The Moon Tower

Ride For Ronnie

Los Encinos State Historic Park, CA 06/05/2018

Today marks the 4th annual Ride For Ronnie event - a bike ride starts off the day from Harley Davidson in Glendale, and ends down in Los Encinos State Historic Park with food, drinks and bands. The event raises awareness and funds for the Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, set up in memory of the late, great, Ronnie James Dio by his wife Wendy Dio.

We start the day in Encino, where at roughly 11.30am a thunderous roar can be heard coming down the street. Hundreds of bikes turn the corner down a sleepy residential road and dismount outside the park. It’s a glorious sight of metal, leather and denim. The ride is lead by Wendy, who makes the journey on the back of the bike of Ronnie’s long time right hand man, Big Scott, in her custom pink leather jacket and helmet – the jacket she’ll offer up for auction later in the day to the highest bidder. Another famous face in the convoy is Gilby Clarke, who’s a regular at these events.

The day itself has the feel of a family event rather than the standard concert vibe. Although Ronnie wasn’t a bike rider himself, his passion for metal and music was embraced by the biker community, and it really shows today.

It’s a community that has rallied round Wendy since Ronnie’s passing, and one that’ll turn up and support any events she puts on to raise money. Everyone is here to have a fun day out, and help support a good cause.

The first band of the day, Railgun, kicks off at 12pm, but due to the still arriving bikes outside, the first band we manage to catch are Classless Act. Featuring the son of a rather famous rock star - Slash’s son London Hudson – and no, he’s not following in his father’s rather large guitar footsteps, but rather drums. This we’re told is their very first gig as a band, their second upcoming one will be supporting Adler’s Appetite a few days later at the historic Whisky A Go Go. The band have created quite a buzz today, and their high tempo rock ‘n’ roll set goes off without a hitch. They even throw in a cover of Black Sabbath’s The Mob Rules for good measure.

Up next is the Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band, One More From the Road, that get through all the classics such as That Smell, Saturday Night Special and set closer Free Bird. Following their set is one of the live auctions that punctuate the day between bands. Some of the items up are grabs are a signed guitar by the real Skynyrd’s Artemis Pyle, the aforementioned pink biker jacket from Wendy, a Heaven and Hell jacket (co-host Eddie Trunk does the modelling honours), a snazzy Black Sabbath boxset only attainable to those willing to part with some serious cash for one of their VIP meet and greets on the recent tour, and Dio Disciples Tim “Ripper” Owens’ stage worn jacket and hat that he gladly models himself and offers to hand deliver to the winner, in an attempt to add some extra value.

Back to the bands, next up are Beasto Blanco who bring their slice of theatrics to the stage. Very much in the vein of horror rock acts such as Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper. It’s not really much of a surprise to learn that vocalist Calico Cooper is the daughter of – you guessed it – Alice Cooper. At one point she prowls around the stage with a spiked bat and mannequin arm. Dad would be proud. She shares vocals throughout the set with Chuck Garric who also plays guitar. Chuck also plays bass for Alice, and before the closing number of the Alice Cooper classic Feed My Frankenstein recalls a phone call he received years ago from Wendy, asking if he wanted to try out for Dio’s band. You can tell the genuine gratitude he has for both Wendy and Ronnie for giving him his first big break.

Next are Dio Disciples, who have just recently signed a record deal in their own right for original music. But they keep it traditional today, and belt out the Ronnie James Dio classics. Tim "Ripper" Owens trades off vocals with Oni Logan on the day’s second performance of The Mob Rules, along with Stargazer and Neon Knights.

Last band of the day are Adler’s Allstars. Although lending his name to it, Steven Adler himself doesn’t make an appearance with the band until mid-way through the set. The various band members come from acts who have been on throughout the day doing various covers. Black Star Riders’ Ricky Warwick, who has been spectating for most of the day, also appears for a few numbers, including Motörhead’s Ace of Spades.

When Adler does appear, he gets a great reception from the audience, and expresses his thanks to us, and the event. Crowd pleasers Rocket Queen are performed by Budderside’s Patrick Stone on vocals, Steven then leads the new singer of Adler’s Appetite – America’s Got Talent and Rock of Ages alumnus Constantine Maroulis - through Mr. Brownstone and Anything Goes.

The reason we’re all here though isn’t forgotten. The event ends at 5pm (it is Sunday after all), but before the crowd disperses back into a sea of bikes, a cheque for $25,000 is presented to Stand Up and Shout board member Dr. David Wong. David is working to develop a saliva test that can help detect stomach, prostate and pancreatic cancer – the test is expected to be approved by August.

For more information on the Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, and to find out how you can help, please visit www.diocancerfund.org

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