Live | Dio Alive – South Of Heaven – Bilzen [BE]

15 November 2025

These are golden times for tribute bands. Keeping the legacy of bands from a bygone era alive has led to a well-paid hobby for many musicians. The popularity of copycat bands has skyrocketed, allowing the better tribute bands to charge fees that many club bands with original repertoire can only dream of. High public demand has increased supply but in order to financially harvest it is important to approach the original as closely as possible. An ambitious Dio tribute band for that matter requires a damn good singer. And Dio Alive has definitely got that aspect covered.

THE BAND

John Cuijpers, alias Jaycee, comes frighteningly close in replicating the powerful voice of the world’s most beloved hard rock singer ever. This Dutch class act, who also lends his vocal cords to acts such as Praying Mantis, Ayreon, Supersonic Revolution and Tiffany Kills, does so with such conviction that he currently is the driving force behind two Dio tribute acts. Tonight, he is not on stage with Dio – The Memorial Concert from the Netherlands though, but with Dio Alive, where he is flanked by three Germans and one fellow Dutchman. The latter is drummer Tom Wetzels, whilst guitarist Frank Pané, bassist Dominik Stotzem and keyboardist Andreas König represent the German side. And it’s safe to say that the repertoire of Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and Dio is in particularly fine hands with these gentlemen.

SOLD OUT

Tonight, the cozy South Of Heaven club is bursting at the seams with over 300 visitors. They apparently don’t know the meaning of the term “sold out” because it’s actually too crowded. We’re packed like sardines in a can tonight but that hardly effects the good vibes because the music flowing from the stage is of pure delight. In total, the five-piece outfit is on stage for two and a half hours. At 8:30 p.m. ,,Stand Up And Shout’’ opens the first hour-long set which, after a small break is  followed by another hour and a half. In both sets, the cuts from Rainbow, Dio, and Sabbath are strategically placed, creating a varied and dynamic overall picture. [See photo set list below for details.]

THE HIGHLIGHTS

The highlights are countless but during the first hour ,,Gates Of Babylon’’ is definitely my personal favorite. This is simply one of the most adventurous hard rock songs ever and König manages to execute the mesmerizing keyboard intro flawlessly. During the set all musicians shine in their own individual way but besides Jaycee it is Pané who deserves the most praise. It is certainly no easy task to copy the undisputed greats Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi and Vivian Campbell. The fact that Pané is able to master their diverse styles so well is a testament to his versatility.

DIO ALIVE – THE CONCLUSION

The atmosphere among the audience was already exuberant during the first hour but during the second set things turned downright euphoric. But what else would you expect with genuine classics such as ,,Kill The King’’, ,,Children Of The Sea’’, ,,Holy Diver’’ and ,,Temple Of The King’’? Not to mention the epic übersongs ,,Stargazer’’ and ,,Heaven And Hell’’. My personal favorite in the second part however is ,,Tarot Woman’’, simply because I had never heard that song live before and König once again creates goosebumps with his magical keyboard intro. Is there nothing to criticize about the show? Well in fact there is. During the Sabbath songs, the sound lacks a bit of low bottom end and during some songs the keyboards are too prominently present in the mix. I assume however that the majority of the audience was not bothered by this at all.

Overall conclusion is that Dio Alive is a worthy tribute to that small, charismatic man with the best hard rock voice ever.

Header photo by Stan Novak – other live photos by Erin Smith