![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/glover2.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/airey2.jpg)
By popular demand
Blackmore’s Night show in Alexandria, Virginia, on November 9, 2025, morphed into an impromptu “request hour” shortly after it started.
Thanks to Boleslaw’s Deep Purple Family Fan Channel for the video and to Uwe for bringing it to your attention.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Yikes ! this karaoke is really painful to watch.
November 12th, 2025 at 00:37Gulty as charged I have indulged myself to listen Blackmore’s night here and there but their music has been pop crap recycling people’s music decorated with medical costums and clothes.Please let this old man stay home and dtop draging him out and sitting him in the stool. I dont want remember him like this
Uwe brought it to attention and is genuinely happy to see Candice and Ritchie performing again, yet cannot combat the impression that Ritchie’s once mastery of the instrument is dwindling even in the BN format. He plays some bum licks and notes in his solo which back in the day he would have hidden better (it’s perfectly ok to make mistakes, it’s how you deal with them that is important). And other than that, he seems to be happy plonking some – not always correct either – chords. He used to be sharper doing impromptu stuff like this.
I know that isn’t welcome news for many of us here (myself included), but hushing it up – no pun intended – is no way to deal with it either.
November 12th, 2025 at 01:11For me this is DP caffeine free or fat free milkshake.
November 12th, 2025 at 05:36Fat free and caffeine free diet might be good for a certain age but sorry it’s not for me.
Peace ✌️
How the mighty has fallen…
November 12th, 2025 at 07:25Well, that was different…
November 12th, 2025 at 09:08Singalonga old peoples’ home
November 12th, 2025 at 09:52The one and only Ritchie Blackmore
November 12th, 2025 at 10:07This is Blackmore today. First the remix of “Made in Japan,” now the musical performance at the clubhouse. Thanks to YouTube, we have the past at our fingertips, while the inevitable unfolds. On the other hand, not every guitar virtuoso is lucky enough to be performing a 60-year-old playlist on barstools well into the 80s. That’s comforting. Ritchie is alive and well.
November 12th, 2025 at 10:07First time I’ve seen Ritchie like almost pregnant 🙂 on the other hand he’s so lucky to have such a warm and glorious wife as Candice around..
November 12th, 2025 at 12:51Very good times, and music cool!
November 12th, 2025 at 12:55Good day everyone – for those that have never experienced a Blackmores Night show I encourage you to do so. If the music is not appealing to your ears, go for the experience of watching/listening to Blackmore play which at the age of 80 (!!) is still impressive. The added bonus to these shows is the impromptu set list changes, the bantering that Blackmore does with the band as well as the audience. Plus, he will tell the occasional tale of the past band that he was in. I was present when he told the story of his experience with Jerry Lee Lewis back in the early 60’s. He won`t be here forever.
November 12th, 2025 at 13:24Gary
Even if we dont see the man in black that often nowdays for reasons Candice has explained on you tube several times but when we do see him in action even if he only plays “White christmas” you gotta love the man, he will always be my favourite guitar hero and my number one Dee Purple guitar player…always!!
November 12th, 2025 at 14:24Cheers!
You van approach this from several angles. Everybody goes through life and all. Anyway this is going to be part of his legacy. And I have nothing against it. On the contrary.
November 12th, 2025 at 16:21Thanks Much!! Excellent. Candice’s voice seems to be getting better and better!! RB is, as usual, fantastic!! He also has a great sense of humor!!
November 12th, 2025 at 18:41#11 Gary:
you got straight to the point!
Guys, show respect to this living legend, when he plays with arthritis he brings with him the history of rock and guitar that he wrote in the 60s/70s/80s!!
I heard the riff from Black Night in this video, and considering that I’m sick of Deep Purple’s Black Night, I can tell you that Ritchie playing those 16 notes is worth the price of admission alone, and the joy of seeing the man in black still playing those historic notes on YouTube!
is it nostalgia?
November 12th, 2025 at 21:54no, it’s the magic that this old rocker has inside, and that no one else has, not even Morse with all his technique ever had.
(and besides, Steve has never written a riff as good as Black Night or as many others that Ritchie has written)
I sincerely hope that Uwe is NOT recommending a link just to put someone down, heaven forbid if that is the case. Let’s all see what Uwe is up to when he is 80 years of age? Or better not eh? Cheers.
November 12th, 2025 at 22:17Ritchie needs to switch to drinking lite beer. What volume is his amp set at 1? The drums and organ seem to drown him out.
November 12th, 2025 at 23:12For all the naysayers comments you owe it to yourself to see them in concert, Ritchie’s dry sense of humor comes across, the man is hilarious. Plus the band is great.
November 12th, 2025 at 23:19@ “Please let this old man stay home and dtop draging him out and sitting him in the stool. I dont want remember him like this”
Do you think he cares a …. what you want to remember him like? any of us?
November 13th, 2025 at 00:01He’s Ritchie Blackmore, enjoying life now that his giant legacy is fulfilled. He made Deep Purple, Rainbow and, far from repeating himself, Blackmore’s Night, which is as moving and marvellous -although rejected (and misunderstood) by many- as those other ones.
Let’s enjoy his happines, at last.
Request hour? My request is that they finally condescend to come to Southern California before it’s too late…
November 13th, 2025 at 00:09I don’t mind Ritchie’s gut. At his age, it’s also perfectly ok to have a bar stool or even a wheelchair. I can overlook the – by now ill-fitting – wig and the ludicrous dress-up, I have so for decades. I don’t expect him to be as fast and nimble as he used to be, he has stories to tell even if he plays slow (I could spend a whole evening listening to him just play slide), lastly he doesn’t even have to do rock for me anymore, I know that this musical phase of his life is irrevocably behind him.
But what I do miss is his wit on the instrument. None of that shows on that BN performance for which you have to be a member of a cult to ignore its many flaws and luckluster nature.
In the last year before his death early 2023, Jeff Beck was 79 years old, about as old as Ritchie is now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhoEDur27cs
Need I write more? It pains me that Ritchie hasn’t progressed to something similar and now rather does “Lagerfeuergitarre” and that not even well.
And the way that drummer plays Hush …, why did anyone ever let him get near a drum kit and how can Ritchie stand it after having played with people like Paicey, Powell, Rondinelli and Burgi? Awful.
November 13th, 2025 at 02:12I am always surprised how some people tend to decide for others what to do. If yoz don”t want to remember Ritchie like this ‘ well, don’t attend the show, don’t watch the video. It’s just that simple really!
November 13th, 2025 at 05:52Many people – including Ritchie himself – seem to enjoy those events. I know I did and I’d gladly attend again if they came here once more.
An audience that come and listens you , a Wife that loves you…Ritchie is blessed
November 13th, 2025 at 06:38Because of all who apparently like Blackmore’s Night, I’ll just say:
This is how Hush makes me jump around 🤩
November 13th, 2025 at 06:46https://youtu.be/u1kZ9zYr7kk
@1
I could not have said this better AL!
Thank you for being to the point and not sugarcoating it 😊
And I really love(d) the whole Blackmore experience…
But now, no, this is no good.
November 13th, 2025 at 07:32I wonder if Ritchie himself is proud of this 😥
Uwe, when will you cease to compare one musicians health at a similar age to another???????? Is that a justification of sorts for you, it pains me to say it definitely is. Just because someone does one thing similar, doesn’t mean the next person is going to, where does this mentality come from. If you cannot handle it………………………………………Everyone is an individual, it is what it is in this life. The fact that you recommended this clip, it was ever so predictable that you were going to slag off Blackmore, again. Sad days indeed. For the record I didn’t watch this as I am not into BN, however it was predictable that Ritchie would be struggling in a certain way, wasn’t it? Cheers
November 13th, 2025 at 08:58@22
Max, I will not disagree with you here (have way too much respect for your opinions!) but don’t you believe there is something called protecting one’s legacy?
If Ritchie was my husband/father/brother I would BEG him to stop. Really I would.
And I have always loved the way Ritchie was handling his instruments!
Of course if he was longing for playing in ‘public’, I would somehow arrange super private events.
You can of course claim ‘what about Ian G’! Yes he is the same age, but way more put together and still going very strong (IMHO and all that 😉)
November 13th, 2025 at 09:20@21 shut up and show some respect
November 13th, 2025 at 10:27I guess it comes down to, are we happy Ritchie is still with us ? Errr yes, obviously … and that his loyal band of BN followers seem to love the informal, stripped back (we could have done this in our front room) vibe… you could get all caught up in nostalgic sadness, even pity – but he’s obviously still wanting to give it a go… good for him, he’s not exactly posturing to headline Glastonbury (mercifully) as we’ve all had our fill of faded rock star’s steadfastly obeying the law of diminishing returns… he’s in his dotage, he’s fading but it’s all relative to one’s expectations… that little crowd seem to be loving it and who are we to question it all?
That said…
I always wanted to be as good as Ritchie on guitar, and now I am … bit of humour there, but my own dad passed at 79 so I’m delighted he’s still sitting on his stool strumming away.
Candice now has the look of a concerned daughter, making sure her dad doesn’t slide of that stool, or wander off for a bit of a nap midway through a very un ‘eavy and starkly ‘umble Hush… I guess that’s where we are… it is what it is. We have our memories, we have our opinions but Ritchie has earned the right to do what he likes how he likes… I didn’t hear anyone booing his performance…
Play minstrel play…
We’ll all miss him when he’s gone 🙁
November 13th, 2025 at 12:13With all my love, I think it’s tragic that he doesn’t realize how embarrassing it is, sorry, at some point you should stop going on stage. The only positive thing about the whole thing is that he thinks that it doesn’t matter what we think about him and he’s already said that many times in an interview, he lives it too, you can at least show respect for that, he’s absolutely free to do what he wants
November 13th, 2025 at 12:14People whining about Ritchie’s gut or the fact that his guitar playing isn’t as good as it used to be!! Whoopie, who cares?? I certainly don’t!! This is fun to watch, I like Ritchie’s playing and enjoy him playing some DP and Rainbow songs!! It looks like Ritchie, Candice and the audience are having a great time!! I much prefer listening to this than the current line up that calls itself Deep Purple!!
November 13th, 2025 at 12:19I think what would be really by demand instead of this Renaissance nonsense would be for Ritchie to put out a book like Candace has urged him. The times and stories this man has lived through would be a fantastic read; in fact, they could even title it Ritchie Blackmore by Demand.
November 13th, 2025 at 12:27@ 9, alot of calories in German beer, respect Ritchie, the best beer in the world. 🤣
November 13th, 2025 at 13:13@1 and @25 Then don’t watch and don’t listen. Pull out all the older stuff and relive that and enjoy. It’s as simple as that.
November 13th, 2025 at 13:30Is it getting better ? No no no
November 13th, 2025 at 13:50I mostly hear strumming in this clip but not much else? Where’s the rest of his playing, so to speak? I also still think it’s (very) odd that adults dress up in medieval clothes to please Ritchie. Where’s the dignity?
November 13th, 2025 at 14:20I sincerely hope that Uwe is NOT recommending a link just to put someone down, heaven forbid if that is the case. Let’s all see what Uwe is up to when he is 80 years of age? Or better not eh? Cheers.
Sigh. Your misapprehension of my lowly self continues, Herr MacGregor. What am I, FOX or SKY NEWS that I pre-select only positive news on my heroes? I’ve written in the past that I ‘m not just a connoisseur of the DP Family, but also a chronicler, good or bad. I report on what I find.
“Put someone down” – I don’t put Ritchie down as a person. But I describe what I hear and see. If to you that BN performance is up to his historical jam quality, then all power to you (coupled with the recommendation for a quick visit to the otolaryngologist), to me it just isn’t. Regrettably so. I would prefer to write how good he still is, I’ve seen him play excellently on BN gigs (and mundanely too).
Re the – somewhat tiring and unoriginal – “just wait ‘til you’re 80”-argument: Do you really want a list of artists as old or even older than Ritchie who can still pull it off? I’m prepared to make all kinds of allowances for physical deterioration. But the loss of musical curiosity and wit as evidenced by that performance (maybe he was having a bad day or didn’t feel well, we can’t rule that out) is on a different level. And if in 15 years from now (I’m turning 65 on Saturday), I write posts here that are lame, without bite, irony, silly double entendres and intrepid jumps from one subject to another (only to then circle back), then you will be free to call out my decrease in writing creativity, ok?
The application of double standards re Ritchie’s and the performances of, say, the two Ians surprises me. Little Ian doesn’t play drum rolls like he did in 1976 anymore either, but he has retained his swing, Big Ian’s vocals have lost elasticity, range and power over the decades (and how could they not), yet I don’t remember Ritchie being very understanding of that at the time (early 90s), see the argument over Child in Time back then. And now the same Ritchie tolerates how Child in Time is mangled here
https://youtu.be/QAqeaLlbsOc
with none of the three women on stage being able to reach the notes of IG even on a bad day and Ritchie losing the plot (and the key!) in his solo repeatedly and for unsettling long periods? So that is ok and what IG did was rubbish and tainting DP’s legacy? 😑
When I became a Deep Purple fan, I signed up for appreciation not adulation. Wasn’t that outfit called Deep Purple
November 13th, 2025 at 14:57AdulationAppreciation Society too?@ 25
I feel at this point that Candice is more worried of her own career (and don’t get me wrong I like her) and staying relevant than the health of her ailing husband. He cannot even play acoustic guitar anymore as his arthritis has slowed him down tremendously. Just make a studio album here and there and just let the guy enjoy his whatever years he has left on this earth bless his heart.
November 13th, 2025 at 15:10@19 I get that, but if you expect fans to go and buy a ticket and you see this cringe worthy live video, “where the karaoke lady” in the video is louder than the band than it is time to hang it up. Candice must leave Ritchie alone and stop dragging him around. Then I think we still have the right to make comments when we see something shared for the masses. No need to remind us of who he is we know, we are just talking about this video.
Like this you mean, Rubber @28?
https://render.fineartamerica.com/images/rendered/default/poster/8/6/break/images/artworkimages/medium/2/hear-no-evil-see-no-evil-speak-no-evil-bettmann.jpg
Cult indeed.
https://media.tenor.com/DKxvMbgSurkAAAAM/scrubs-music.gif
November 13th, 2025 at 16:57Before the internet, a moment like this would have been a fun memory for the people who attended the show, nothing more. But because someone got their cellphone out, people thousands of miles away are analysing the performance as if it were something the band had intended to document and release.
Certainly Blackmore’s chops aren’t what they were. He is to his outfit as Gillan is to Purple – an elderly geezer operating at a fraction of his former capacity.
And based on the way “Hush” sounded in the clip above, it’s plain that he doesn’t get the same level of support from his group that the DP players give their singer.
But it seems unfair to take the band, and Ritchie, to task over such a spontaneous moment.
It’s cool that BN takes requests and is willing to play different songs on the spur of the moment. Got to give them credit for that!
November 13th, 2025 at 19:26After watching this, I wonder why they took away Rod Evans royalties for life…
November 13th, 2025 at 20:01The world according to Uwe and a few others here, sitting behind a computer or on a mobile phone typing away. Some people here seem to think there is a comparison between different people going on. A game perhaps? Lets’ see how good your bass playing is when you turn 80 Uwe, not to mention your reflexes and your mind over matter, etc etc. You know very well what I mean. The inevitable comparing to other individuals is absurd and unbelievably ridiculous. Let’s compare individuals and use that ridiculous ‘he is better than him, he can still do it, why can’t the other guy? What a load of adolescent rubbish from the keyboard warriors out there. Age catches anyone lucky enough to get that far and it isn’t good in many ways. The young looking up at the older and commenting, enough said. It is a repeated rave and often a cruel one from the ones who are not quite there yet but who fear it big time. Blackmore is still trying to keep busy, what else is he going to do, sit at home twiddling his thumbs. You have to keep active as best you can. I suppose many think that is best kept behind closed doors. ‘We only want to see the healthy good younger ones”, not the infirm and elderly. Don’t look over your shoulder too much people, the one with the scythe dressed in black is watching and waiting. Cheers.
November 13th, 2025 at 20:34I don’t ask why Ritchie is playing at only a fraction of his former glory and I certainly don’t blame him for it (I’m sure he would prefer to play better), I just register that he does. But that seems to be streng verboten nowadays.
Ok, let’s see if I get this right: The New Code of Conduct at the HS according to a vocal chapter of our congregation when discussing all things DP seems to be:
– It’s ok to criticize Rod Evans for singing flat and having crap musicians with Bogus Purple. That does not denigrate his past work with Mk I. The quality of Blackmore’s Night musicians, however, may not be held to the same standard.
– It’s ok to notice that Ian Gillan’s voice is not what it used to be (except in some coastal pockets of resistance in Denmark where people continue to hear his voice in undiminished colors). That does not denigrate his past work with Mk II.
– It’s highly ok to dislike all current Glenn Hughes performances and dismiss his contributions to DP completely. He was an irrelevant bass player and sang badly all the time. Nothing there to denigrate.
– It’s ok to state that Tommy Bolin played crap at Budokan, the darn drug addict, depending on your view that either doesn’t denigrate his work on CTTB or there is nothing to denigrate because that album was abysmal anyway.
– It’s ok to realize that David Coverdale can’t sing anymore because his voice is ruined. That doesn’t denigrate his work with Mk III and IV.
– It’s more than ok to blame the black sheep of the family Joe Lynn Turner for everything that was wrong with Mk V as long as you don’t point the finger at the fact that he was put there at Blackmore’s behest and scheming because the latter wanted exactly that change in music. Blame the tool, don’t blame the guy who used it, how dare you!
– It’s ok to throw nearly three decades of Steve Morse under the bus and say that he never fitted in in any case, played too many chromatic scales too darn fast and most importantly – a true crime of crimes! – wasn’t like Ritchie.
– It’s however definitely not ok, doubleplusnotgood to observe and make mention of Ritchie Blackmore’s conspicuous decline in playing prowess over the decades. That, the vocal chapter of the congregation sternly declares (and expects us to abide with), denigrates everything he has done with DP and Rainbow, shows a lack of respect and general character and is punishable heresy. We have to stay stumm about it. Move on, nothing to see here. Ritchie plays great, always has and always will. His infallibility and inerrancy should have turned him Pope long ago weren’t it for his Church of England upbringing, several marriages and unfortunate tendency to prefer black over white in sartorial matters.
It’s really easy and fun to adhere to these Commandments once you have memorized and internalized all of them by heart!
******************************************************************************
PS: Purpledaniel, to my knowledge Rod only lost his royalties for a period of 20 or 25 years and should be in receipt of them again since at least 20 years ago. Outside of DP compilations including alsoMk I material and Hush being featured in soundtracks, Mk I material likely doesn’t sell like hot cakes anymore, but it should be at least a small creek of royalties flowing.
November 13th, 2025 at 23:11#24 Karin:
Comparing a studio version of Hush by a hard rock band (worse than the 1968 one) with an acoustic improvisation by a minstrel group simply doesn’t make sense….
#21 Uwe:
November 14th, 2025 at 00:20Aside from some unimpressive improvisation, I don’t see what Jeff is doing that’s so special in that video… yawn…
I liked the lil bit of white Christmas at the end. It reminds me of when RB did the same thing w/ Rainbow on the 76 tour in Japan, of course they played it 10X faster and 100X louder!!
November 14th, 2025 at 01:02Sometimes I get the feeling that some people just don’t want anything “bad” being associated with their favorite band. CTTB and S&M needs to be labeled “not a DP album!” to not taking the output you as a fan love. Even if RB (mostly, but it applies to some IG fans as well) plays less than stellar, now or when he was in DP and Rainbow, there is always an excuse.
You are, even as huge fan, allowed to think some of the band’s output is less than perfect. The same applies to politicians, cars, other artists, whatever. Otherwise it just turns into a cult following. “X can do no wrong, and if you think they do, you are wrong and don’t understand their genius.”
November 14th, 2025 at 07:21@46
Thank you Svante! 😃
Of course you’re right! But I really don’t think it’s ‘cult’ to think Ian Gillan can’t do anything wrong, it’s just pure sense 😄
And some of us, (don’t wanna name anyone, ok, it’s me) have matured a great deal actually, I appreciate David Coverdale a lot now, thanks to the extremely pressure I have been under in here ☺️😉
Still Ian is and always will be the number 1 vocalist, mainly because of this:
https://youtu.be/OorZcOzNcgE
This:
https://youtu.be/Rfirxs_NUcE
This:
https://youtu.be/UAKCR7kQMTQ
And finally this:
https://youtu.be/1ieqHL15yEw
I have listened to A LOT of singers during my life, and no one (imho) can ever do what he has been doing so effortlessly 😊
November 14th, 2025 at 08:05@46
Forgot a little thing Svante 😊
I don’t know if anyone else agrees with me, but I love the occasional skärmytslingar, Scharmützel, scaramucce, escarmouches, skirmishes, skærmydsler!
As long as the words are uttered in respect!
How dreadful it would be if this, this awesome site where we talk about music in general and Purple in particular, would be nothing but a echo chamber, where we agree on everything!
Horrible! 🫣
And with this, Gentlemen, I wish you all a wonderful weekend, and may the beverages of your choice flow your way in abundance and may the smiles on your pretty faces keep showing up until Monday morning where everyday life starts again!
Me, I will be drinking coffee, thinking about how wonderfully Ian is singing and how sad it is I started to appreciate DC just when he stopped his amazing career!
👋🏼👋🏼🙏🏼
November 14th, 2025 at 09:09Yippie, Skippy! Well said. It’s a pity sometimes that everything is everywhere for all the time to see – especially when it was meant to be a moment of fun. Some artists don’t allow cell phones too their shows and I see their point.
I am just glad not everything in my misspent youth is all over the place today.
November 14th, 2025 at 14:34To the point, Svante. But it’s an minority that is able to critisize the ones they follow. I guess that’s ok when you’re 14 yo. I remember not believing that RB would wear a wig. My hero? Never! Or how angry I got when some older buddy showed me where one of my heros had nicked an idea. Later on I found it quite a relief to find out even gods have their flaws. Or just no hair of their own left.
Among the most embarrassing things for me being a Purple and offsprings fan were the album covers to be honest. And DC’s looks from 1987 onwards sure didn’t help. But I got over it.
November 14th, 2025 at 14:49I like it. I prefer this version of Hush over any “remixes” and “remasters”.
November 14th, 2025 at 15:26I once read in the net – not here – that (I’m paraphrasing)
“The Highway Star is essentially a DP fan site, but one where the individual members agree on very little other than that they all like some – often arcane – aspect in the band’s muddled history, yet they can never arrive at a consensus what that should be. So they bicker endlessy about it, yet somehow all get along.”
I thought that a charming and very apt description.
November 14th, 2025 at 16:59Interesting question : “Are you glad Ritchie is still with us?” Yes, I am glad. However, I would be absolutely ecstatic if Jon Lord was still with us, composing music, doing the odd gig, and gracing us with his gentlemanly ways and sense of humor. The maestro is sorely missed, but definitely not forgotten.
November 14th, 2025 at 22:17Dear Uwe,
November 14th, 2025 at 23:16You’re trapped in your own solipsism
@46
This is not bad but sad. Original? Blackmore’s night never been!
November 15th, 2025 at 13:41Yes well said Skippy, Max and a few others here. It is what it is and the so called reaction and criticism of today’s ‘entertainment’ world is almost like a disease in many aspects. Poisoned and rather negative to say the least. Everything judged and criticised and reaction bled to the maximum. So much for the ‘in the moment’ scenario of live performance and we are not only talking about music. A few artists have attempted the no phones banning or pleading with fans to turn it off or leave it at home. Incredibly difficult in the herd mentality era. Not to worry, we filter out what we can at times, ignore it and leave it where it is. We all have our likes and dislikes and opinions on various things in life. Some artists don’t even enjoy the legitimate filming of their performances. It ruins the atmosphere and creates a totally different vibe to proceedings knowing that whatever happens is documented for repeated viewing. It is an advantage for us aficionados in viewing a live performance, especially if we cannot attend in person. I do get too critical at times re watching a live performance, especially years gone by. I try harder not too these days as I have lowered my expectations from what they use to be decades ago. However we still enjoy things a certain way, we are creatures of habit. There will always be a certain preference at times. Cheers.
November 16th, 2025 at 00:27Lieber Rubber, for some reason I seem to consistently rub you (no pun intended) the wrong way, that happens with some people sometimes, not very often I have to say, but it does.
Solipsism. Really? Now that’s a first.
Solipsism is the philosophical idea that only one’s mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one’s own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind.
Huh? If anything, I’m a moral relativist.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/relativism/
Which, correct me if I’m wrong, is pretty much the opposite:
Relativism is the view that truth, knowledge, or morality is not absolute but depends on a specific context like culture or individual perspective, while solipsism is the extreme view that only one’s own mind is certain to exist. The key difference is that relativism suggests that there can be multiple, context-dependent truths, whereas solipsism claims the only certain reality is one’s own experience and consciousness, potentially denying the existence of everything else.
You can easily call me a contrarian, I am indeed unperturbed in holding minority views. I have no real urge to be part of a collective – I find too many people agreeing with me on something even slightly unsettling -, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not concerned for the collective’s wellbeing, I’m perfectly content to let it hold and have its sets of views and beliefs as long as I can hold and have mine adjacently. As a lawyer, I have regularly been criticized of not taking enough a one-sided view and putting myself too much in an opponents’ shoes. “Are you on their team or ours?!” has been lobbed at me quite a few times. I was the king of compromise and finding settlements to difficult scenarios.
“But it’s an minority that is able to criticize the ones they follow.”
I could never see any virtue in following without doubting, Max. Any thinking mind cannot be without doubt. I guess that also explains why I am a faithless person/agnostic and never liked team sports. A a holistic principle I also find the realization that multiple truths exist for multitudes of people the key to explaining why the world is the way it is. There it is again, that dreaded -> relativism.
November 16th, 2025 at 02:23@54
RE: “solipsism” I’m unclear as to what a philosophical theory has to do with anything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHWQtRjGHgo
November 16th, 2025 at 08:57@34
Yeah Rick, normally I do that! 😊
Unfortunately there was no warning labels at the video, so I didn’t know what to expect.
And after I was finished screaming ‘my eyes, my eyes’, I thought to myself:
I loved RB’s way in Purple, (yes and Rainbow) and I honestly wish him the very best. But that performance wasn’t dignified at all to him as that GREAT guitarist he was.
As some of you write: no he may not care what other people think, but I care! And had he been mine ‘whatever’, I would have explained with all my love and care that he should not let him be the target for being ridiculed.
He was the very best. I adore his style as it was.
If Ian one day cannot find the stage entrance, I hope with all my heart that someone (Grace maybe) will tell him to stop.
November 16th, 2025 at 14:07@38
Ok, I’m not fond of her or her voice, but I don’t know her enough to say that really 😄 but the small amount of her singing I have heard, does not make me spend my last money on her music.
But you’re right! He ought to retire.
On the other hand: if his sentiments are as feisty as they were when he was young(er), maybe the poor lady can’t be held responsible for what her hubby wants to do.
And now I drag an oldie out: here he was breathtaking:
https://youtu.be/Ld179v_0P-Y
Oh man he was amazing 🤩 Ode to Joy indeed 💜
November 16th, 2025 at 14:16@42
“The world according to Uwe and a few others here, sitting behind a computer or on a mobile phone typing away. “
Dear MacGregor, actually it’s because I hold them so dear to my heart it pains me to see that video 😭
And I don’t want only to see the young people, I mean I love Purple very much, and only Simon is youngish! The rest are old but man they can still play and sing!
I do not hope I get all nostalgic the day they can’t play and sing as good as they can now, and just wish they keep on no matter how horrible it is, just because I can’t let them go…
If I could be granted one wish, I wouldn’t use it on selfish things as everlasting coffee 😄 I would wish for Purple + branches to be youngish forever! To be able to keep on doing what they do so very well.
November 16th, 2025 at 14:28Honestly – how many ‘younger’ bands today can do what they have been doing all those years?
Ozzy is gone, Rob Plant is up there… Stones are way up there… in a few years the heroes are no more, and I just want their remaining years be filled with happiness and dignity 😊
@43
“It’s ok to notice that Ian Gillan’s voice is not what it used to be (except in some coastal pockets of resistance in Denmark where people continue to hear his voice in undiminished colors).”
– 🤣🤣
But Uwe! I can’t help myself here!
Of course Ian’s voice isn’t what it used to be!
There are light years between this:
https://youtu.be/tbYj71g1QQQ
To this:
https://youtu.be/OU8TZ00kAzY
And where he is today:
https://youtu.be/G8w638t_MtU
But in my most humble opinion: not many, if any sounds like him!
Do you know any 80-yo who have that power in the voice. I do not ☺️😊
November 16th, 2025 at 14:36@57
You proved my point and continue to do so every post.
I quite like how Bonhoeffer had a realisation
November 16th, 2025 at 16:30Oh my Russ, that difference between Keith Relf and Robert Plant is even starker than between Rod Evans and Ian Gillan. Plant brought that song to another planetary level. I’m beginning to see the magic of Led Zep! 😱
That was crimethink just now. 😂
But Rubber at @63, as an alleged solipsist I can‘t even be sure you, much less your post exists! 😎 No need then to seek solace with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but thank you.
November 16th, 2025 at 19:58@ 59 – Karin, there were plenty of ‘warning’ signs there from other peoples comments, so you did have just that. Admit it, you couldn’t resist looking and then commenting. Instead of not looking and not commenting at all. It happens, curiosity kills many cats and then some. “If Ian one day cannot find the stage entrance, I hope with all my heart that someone (Grace maybe) will tell him to stop.” Perhaps that could be the stage exit Karin. Exit and keep on going for big Ian too. Seriously though, Blackmore and Gillan both have that devil may care attitude, that is one of many reasons that they do not like each other, opposites attract is the saying, isn’t it? Time gentlemen, says that dark figure holding the hourglass. Sorry, should that be a scythe? Cheers.
November 16th, 2025 at 21:08What is this Western obsession that the end after a long and fulfilled life is something dark and threatening involving scythes and grim reapers?
https://youtu.be/INLV3v4jNtA
PS: Admittedly, that violin-drenched and omnipresent score in Meet Joe Black was perhaps a tad bit much … 😂
Something more sparse …
https://youtu.be/3_qE6RrkgJA
November 17th, 2025 at 01:18@ 65
MacGregor, but I didn’t read any comments before watching that video!
I don’t have a lot of time on my hands, so if there is a video, I normally watch that, think about it, and then read the comments that may be there.
Sometimes there are no comments when I write mine…. As it was with the ‘fare thee well’ with DC 😊
If I didn’t appreciate Ritchie as much as I do, I would have shrugged my shoulders, thought he was horrible and went on with the next on my list. But I do care! And it is painful to see him like that.
November 17th, 2025 at 04:25@64
“as an alleged solipsist I can‘t even be sure you, much less your post exists!” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
November 17th, 2025 at 09:05Holy shit Uwe, that “Reaper” cover is unreal. It is very rare that a cover is every bit as good as the original.
November 17th, 2025 at 09:39@57 since you’ve once again unloaded a TED Talk about your personal philosophy, let me help you out.
You keep announcing yourself as a moral relativist and a contrarian as if these are rare, delicate orchid traits possessed only by the bravest minds. In reality, they’re just the labels people reach for when they need a respectable way to say: I really enjoy hearing myself talk and I can’t stand not being the centre of the room.
You haven’t unsettled the collective — you’ve merely exhausted its patience.
Every thread gets treated like an audience for your ongoing psychological audiobook: your noble minority stances, your legal career soliloquies, your deep discomfort with the frightening concept of being part of an audience. It’s less philosophy and more performance art.
Nobody here is questioning your epistemology. We’re questioning why every discussion about Ritchie Blackmore ends with you explaining yourself again, like a man permanently stuck on the About Me page of his own website.
Contrarianism isn’t a virtue. It’s just the personality people adopt when they don’t have one.
November 17th, 2025 at 14:47Some day we’ll have a beer over this, Rubber, in the meantime I’m happy you like Deep Purple too.
You know what’s funny? In another (non-DP-related) forum people jokingly accused me that I would ensure that “all threads end in Ritchie Blackmore“. 😂 That is kind of the mirror image of what you say about me so maybe there is a dialectic aspect in the dichotomy you profess to see in my alleged obsession with Ritchie?
[For the record, from 1970 to 1978, I though that Rtchie was undisputably the number one heavy rock guitar player. His reign only ended (= dismissal with full honors) with the release of Van Halen’s debut (not that I’m a EvH or Van Halen devotee, but he did open another page with his guitar playing and his appearance on the music market was a turning point).]
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Russ, I came across this Reaper cover by sheer accident, it was played when the credits rolled to this Russel Crowe tour de force film Unhinged some years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MWDVuHeUAQ
I heard it and thought it pleasantly eerie, yet beautiful.
November 18th, 2025 at 00:12@71
Uwe 🤗
“Some day we’ll have a beer over this, Rubber, in the meantime I’m happy you like Deep Purple too.”
November 19th, 2025 at 07:33– you know what? (And this I mean sincerely) people like you are making this world a better place 😊