(antiMusic) Heaven & Hell (Dio era Black Sabbath) brought their North American tour to a triumphant close in Irvine, California on Saturday night. To cap off the night and tour the band were awarded gold album plaques for their just released live album and dedicated their encore to a legendary local metal DJ.Heaven & Hell concluded their North American tour on Saturday at Verizon Amphitheatre in Irvine, Ca. While the roaring fans waited for the band to return to stage for an encore they were greeted with a surprise. A co-host from the mallcore show on the local alternative radio station took to the stage to present the band with gold album plagues for their "Live From Radio City Music Hall" which hit stores a little over a month ago. The radio show host received mostly boos from the old school metal fans with assorted shouts of "you suck" and "go back to the mall poser" when she introduced herself. (The record company would have been smarter asking a representative from the radio station that actually sponsored the show, KLOS, to make the award presentation). However, the crowd's venom turned to cheers when the host announced why she was there as the audience seemed excited to witness the band receive their gold record awards as further affirmation that this lineup of Black Sabbath is still a major force in metal in the 21st century.
The band graciously accepted their awards and thanked the fans for making it happen. Then Ronnie James Dio said that since they were up there they might as well strap on some instruments and play some more music. But before the band broke into their encore song, "Neon Knights," Dio brought the crowd to their feet when he dedicated the song to Tawn Mastrey, a former DJ for the famed Los Angeles metal radio station of the 80s KNAC who passed away last week. - Read our review of Live from Radio City Music Hall
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