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spot. We want to make sure that every time we
play in the same area that we're giving you
something little bit different.
IE: Back in the '80s when you were at the
height of your popularity you played Chicago
twice. Once with Dio in 1983, and the second
time with Ace Frehley in 1987. Since the band
reformed in 2001, you visited the Chicago area
around 11 times. There must be a healthy connection between the band the Chicago crowds,
right?
DM: Yes there is, absolutely. We've always
counted Chicago as one of our home bases, as
far as the States were concerned. Even though
we didn't get out to play it that often. We just
knew when we played there that there was a
really big fan base, and they really enjoyed the
band. So when we came back and did that
date with Ace Frehley, it just cemented it for us.
It really felt good.
Finally, when we
came back in the early
2000s, people were
welcoming us back as
if we were their long
lost brothers or something. It always felt so
good. We always considered the Chicago
area to be like a home
for us, like a second
home in the States. So
it's a very strong connection there.
IE: Recently, you were invited to perform at
the Ronnie Montrose tribute concert. What
was it like to play with the legendary
Montrose?
DM: That was an amazing thing for me. The
Montrose records, the first two especially, were
constantly on our turntables back then, when
Y&T first started in the '70s. We were always
listening to them, and we just loved that material. So when Sammy (Hagar) called me and
asked me to do this for him and with him, I
didn't hesitate for a second. And then he called
back and offered me one more gig which I
agreed to right away. And it was great. This
was truly an honor for me just to play with
Denny Carmassi, and Bill Church, and Sammy
Hagar in Montrose, without Ronnie
(Montrose) of course, and me taking Ronnie's
place for the night. That was something I
would have never thought in my wildest
dreams I would've ever had the opportunity to
do. I was a friend of Ronnie's, and we used to
talk a lot. In fact, he even was helping to produce a record with us, and we were hanging
out a lot. It was a sad day when he passed, but
when Sammy mentioned that that Ronnie
would really like it if I were doing this, I understood where it was coming from because we
did have a decent relationship, and he respected my guitar playing. Ronnie was a very picky
guy when it came to certain players that he
would play with, or that he felt respect for or
whatever. If he were looking down, and
Sammy picked the wrong guy, he would've
been upset. I wasn't the only guy that could've
filled that spot that Ronnie would've been
happy with, but I'm glad that they picked me.
IE: In 1985 you were involved in Hear 'n Aid, a
charity recording event put together by members of Dio, and organised by Ronnie James
Dio. It was hard rock's answer to Live Aid,
and truly captured the giving spirit of the
musicians at the time. What do you remember
from that time?
DM: That was an interesting two days for me.
The first night it was all of the band members
that were singing the chorus together on the
little bleachers that they had set up in the studio. So that was madness. We all showed up
early, and it was all done at the A & M studios.
Every single studio room and the halls were
just jammed with rock stars and press.
Everybody was talking to each other like old
friends because we pretty much toured or met
everybody that was there. And the people that
we never knew, that was a chance for us to get
to know them. It was madness, and to the credit of Ronnie James Dio; he was able to pull all
these guys together, who are were distracted
all the time. He got them to stand still and sing
the chorus together. It actually went really
well. It was quite simple as it turned out, but
in doing so sometimes it's not as simple as it
looks. After we did that, everybody still stuck
around, and then we got the guitar players to
do their solos. One after another in the studio
while everybody was still standing outside in
the hallways and the othe ȁɽ