Dio Hologram Tour Planned for 2017
Over the summer, the debut of a hologram version of the late, great Ronnie James Dio that “performed” at Wacken with the Dio tribute band Dio Disciples ruffled quite a few feathers. Was the CGI resurrection of one of metal’s greats a fitting tribute to his legacy or a lame theme park ride? Most people on the metalwebs seemed very put off by the idea, but we certainly do live in a bubble here in Keyboard Land — maybe Average Joe Metal Fan is super into this kind of thing.
After Hologram Dio debuted at Wacken, Eyellusion, the company that created it, said they hoped it’d be the first of many such shows. And now it seems they’re making good on that promise: in a recent interview with Talking Metal, Eyellusion CEO Jeff Pezzuti said a 2017 tour is planned, and there will be several different eras of Dio represented in holographic form:
“For the tour he’s going to have different looks. [At Wacken] he was somewhere around ’88, the Dream Evil era. For this next tour we’re going to be somewhere later than that for certain songs and maybe earlier than that for other songs.
“The tour will be an over-the-top mind blowing experience. We are going to have both live singers with Ripper Owen and Oni Logan as part of the show as well as Ronnie appearing throughout the show at different parts, some duets. It’s going to be mind blowing from the fans’ perspective. We are going to bring album covers to life. We are going to bring things that are known to Ronnie to life onstage.
“Ronnie will be involved in each show from probably six to seven song a night that he will be singing on. Some of the ones we can expect are “We Rock,” “Holy Diver” and “Rainbow in the Dark.”
I’m going to join in the chorus of voices saying a Dio hologram is just too much. The very idea of Dio Disciples — a group of Dio’s former bandmates performing songs from throughout his career — is a bit too much for me, even without the hologram; it feels a bit desperate, and leans a bit too hard on nostalgia for comfort. Still, we accept these kinds of endeavors exist, and that they bring happiness to those involved and thousands of fans worldwide, and we move on. But using the hologram to up that nostalgia factor… it’s over the top. Will Dio “speak” concert-specific stage banter between songs? Where do we draw the line Would RJD himself have approved of such a séance?
Dates for the 2017 tour will presumably be announced soon, if you’re into that. Meanwhile, let us know what the think of the resurrection of RJD in the comments below as you watch footage of Hologram Dio’s “performance” at Wacken this past summer. Listen to the interview with Eyellusion CEO Jeff Pezzuti below as well.
