Last in Line started as the reunion of the original Dio band without Ronnie James Dio who passed away in 2010. Since then they've lost some musicians (like Jimmy Bain, who died last year) and released al album of new material.
Their songs are pretty derivative and will obviously never be mentioned in the same sentence as classic Dio tracks but they need to move on if they don't want to remain a tribute act.
Yet the Dio connection is the reason they are getting booked. People want to hear these songs and Viv Campbell and Vinnie Appice are the only ones who can claim the legitimacy to do that. Their singer Andrew Freeman is not Ronnie and his voice is very generic. But kudos to the band for not hiring a Dio clone like Tony Martin or Jorn Lande.
What matters are those great songs. Classics like Stand Up And Shout, Rainbow in the Dark, Last In Line and Holy Diver, all of which were played tonight. Hearing those songs live again, played faithfully by a great band respectful of the legacy, was a treat many thought they'd never experience again. It's a great throwback to the glory days of classic heavy metal. They don't pretend to reinvent the wheel. They don't pretend to solve the world's problem. They don't pretend to be Dio, they never can be. There is on thing that they do: they rock.
