notes and perfect delivery. He even interacted with the crowd, taking sunglasses given to him in the front row and putting them on for the remainder of one of the songs.
The new songs, “The Devil Cried” and “Shadow of the Wind,” got a good reaction from most of the crowd. While there was no singing by the crowd, like on “Children of the Sea” and “Heaven and Hell,” the crowd around me, most of them drunk, still were into the songs. Both of them were very slow-paced with the trademark Tony Iommi riff and Geezer Butler bass slaps.
Of course, the highlight of the show, in my opinion, was the last three songs. Tony Iommi performs a wonderful solo, which leads into “Die Young”, a classic track from Heaven and Hell. Then the title track, and the name of the band, came next and the song turned into an almost 15 minute jam session. It was a surprise that entertained the near packed PNC Bank Arts Center. Then the band left, only to return to play one last classic song, “Neon Knights.” Even with a pouring rain coming down on top of me and my neck sore from all the head banging I’ve done all night, I still got enough strength to go absolutely crazy.
As the band left the stage for the last time in the United States for a while, (This show was the last show in America until early fall), I could only be amazed at the fact that a band that hasn’t played together in over 15 years could get together and go on a successful tour that had little to no public problems (unlike other bands that reunite after a long hiatus). It was also great to hear Dio sing like it was 1980 again. Hopefully, Heaven and Hell will come back around again with some new songs and a longer set.
The 411: A great show that showed off three great bands playing their hearts out for the crowd. The poor sound quality in Machine Head's set was the only lowpoint of the show for me. When Heaven and Hell come back to play more shows in the states, no matter who they are playing with, you have to go see them. One of the best shows I've seen this year.
