This was quite a treat:  My brother and I saw Black Sabbath (or Heaven And Hell as they were calling themselves at this point to distinguish themselves as a different lineup) and Megadeth opened.

Unfortunately, we missed Machine Head but we got there in time for Megadeth.

They’re always great live and most of their albums I love.

They were about to release their great album United Abominations, which they played a couple of songs from, along with Megadeth classics.

The lineup at this point was Dave Mustaine on Vocals and Guitar as always, along with the Drover brothers (Glen on Guitar and Shawn on Drums) and James Lomenzo on Bass.

Regardless of the lineup, Megadeth are always great and I love Megadeth for all time.

Then the main event happened:  I saw Ronnie James Dio sing for Black Sabbath!!!!

This was the 3rd time this lineup happened.  Ronnie on Vocals, Tony Iommi on Guitar, Geezer Butler on Bass, and Vinny Appice on Drums.

They played nothing but Dio era Sabbath songs (from the phenomenal Heaven And Hell, Mob Rules, and Dehumanizer albums), plus two out of the three great new songs they had just released on a compilation called Black Sabbath The Dio Years.

I love the original lineup sooooo much, as well as all the other lineups, but this is definitely my second favorite Sabbath lineup.

Everything Ronnie sang was just magical, and he being with these guys was always the best, in my opinion, of what he did.

And the band is sooooo tight and played so great together.

Sadly, Ronnie passed away in 2010 (I’m typing this in 2023.), but his music will live forever.

I love all of these guys and my brother and I had a great time.

I miss you Ronnie!!