Rock For Ronnie 2024

May 24, 2024May 29, 2024ChelseaConcert Reviews, Features

Another tribute to the great Ronnie James Dio has successfully taken place with Rock For Ronnie 2024. On May 19th, 2024 in Woodland Hills, CA, fans, friends, and many special guests in the form of an All-Star Jam gathered alongside headliners Quiet Riot to celebrate the life and music of Ronnie, and, as always, benefit the great cause of the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund. Founder Wendy Dio commemorated the progress of this non-profit’s goals, presenting Dr. David Wong and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor of The Regents of the University of California with a $25,000 check, to fund their cancer detection and prevention research in Ronnie’s name.

Rock For Ronnie 2024 welcomed on-site donations to the Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund through a specially created Garden of Hope, raffle, merch, and the auction of two special guitars, including a one-of-a-kind Dio-themed guitar designed by PBS Guitar Builder to the Stars, Jim Cara, stage-played by Lita Ford, plus a Quiet Riot guitar signed by the full band. Selling at $11,000 and $7,500 respectively, this pair of guitars alone raised over $18K for the Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund.

The event held the theme of “Year of the Dragon” in association with Ronnie James Dio’s on-stage persona and the current year in the Chinese zodiac. Rock For Ronnie 2024 was hosted by Radio/TV Personality Eddie Trunk, currently featured on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation and Faction Talk. Openers X-Comm and Billy McNicol Band kicked off the day, followed by Jason Charles Miller. After the check ceremony, Host Eddie Trunk returned to the stage to introduce the Dio Disciples, with a lineup featuring vocalists Terry Ilous (XYZ) and Dyna Shirasaki (Hammer of the Broads), in addition to Scott Warren (Dio, Heaven & Hell) on keyboards, Simon Wright (Dio, AC/DC) on drums, Sean McNabb (Quiet Riot, Dokken) on bass, and Ira Black (Bulletboys, Vio-lence) on guitar. Dio Disciples played a full set of tracks from Ronnie James Dio’s discography spanning Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and Dio.

Up next was a rotating lineup of special guests, billed as Eddie Trunk’s All-Star Band, performing a varied setlist that covered Dio and Black Sabbath tracks, while also venturing outside of the Dio discography to create a packed setlist of classic Rock and Metal jams, featuring songs by Whitesnake, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Ozzy Osbourne, Aerosmith, Deep Purple, and many more.

Opening up the All-Star Jam was the lineup of Abby Gennett (Slunt), Julia Lage (Vixen), Brett Scallions (Fuel), Tracii Guns (L.A. Guns), and Glen Sobel (Alice Cooper, Hollywood Vampires), kicking off the set with some Black Sabbath.

Next up was Neil Turbin (Anthrax) leading a heavy rendition of “Breaking The Law”, with Brian Tichy (Whitesnake) and Robert Sarzo (Hurricane) on guitar, Daniel Bermudez (Wilt) on drums, and Julia Lage.

Vocalist Patrick Stone (Budderside), bassist Marty O’Brien (Daughtry, Lita Ford), and keyboardist Dennis Atlas (QRST) then joined Robert Sarzo, Brian Tichy, and Daniel Bermudez for a high-energy “Crazy Train” and “Helter Skelter”.

Sax player Scott Page (Pink Floyd, Toto, Supertramp) naturally joined in when Pink Floyd’s “Money” hit the setlist.

Keith St. John (Montrose, Raiding the Rock Vault) showed off his vocal versatility, kicking off his portion of the set with “Train Kept a Rollin’”, joined by Robert Sarzo, Julia Lage, and guitarist Marc Ferrari (Keel), drummer Ronnie Ciago (BrandX, Circa), and Bill McBride, before switching up the lineup to add Doug Aldrich (Dio, Dead Daisies, Whitesnake) while bringing back Marty O’Brien, Dennis Atlas, and Glen Sobel for “Still of the Night”. Dewey Bragg (Kill Devil Hill) then joined this lineup, switching the vocal spot with Keith St. John.

Emerging solo artist Andry, also known as “The Voice of Greece” and “Blues Metal Queen”, made a bright return to the Rock for Ronnie stage this year, paying tribute through a powerful performance of “Children of The Sea” with Brian Tichy now on drums, alongside Robert Sarzo, Julia Lage, and Dennis Atlas, followed by a high-energy jam on Deep Purple’s “Burn”, for which Marty O’Brien returned.

Lita Ford performed two of her own well-loved classic tracks, “Cherry Bomb” and “Kiss Me Deadly”, with her band featuring Patrick Kennison (Lita Ford, Heaven Below) and Mårten Andersson (Lita Ford, Steelheart), and Glen Sobel on drums. Lita also spent some time showing off the unique design of the Dio guitar to be auctioned off for the Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund following her performance.

Headliners Quiet Riot, currently comprised of Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Dio, Whitesnake), Alex Grossi (Quiet Riot), Johnny Kelly (Type O Negative), and Jizzy Pearl (Love/Hate), closed out the day as part of their 40 Years of Metal Health tour, with a full set of Quiet Riot hits, including “Bang Your Head (Metal Health)”, “The Wild and the Young”, “Cum on Feel the Noize”, “Let’s Get Crazy”, “Slick Black Cadillac”, and more.