Their hands were repeatedly thrown up into the black sky, displaying the “devil’s horns”, a hand gesture famously adopted from Ronnie James Dio, lead singer of Heaven And Hell.

Fans also screamed throughout the night as the band, that constitutes of Dio, and members of Black Sabbath, namely; guitarist Tony Iommi, bass guitarist Geezer Butler and drummer Vinny Appice, played their classic heavy-metal songs in Singapore on a one-night-only concert at Fort Canning Park on Oct 27.

This was the last of 2 famous heavy-metal bands to perform concerts during the weekend on our shores, the other being heavy-metal band, Megadeth, playing at the same venue the night before. According to LAMC Productions, there was a turnout of 5,500 die-hard heavy-metal fans.

When walking past the ticket checkpoint, all that could be heard were the sounds of thousands of people chanting songs sung by the band. When you glanced over to the stage, you got visual confirmation that you were in for one hell of a night.

With a backdrop of broken brick walls, commonly associated with European castles, and a window with a giant cross inside, the stage was set up to look like an old cathedral. There were gothic gates around the set and glorious drumming equipment set up on a higher level of the stage for the audience to witness the percussion flair of Vinny Appice.

And when the time was right, the band made their appearance, with Appice throwing up both his fists up into the air, holding up his drumsticks. Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler started playing their guitars as Dio stepped out to the front of the stage to give everyone the “devil’s horns”. The rock band started the concert singing “E5150”.

Fans were head banging, and screaming along with Dio and the band. They performed other songs such as “Children Of The Sea”, “Die Young”, “Neon Knights”, “Voodoo” and “Heaven And Hell”, among others.

The stage was also given to Appice later who displayed an impressive solo drum performance. Lommi also had a solo guitar performance where fans were throwing their hands up while others were strumming air guitars, living the dream of jamming alongside him.

There was a brief second which shocked fans before they erupted into amplified delighted screams, and that was when all the lights went off and a beam of red light brightened up Dio’s face, giving him a diabolical look. A certain crowd pleaser! After the performance, the band made a sudden departure signaling the end of the concert.

Fans were chanting tunes of songs, hoping to get another glimpse of their idols. And they did. The band returned to perform once more.

At the end of the last song, Appice walked to the front of the stage and threw his drumsticks into the crowd. Butler followed suit, throwing his guitar picks to the fans.

The fans got to leave for home feeling like certified rockers, as Dio had said during the concert – Singaporeans really can rock.