Holy hologram: Metal tour featuring Dio projection coming to Phoenix

PHOENIX – Old metalheads never die, they just become projected images.

“Dio Returns,” a live show featuring a lineup of former band members backing up a hologram of late heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio, is coming to Phoenix this month.

The first U.S. tour of the project will stop at the Orpheum Theatre on June 26. Tickets range from $28-$58 plus fees.

The 90-minute show will span the powerhouse singer’s career with Rainbow, Black Sabbath and his self-titled band.

The tour has begun! A huge thank you to everyone involved who has made this all possible. Celebrating the life and music of Ronnie James Dio! For tour dates & tix, visit: https://t.co/eKD8AEo45T pic.twitter.com/20lAQqP1rP

— Official Dio (@OfficialRJDio) June 3, 2019

The singer died nine years ago, but advances in hologram technology have made it possible for fans to watch him perform and hear his voice with a live band again.

“It’s something that we want to do for the fans that never got to see Ronnie and the band or want to see them again,” Dio’s widow, Wendy, said. “This is a show, bringing Ronnie back and the memories, but also the band.”

Dio, who had one of the most recognizable voices in hard rock, died from stomach cancer at 67 in 2010.

Small in stature at 5-foot-4, he had a soaring-yet-melodic voice unlike any other in the genre. Dio was the lead singer for his eponymous band as well as Rainbow. He also joined Black Sabbath after Ozzy Osbourne left and had a successful solo career with hits like “Holy Diver,” ”Rainbow in the Dark” and “The Last in Line.” He later joined members of Black Sabbath in Heaven and Hell.

Wendy Dio first had the idea of a Ronnie hologram when she was approached by Eyellusion CEO Jeff Pezzutti in 2015.

They collaborated to create a Dio hologram that debuted in front of 75,000 fans at the 2016 Wacken Open in Germany and a short European tour in 2017.

Dissatisfied with how the hologram looked — Wendy Dio in particular didn’t like Ronnie’s eyebrows — the team all but started over, using breakthroughs in technology to create a crisper hologram with added depth.

The video screen also was expanded to create a more stirring visual effect, with dragons and knights and dramatic scenes surrounding Dio as he performs.

“It’s the closest thing you’re going to get from the original,” Pezzutti said. “There’s nothing closer, really. You want to create some of the excitement from back then.”

Eyellusion, a Los Angeles-based hologram production company, uses some of the same motion-capture techniques James Cameron pioneered in the movie “Avatar” to create the Dio hologram.

Animators spent hours watching Dio performances to capture his movements and the vocals are taken from various live shows throughout the singer’s career. Three technicians handle the video and the hologram during the shows.

The concept of holograms and live music first came to the forefront when a facsimile of the late rapper Tupac Shakur shocked the crowd while appearing onstage with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Michael Jackson also appeared in holographic form at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards. Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley performed as holograms, and a Whitney Houston hologram tour could be coming soon.

Eyellusion also created the hologram for “The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa” tour earlier this year, using the same technology as in “Dio Returns.”

“YouTube is not the place to judge this; it’s something you need experience,” tour guitarist Craig Goldy said. “A pregnant woman is not going know what it’s like to give birth just because a mother tells her what to expect. Once she goes through the experience, she understands. You just have to experience it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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