As recently as two years ago, former Dio and Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice referred to Dio tribute band Dio Disciples as “disgusting” in an interview. “I mean, why are they even doing it?,” he said. “Plus, (Ronnie) has not even been passed away for a year. And, you know… It’s kind of… I don’t know. It’s kind of weird, man. It’s weird.” He appears to have gotten over that, as he’ll be filling in for drummer Simon Wright for a handful of shows next month. So why his sudden change of heart? He explained it was all about timing in an interview with backstageaxxess.com

“Just because I said it was disgusting at one point, now it’s all over Blabbermouth. ‘To Vinny Appice it’s not disgusting anymore.’ The problem was they did it a couple of months after Ronnie passed, and then I thought it was awful; it wasn’t the right time. Now they can do whatever they want; it’s cool. I mean, we’re playing Dio songs (with the Drum Wars project) tonight, so I was a big part of it. It was just that, at the moment, it didn’t seem like the best time to do it. I’m just doing a few dates with them because they needed a drummer.”

Appice played on Dio’s first four albums, then rejoined for Strange Highways and Angry Machines. Wright was Dio’s only other drummer in his solo band. If you’re interested in seeing the original drummer for Dio perform songs he helped create, check the dates after the jump.

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7/18/13 – Toronto, Canada -The Rockpile
7/19/13 – London, Canada – Eastside Bar & Grill
7/20/13 – Silver Creek, NY – Willow Creek Winery
7/21/13 – Poughkeepsie, NY – The Chance
7/22/13 – Teaneck, NJ – Mexicali Live!