By Kelley Simms
W
hether one thinks the dead
celebrity hologram trend is
either creepy or revolutionary,
it’s arguably a niche in the future of live
performances.
Holographic technology is transform-
ing the music industry, keeping deceased
entertainers’ legacies alive and on the road.
With the further advancement of these life-
like spectral images, it’s going to bring big
bucks to companies who now specialize in
the creation of holograms. Holograms of
Roy Orbison, Tupac Shakur (which was, in
fact, a digital projection), Frank Zappa and
Ronnie James Dio all debuted in the past
several years.
The Dio hologram pleasantly surprised
75,000 fans when it debuted at Wacken
Open Air heavy metal festival in Germany
in 2016, followed by a European tour of the
show the following year.
Los Angeles-based Eyellusion, one of
live music’s premier hologram entertain-
ment companies and the creator of the
well-received Frank Zappa hologram con-
certs, is presenting the Dio Returns U.S.
Tour 2019. The show features the last line-
up of Dio’s solo band: guitarist Craig
Goldy, drummer Simon Wright, key-
boardist Scott Warren, and bassist Bjorn
Englen, plus prominent metal vocalists
Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens (Judas Priest/Yngwie
Malmsteen) and Oni Logan (Lynch Mob).
The tour launches on May 31 at the
Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in
Ft. Myers, FL and will visit The Arcada
Theatre in St. Charles on June 14. The 90-
minute spectacle takes fans on a Dio musi-
cal journey from Rainbow to Black Sabbath
to Dio's solo material.
The technology has come a long way,
and it’s only going to become more
advanced. Endorsed by Dio’s widow
Wendy, the hologram is a way to keep
Ronnie’s legend alive. “It’s for the fans
who never got to see Ronnie when he was
alive, and those who wanted to see him
back up on stage again and just enjoying
his music and keeping his memory alive,”
Wendy Dio told IE.
Eyellusion CEO Jeffrey Pezzuti predicts
that some people will be skeptical of the
stage production, but he believes the Dio
hologram is a genuine way to pass
Ronnie’s music on to the younger genera-
tion who never got a chance or were too
young to see him play live before he died
from stomach cancer in 2010. “This is
Ronnie himself performing,” he said. “This
is Ronnie’s vocals. This [show] is how a
younger person is going to be able to see
Dio. It's not like watching it on YouTube;
20 illinoisentertainer.com june 2019
you're getting a live feeling.”
If holograms are indeed the wave of the
future and the Dio tour is successful, there
is going to be a plethora of more celebrity
holograms to follow. According to Wendy
Dio, it’s not just a hologram; it’s a total con-
cert performance. “It's a really spectacular
show and I think Ronnie would have been
very pleased with what we’re doing,”
Wendy said. “Because in 1996, [for] any-
body who saw the Sacred Heart tour, we
tried to create a hologram then. Ronnie's
head comes out in a ball of fire, and he's
talking. He was always enthused by
Disney and all the holograms and things.
It’s a bit controversial. Some people think
we shouldn't be doing this. Everyone's
entitled to their own opinion, but I think
they should see it first before they criticize
it.”
“We're innovators,” Pezzuti said. “We
were the first ones to do it with a live band.
When people come to the shows, they will
see that it’s a complete celebration. It
becomes almost like a distribution channel
from the standpoint of getting new music
out there. People only go to see live shows;
this is the way to do it. And you're not
going to get more of an authentic celebra-
tion of Ronnie than [it] actually [being]
Ronnie. ”
The stage set has been re-engineered
from its initial design at Wacken and
everyone, including Dio, is on the same
perspective plane. The recordings of Dio
are isolated live recordings from different
shows in different eras. There are moments
in the show where Dio will be singing by
himself along with the band, then other
times where both Ripper Owens and Oni
Logan take the lead, and times when all
three are singing together. “There are so
many special effects happening during the
show,” Wendy said. “It's like you need to
keep your eyes open the whole time
because you might miss something. You
might have to come back another time to
see it because you missed half of what was
going on."
"It's literally like we are setting the
trend,” Pezzuti said. “We know that from
the standpoint of what we're doing, this is
going to be the wave of the future. We
believe in what we’re doing as a company,
and we know what we're doing is some-
thing completely different."
If the Dio tour becomes a huge success,
one can only imagine what might happen
next. “Well, the sky’s the limit!” agrees
Wendy Dio.
Appearing: 6/14 at Arcada Theatre in St.
Charles.