Over 75,000 fans were rocked at the Wacken Open Air music festival in Germany this past weekend as the late Ronnie James Dio reunited with his bandmates via hologram. The surprise performance took place at the end of Dio Disciples’ set to close the world’s largest annual live heavy metal event. Dio Disciples features members of the Dio band, which last performed with Ronnie in 2008 before he passed away two years later, leaving a void in the rock community. Eyellusion, a hologram entertainment company focused on the live music market, created the hologram and produced the groundbreaking performance.
“What an emotional week. I’m quite proud of the performance that our team and the band pulled off at Wacken. It was truly a night filled with firsts,” comments Wendy Dio, manager for Dio Disciples and member of the Eyellusion team. “Live music is one of life’s most precious treasures. I can think of few other things that bring people together so closely that bring such joy and excitement. We want to create an enduring tribute to Ronnie that gives his music an opportunity to continue touching the lives of new and old generations of fans. With the hologram show that we are working so hard on, we’re envisioning a new way to enjoy live music. A new world in which the music never dies. We want to bring you some place magical, if only for a night.”
“We know how much the fans miss Ronnie and the special and unequaled element that he brought to his live performances,” said Craig Goldy, lead guitarist for Dio Disciples. “Being able to recreate that same kind of magic for his fans at Wacken was incredible. For so many years Ronnie always invested big in his live shows as his way to give back to the fans, and that is exactly what we aimed to do with this latest performance. We can’t wait to bring this experience to even more of his fans and perhaps even a newer generation when we bring this incredible live experience on the road next year.”
