By Dave Kasiorek
The “Last in Line” capped off a great series of concerts for me this year after not seeing a show since covid. Upon my arrival to Jergels, I found my spot up on the balcony eagerly waiting to hear some classic Dio from the originals Vivian Campbell (guitar) and Vinny Appice (drums) . As I was watching the opening bands (Spinning Jenny and Brand of Julez) crank out the tunes and getting the crowd ready I turned around only to see Vivian and Vinny themselves, I shouted out “hey what’s up, kick some ass!” and received a fist pump in return. Sometime later and when the lights dimmed, Last in Line took stage and it was evident that this would be the best possible tribute to Ronnie James Dio, my personal favorite singer of all time and one of the most accomplished singers in music. They opened with original song “Landslide” and went directly into Dio’s hard hitting “Stand Up and Shout”. The highlight of the night for me was five songs into the set when they played “The Last in Line”. Andrew Freeman on the vocals did these songs and RJD himself justice and with the backing of the original band it was just pure classic hard rock from start to finish. Other honorable mentions that they played from Dio’s catalogue included Holy Diver, Egypt (The Chains Are On), Straight Through the Heart and Rainbow in the Dark. Some other original tunes that highlighted the live setting included Year of the Gun, Black Out the Sun and Starmaker (dedicated to the late Jimmy Bain on bass). The show closed with a Beatles cover “A Day in the Life” from their new EP released last week and lastly another Dio classic with “We Rock”. If there is one thing for certain it is that the Last in Line did rock! Hearing these Dio songs played from the originals was a fantastic way to end the week and go into the Monday morning work day super charged and ready to rock! I’m ready for the next show!
