TONY IOMMI's Guitar Tech Launches HEAVEN AND HELL Tour Diary

BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi's technician Mike Clement has posted the first installment in the HEAVEN AND HELL tour diary at Iommi's official message board.

Mike first started keeping a diary for Iommi.com back in 2005 and his bits of backstage gossip and humorous tales from the road kept everyone entertained. Expect more of the same this time around. He will also be keeping a photo diary as things progress. An excerpt from Mike Clement's first entry follows:

"Before starting the log proper, it is perhaps time to remember a couple of old friends who will not be around to see this new chapter in Tony's career. First up is Alan 'Fluff' Freeman. If you don’t know his name or recognise the nickname, look him up online. His contribution to the making of SABBATH in the early days in the U.K. was immeasurable. In an era when the airtime dedicated to anything other than bubble-gum pop was miniscule, he tirelessly made sure that 'Paranoid' was given as many plays as was possible and continued to support the band over the years in the face of institutional ambivalence. Second up is Richard Willis who died suddenly on Feb 5th. Richard was a sound man (in all senses),well known around the West Midlands and far beyond. He engineered a number of sessions at Tone Hall Mk1 for Tony and also Toni Marie Iommi. More recently, in his capacity as Sales Manager at SSE Audio, the major U.K. sound company, he moved heaven and earth to help me get all our road cases manufactured or refurbished in an astonishingly short time given how busy the SSE casing and fabrication departments are. A good friend to Tony and myself…..he will be missed.

"Onwards. We are currently in Los Angeles rehearsing the set at a bijou facility in North Hollywood. I have been extremely busy over the last month and a half getting gear together and as things slacken off a bit I'll dedicate more time and effort to this tour log. Suffice to say that the band sound PHENOMENAL and I will be doing my best to make sure it stays that way."

HEAVEN AND HELL drummer Vinny Appice has been telling the press in recent interviews that HEAVEN AND HELL will be touring the U.S. sooner (around April-May) than the late summer plans (August) the band had originally announced.

HEAVEN AND HELL's only confirmed U.S. concert this spring is currently scheduled for March 30 at the Radio City Music Hall (capacity: 6,000) in New York City. Tickets for that show officially sold out approximately 45 minutes after tickets went on sale on January 26.

HEAVEN AND HELL will kick off a world tour with 11 Canadian dates beginning March 11 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and wrapping up March 28 in Ottawa, with opening acts MEGADETH and DOWN. Additional U.S. dates will come later in the year.

The shows are expected to only feature material from Dio's era with BLACK SABBATH, including three new songs that were recorded for the upcoming anthology "Black Sabbath: The Dio Years" that's due April 3.

HEAVEN AND HELL is also planning to hit Europe, Asia and Australia, and the band expects to be on the road until the end of the year.