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Monsters Of Rock 2016 @ Loreley
It has been quite a while since the last “Monsters of Rock” festivals and so the Rainbow rising again seems to be a perfect opportunity to bring the trademark back to life. Originally advertised as “Ritchie Blackmore´s Rainbow and Guests” the guests revealed shortly after were Thin Lizzy and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.
According to German newspaper FAZ, about 15.000 fans attended at Loreley which brought the location to its limits: people had to wait for more than half an hour to get into the festival area while slipping on a muddy something that might have been a green field a few days ago and had to wait for ages until being able to leave the parking areas with their cars.
Thin Lizzy
As there’s no “real” Thin Lizzy these days, the band performing the songs consists of the two authentic members Scott Gorham on guitar and Darren Wharton on keyboards, accompanied for quite some years by Ricky Warwick on vocals and Damon Johnson handling the second guitar. While Aerosmith is on hold for quite some time, the band members seem to look for interesting side jobs and so the bass spot is taken by Tom Hamilton while the originally announced Mikkey Dee, currently helping out the Scorpions, is replaced by Judas Priest drummer Scott Travis.
Thin Lizzy concentrate on playing well know stuff including “Jailbreak”, “Dancing In The Moonlight”, “Bad Reputation”, “The Boys Are Back In Town” and “Whiskey In A Jar”, surpassing most visitors expectations and leaving quite an impression on the majority of the crowd.
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
Second band of the evening is Manfred Mann’s Earth Band featuring the still “new guy” Robert Hart (although being in the band since 2011) on vocals and a drummer who doesn’t look like Jimmy Copley who’s still listed on the bands official site as being their drummer.
The Earth Band plays a solid set with no big surprises – neither in the songs they choose nor in the solo parts. Especially the first half of the set feels way to relaxed and laid back for being a “Monster of Rock” and so the vibes need until “Blinded By The Light” to catch most of the audience. This might also be caused by the lack of a real frontman. Robert Hart is a good singer and team player, but lacks some of the positive aspects of the lead singer’s disease which you need to enthuse such a large audience.
Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow
The announcement of “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow will be performing the music of Rainbow and Deep Purple” should have already told people there will be some Deep Purple material in the setlist – however using “Highway Star” as first track following the classic Rainbow intro feels like an awkward choice. Singer Ronnie Romero does an OK job on the vocals, but his voice might not fit too well to the MKII vocal parts, a problem Joe Lynn Turner also experienced during the “Slaves and Masters” era. The instrumental section also scores nothing higher than an OK, with especially Jens Johannson staying behind expectations.
Things improve with “Spotlight Kid” as second track, a classic Rainbow tune and the vocals being a perfect match for Ronnie Romeros voice. Same goes for “Mistreated” and “Since You’ve Been Gone”, followed by “Man On The Silver Mountain”, a song which Ronnie Romero dedicates to the original man on the silver mountain – Ronnie Dio.
During the first chords of “Catch The Rainbow” it is already clear that one of the highlights is about to come and the performance offers nothing less than the highlight of the evening. “Difficult To Cure” opens the solo section which ends with “Perfect Strangers”, another Deep Purple tune showing the same weaknesses as “Highway Star” at the beginning of the set.
Next in line is “Child In Time”, a song not played for quite a while by Deep Purple, followed by “Long Live Rock’n’Roll”, a Rainbow tune including some heavy sing-along with the crowd. During an interview prior to the shows Ritchie Blackmore had already announced that the set would include “Stargazer” which follows as the second highlight of the show.
Sadly, when the majority of the audience still is close to heaven on top of the wizard’s tower, a crash landing starts with the final tracks, “Black Night” followed by “Smoke On The Water” – songs played way too often by Deep Purple themselves and any cover band on this planet.
This ends the evening with some mixed feelings.
The lineup consisting of Ritchie Blackmore on guitars, Ronnie Romero on vocals, Jens Johansson on keyboards, Bob Nouveau on bass and David Keith on drums created a memorable night seeing the Rainbow rising again. Besides some glitches and instrumental weaknesses (which are IMHO perfectly normal for a band that is standing together on the big stage for their first show) the time flew and the concert was quite enjoyable.
The setlist on the other hand was disappointing. Leaving out a couple of Rainbow must haves (“Temple Of The King”, “Street Of Dreams”, “Sixteenth Century Greensleeves”, “Kill the King”, “Stone Cold”, …) and playing stuff that Deep Purple still include in every single show feels like a waste of time.
However – being able to experience “Catch The Rainbow” and “Stargazer” live was alone worth the trip to Loreley.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Glad I wasn’t there and will experiece nowadays’ real Deep Purple twice this summer…long live rock and roll. ..
June 20th, 2016 at 19:04This should squash all the bitching and griping about TMIB coming back to PURPLE. LONG LIVE STEVE MORSE!!!!!
Like I said way back… No New Album, all you have is a Tribute Band and apparently not a very good one..
Ch-BeerZ
June 20th, 2016 at 19:14The drummer in Manfred Mann’s is John Lingwood, who played in Company of Snakes.
June 20th, 2016 at 19:2016th C Greensleeves was played during the second show.
June 20th, 2016 at 19:31Glad I was there. It was definitely worth the time, the trip, the mud on my shoes and the entire experience. Still flashed.
June 20th, 2016 at 19:46Thank you to Ritchie for allowing this to happen. It had to be a bit stressful as a whole and probably quite an adjustment in many ways.
I watched the youtube videos because I wasn’t there. The second night was better than the first. Romero was really good and was a great choice.
RB has brought so much great music over the years. Glad to have grown up in a time to have seen him so many times starting in 1978.
June 20th, 2016 at 20:36Everyone quick to critisize RB. I would take this ‘tribute band’ in a second over the worn out current DP just because it is great to see RB playing rock again! The second night’s show is better, pilgrim hat and all!
June 20th, 2016 at 21:16The highly anticipated shows were great! The man in black plays these songs with rock band for the first time in nearly two decades. The opening was maybe weaker but i think it was getting better and better during the first show. Highlights were as mentioned stargazer echoing out over loreley with a full moon. Beautiful and muddy slippery setting. Pure magic. Catch the rainbow was great too. On the second night they showed why they were headlining. Blackmores backcatalogue contains so much great songs. He wrote those songs. (For most part). It was worth Travelling abroad. I see a rainbow rising.
June 20th, 2016 at 21:17I was very impressed with the singer but the rhythm section made it sound like Blackmores Night playing Rainbow and DP songs….. It’s as much as I expected.
June 20th, 2016 at 21:24I have been watching a few clips online, the ridiculous criticism from some so called ‘fans’ is to be expected in today’s world. To go out on a limb & play those songs for only a couple of gigs is courageous indeed, they did well & it is great to see some classics played by the man who inspired & co- created them! Anyone who knows what they are talking about, is well aware how much it takes to prepare & then perform live music. And it takes more than a few concerts to gel as a unit. A well oiled machine this is not, but it was never going to be. So to all the negative ‘naysayers’, sheesh, I never thought i would ever use that word. The things you pick up on the net eh? Get a life in the real world of live performance music! You go out a see how well you perform eh? Blackmore has stated his arthritis in his hands issues & the recent finger operation. He did well for someone of his age, who doesn’t play this music anymore & hasn’t for 2 decades or more! It’s all good fun indeed, a few gaffs here & there, but that is rock ‘n roll indeed! Show me a musician who doesn’t make mistakes occasionally!
June 20th, 2016 at 21:57At least Blackmore is playing his own music, excepting Beethoven’s 9th of course, but his version of that classic! The band members do well I thought, Romero of course is wonderful. Stargazer, what an anthem! I thought the drummer did ok considering, eh Danny N? I thought of you as soon as I commenced watching these clips. All the equipment is low key, downsized for the occasion & that is all that is is required. Same with the band, all selected for a one off, so to speak! Jens is superb on the keys, hope his sound is further up in the mix for any recordings!
Hey Tracy, at least Blackmore is playing his own music eh! That comment is not a reflection on Steve Morse at all, but a reality check for Tracy, who is, well, out of touch in many ways! Mentioning the word ‘tribute’ doesn’t stand well, does it? Other people performing other peoples music eh? Where does it begin, where does it end? As one fan commenting said, ‘as soon as Blackmore hits a few notes, we know who is the master of this music’. Cheers.
Just to quash something that my first entry here may provoke…. I am and always will be a HUGE Blackmore fan. I have ALL HIS STUFF. Even the BN STUFF. But to be clear here, Purple is better off without him and they have done well and continue to BRING IT. TMIB has made his choices. He is the KING of Renaissance Music now. He is Happy there. Much happier there than on the Rock Stage. Just look at his presence in these vids. Like a Fish Out Of Water. Purely going through the motions. Too Little Too Late. Should have taken the opportunity when Jon Lord was willing and able. Time to go back to the Forest and do what you do best now. Not a bad thing. Just what it is….. I still support you there.
Leave the ROCK thing for the Living Breathing DEEP PURPLE that you Abandoned long ago…. and ‘since you have been gone”… ALL IS WELL. Gonna do a RAINBOW Tribute show… then play mostly RAINBOW STUFF. No hating here… Just keeping it real. As do most Morse Era Purple Haters. 😉
Ch-BeerZ
June 20th, 2016 at 23:28@9 Danny N, you got it exactly right. It was Blackmore’s Night with another singer & keyboardist covering Rainbow & Deep Purple music. The band were set on cruise control, with nothing to flashy, technical or complicated. Your favourite guitarist is quite old now & was simply giving his fans one more chance to see him play the old rock songs before he dies!.
Did anyone seriously expect anything more from these shows?. Just be grateful for what you have received!. To those that feel the need to complain, please stop whinging & whining like a bunch of pathetic losers… as the rest of us don’t want to hear it from you, O.K.?. The concerts were FUN & I for one am VERY HAPPY with them!. It’s put me in a very ABBAish kind of mood!. Now, can anyone tell me who was the big girl singing backing vocals next to Candice?.
June 21st, 2016 at 00:06Tracy@2…I agree. Average tribute band. Just my opinion….
June 21st, 2016 at 01:14It was fine to me. Ritchie playing some really good stuff and the vocals were better than I expected. Some of the bass lines during the jamming actually reminded me of “Fat Old Sun” bbd live version. If you can hear it. : )
June 21st, 2016 at 01:54The reviewer came across as a Rainbow fan who really didn’t want to hear any Deep Purple classics. The set split evenly between the two bands and was quite appropriate for the event. There are fan videos on youtube. The recordings are not great and hurt by the audience singing along, but it is obvious that the band, and especially Ritchie & the singer, are very good. Can’t wait for a professional quality recording & video.
June 21st, 2016 at 04:58I must say… being a drummer (not pro) the size of Davids kit is laughable. Mine is MUCH bigger.. the drumkit I mean… well maybe not only that….
June 21st, 2016 at 05:29BTW, If anyone here visits the site ‘Perfect Purple’ you should. A boot DL/Torrent site with lots of news. One post there shows a photo of Ritchie’s ring finger of his fretting hand taken during the show. It is swollen to the size of his thumb after his recent surgery. I have not heard him complain or make excuses. You can see him struggle with certain passages during the show. (Hwy Star solo first night) . Does anybody really think he’s lost it?!?… there is good reason for the magic lacking.
June 21st, 2016 at 05:37At 71, do you think RB really cares any more. I think not. It sounded ok from the audio on Youtube, lighting rig was great, Romero can sing, but seriously TMIB comes back from a 20 something self imposed exile from playing hard rock and serves up a stage kit straight out of…well…Blackmore’s Night. You can see more attention to detail and care down at your local on a Saturday night with a second rate cover band? Seriously Blackmore is this the best you can do? Any wonder he is not mentioned in the same breath as Clapton/Page&Beck. I guess I would like to have seen a really classy backline..but alas. But does he care? I think not. I think we care more than he does. Danny N @9, I totally agree.
June 21st, 2016 at 06:02@4 Erik Solum: Thanks for the info. So it seems it’s THE John Lingwood who was member of the Earth Band in the early 80’s and could be heard on “Live In Budapest”.
Any idea while this replacement isn’t announced officially?
June 21st, 2016 at 06:47mais pourquoi il n a pas reformé rainbow avant c est géant surtout le chanteur 🙂
June 21st, 2016 at 07:27Yeah … stricktly speaking … it was a very great time for the fans to see and hear the master in action …
but like the writer of the review writes to us:
“Besides some glitches and instrumental weaknesses (which are IMHO perfectly normal for a band that is standing together on the big stage for their first show) the time flew and the concert was quite enjoyable.”
And for me and some other Blackmore Fans who have seen him a few times like me, I couldn´t accurate believe that THAT wasn´t the planing setlist what they a play for us…
Owed by a very (seemingly with a big audience) unexpierienced singer .. he audience was singing Black Night … Long Live … Smoke … without an end and Ronnie could not stop it 🙂
So Ritchie and the others leave the stage and Ronnie and the audience were alone and singing …
After a while Ritchie and the rest of the band came back and they bail him out … and that for two times !!!
But without that, Ritchie seems to be (at the beginnig of the show) more than a little bit nervous.
And … did he have some problems with his hip, because his moves are at time very unsure and slowly.
Okay … he is 71 but …
But – at the end of the day/night … it was great to see him back on stage …
And…
I am very very glad, that no Joe Lynn Turner was the singer … 😉
LLRnR
LLRitchie Blackmore (thank you for the great evening)
Kraatzy
June 21st, 2016 at 08:00The 2nd show is wonderful indeed! Where are the naysayers???????? I cannot believe I am using that word now! Where did I learn that word from???
June 21st, 2016 at 08:34What a stomping version of Mistreated & a wonderful Sixteenth Century Greensleeves. Oh Ritchie, Ritchie, where art thou Ritchie! Oh how this music has been missed being played live! Child In Time anyone? Sing along Tracy, sing along now! Cheers.
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/watch-quality-video-footage-of-rainbows-second-comeback-concert/
Ritchie will live to regret this. So sad and leaves you wanting to turn back time but time is not on your side Ritchie. It’s over and the curtains are down. Candice is your future now.
June 21st, 2016 at 08:58OMG what a deception.This rythm section sucks..Paice,Powell,Rondinelli and Burgi..and now this guy whith his hello Kitty drumkit…The bass player is awful too-yes he can play ..with BN..
June 21st, 2016 at 09:30Keyboards are too low in the mix,,I miss the flamboyance of Rosenthal or Stone.
Ritchie…looks very bored.His dearest wish is goin back to BN with his Robon Hood outfit.His playing is very uninspired,his guitar sound is very thin-he plays as he’s still in a BN gig and he’s butchering some of his best tracks,not really knowing what to do do.
Best guy is Romero.He’s got a phenomenal voice..hope he’ll join a major band very soon.
Come on guys. Who is the HS reviewer? Ritchie on stage playing HIS choices. Ok so the Gillan stuff doesn’t sound like Gillan. What a revelation that is!! Romero’s voice is different but still holds the song. Ritchie on stage playing rock after over 20 years how could he not play HS, Black Night and Smoke on the Water. There would be plenty of people quick to criticise that!!As for the tribute band comments all the songs bar Since you’ve been gone were wrote by Ritchie. If he had wanted to make things easy why change some of the arrangements and include songs like Child in Time… Maybe not the setlist I would choose but let the man play what he wants and with the arrangements the way he wants. As for the Rainbow songs missed out how long do you want him to play. Forever is my answer.
June 21st, 2016 at 10:01Something just seemed to be missing from the performance. The band seem very mediocre and they just didn’t seem to ‘come together’. I just wasn’t in ‘awe’ of RBs playing – I had such high expectations
The biggest let down was the song choice – all these tracks were poor versions of the originals, and the majority of the DP songs are being done far better by DP today.
A Rainbow/DP tribute act was all it was.
Maybe I was asking too much from RB. He can go back to BN now, and I am still safe in the knowledge that SM was and is the best man for DP.
25 years ago – RB was the ‘Man’. But that was 25 years ago!
June 21st, 2016 at 10:03The reviewer must be on joe Lynn turner’s payroll. The review had a lot of total BS. I was at the second show. The evening was brilliant and the audience was on fire all night and totally pleased. A full on sucess.
Highway Star as the opening was a surprise but it was a great choice. Romero did a great job and the audience loved it. To be clear, Romero is a great choice and his voice covers both the Gillan and Dio material well.
Mixed feelings? You’ve got to be FKING kidding ME! The band put on a great show, set list was a greatest hits but that is what the 10-15000 in the sold out audience wanted. Closing the show with his biggest hit and that’s a crash landing?
Folks, give little credibility to the review. There is a clear bias. I saw Purple on the last two USA tours including last year and Whitesnake’s Purple Album USA tour and this was by far the most fun. The audience was literally singing from beginning to end. Lots of energy, smiles and electricity. Ritchie still has it big time.
To me the highlights in order was the the electricity in the air, child in time (wow….Romero pulled it off and the entire audience screamed the chorus), Since You’ve Been Gone (new arrangement), 16th Century Greensleeves (a new take also), all the Dio songs and Highway Star as the opener. My voice was raw the next day but it was the most fun I had in a long time.
Congratulations to Ritchie and his team! Well done.
June 21st, 2016 at 11:06it was a nice evening at bietigheim, but ritchie was not on fire 🙁
June 21st, 2016 at 11:16@9
I feel the same.I would say it is normal after so many years of playing same old lullaby.I would say if Blackmore played a few more dates,”the gelling” would be better.
@2 at Tracy
I would still buy the DVD,if they were any cameras in the shows,whenever that comes out sometimes later on this year or next year.Having said that,I cannot wait for the new album from the current Deep Purple line up with the mighty Bob Ezrin.And I assume,barring any health issues or retirement,Deep Purple will record a final third one with Ezrin and complete “the trinity” …but that is a just me dreaming and drooling for the new one which is supposed to be “heavier” than the previous one! lol
June 21st, 2016 at 11:18It was a fantastic spectacle seeing Ritchie play full on rock again in a beautiful setting high above the Rhine river. Yes Ritchie was a bit rusty owing to his arthritis and recent finger operation and maybe nerves and I think the bass player and drummer , albeit great musicians in their own right, didn’t really fit in..I guess you need a rock/metal bassist and drummer to add that bit of metal zest to the songs.
Nonetheless it was a pleasure being at Loreley and experiencing Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow ( and the mud haha ) …long live rock ‘n’ roll
June 21st, 2016 at 12:19There seem to be mixed reviews about these two shows although generally speaking they appear to have been a success.
In my mind there is no doubt that only Ritchie can play those tunes the way they were mean to be played. I’d rather hear Ritchie pay Smoke than any other guitarist.
Roll on Sat 25th so I can judge for myself at the NEC Birmingham. Bring it on.
June 21st, 2016 at 12:20Loreley was a great gig. Would have been better to include Gates of Babylon, kill the king, Ariel and Light in the Black.
June 21st, 2016 at 12:48Was really worth traveling from Malta for the gig 🙂
i saw both concerts in Germany and would like to thank RITCHIE for this great moments
June 21st, 2016 at 13:09was growing up with Deep Purple/Rainbow and never stopped to follow his Music
a dream come true to see the master of the white Fender again
greetings from switzerland
To me the set list was awesome and Ronnie Romero is the best thing that happened in the Purple family in decades !! What a voice !
The only problem I see is that the drummer and the bass player don’t fit in the format of the band. In my very humble opinion, Ritchie needed a more aggressive drummer playing with him.
Overall, I really hope they extend these shows to USA / Canada !!
And finally, can somebody please raise some money and get some proper trousers to the bass player !!!! You can find better ones even at Wal Mart !
June 21st, 2016 at 15:24I saw the second gig in Bietigheim. I arrived skeptical and leaved highly amazed. I am a great fan of Deep Purple with Steve Morse, but in this evening I felt again what Ritchie Blackmore contributed to Purple and Hard Rock. More than two hours of goose bump – incredible!
June 21st, 2016 at 16:14Watched all the you tube videos and I think the second night was much better. They looked more relaxed and the volume seemed louder than the first show which I think really helped overall. I think Ritchie chose the setlist for two reasons. First it featured some of his most famous solos from Purple. Second he got to showcase Ronny Romero singing tunes done by Dio,Gillan,Coverdale,Bonnet and Turner. I think Romero did quite well on all of them. I thought the bass player was surprisingly good. Keyboardist not really impressed with. Overall it was was fantastic to see and hear Ritchie on a rock stage again. I think they will be even better this Saturday in The U.K. Hopefully he enjoyed it enough to bring it here to the states at a later date.
June 21st, 2016 at 16:29While I’m personally glad to be watching the footage of Ritchie and his band, I keep thinking that a couple of unannounced theater shows would have been nice to smooth out the wrinkles. The band, Ritchie included, seemed unsure of themselves when they stepped on the stage. It’s a long walk from rehearsal room to A Grand Stage…
Rock on Ritchie…Glad to see you there.
June 21st, 2016 at 17:06i was there on Saturday night and it was brilliant just for Catch the rainbow alone! blew away anything Morse can do and anyone who thinks otherwise is deluding themselves! Amazing all the negativity is from people who weren’t there and yet everyone who was thought it was great. ROLL ON SATURDAY AT THE GENTING ARENA
June 21st, 2016 at 17:55@15 Dr. Bob / @24 Neil:
Nothing against some Deep Purple tunes, I enjoyed “CIT” and “Mistreated” very much. But including songs that are part of every DP set during the last decades is IMHO disappointing.
How about some MKIII stuff like “Burn” or “Stormbringer”?
@26 Ron:
You must have got something wrong … isn’t JLT the guy who claims that a band not including him shouldn’t be called Rainbow? 🙂
My mixed feelings are because of the setlist, nothing else. For me, “Black Night” and “Smoke On The Water” felt like a cold shower after an amazing “Stargazer”. It’s just MHO, the other ~14.999 might feel different.
June 21st, 2016 at 18:20Byron @ 23- Deception??? The only deception is in your mind, the rubbish expectation that you have, illusion would be a better word for your fantasy! You mention people from a dim & distant past, this band was chosen for a reason & the settings also no doubt! It isn’t the 70’s & 80’s anymore if you have noticed! Why have a massive double bass drum set up with some guy wanking all over it? Secondly, Blackmore stated Jens will be playing a supporting role, with the occasional solo! Blackmore doesn’t look bored at all, concentrating perhaps would be one way to look at it. He may be in an uncomfortable position, who can tell, wondering what he is doing there at some moments no doubt. Don’t dress it up as if he couldn’t give a proverbial & that his playing is uninspiring? We hope you are not judging the sound from youtube clips? This was NEVER going to be an over the top, trying to live in the 70’s & 80’s crap that JLT was salivating over! You go out and do it at 71 years of age with hand arthritis issues, not to mention his recent finger operation & back issues also, after a 2 decade break! Expectation is a prison they say! The essence of these shows, was that it was always going to be a nostalgia gig or 3 for a blast, for enjoyment. Not the proverbial, “look at me guys, I am back” reunion bullshit! I would dare to say there are a few here who may be glad these gigs turned out the way they did, to suit their agenda eh? Some so called ‘fans’ who don’t look at the big picture at all, only the smaller one in their minds” Which of course is NOT the reality of the situation. Cheers.
June 21st, 2016 at 22:32@ MacGregor…. I thought about you too my friend and my opinion is unchanged. If anything in life is worth doing, then I think it’s worth doing well. This was nothing more than Blackmore’s Night playing DP and Rainbow and any edge that those songs had was dulled. The rhythm section was ill suited for this type of music and showed glaringly. If people were stoked seeing Blackmore playing rock songs with his folk band then that’s cool. Personally I preferred seeing him with first rate musicians. TMIB was rusty but that is to be expected from 20 plus years of not playing rock, his recent hand surgery and his age. Whether or not he actually wanted to be there could be debated for a long time. He looked completely disinterested in the first show, but slightly more into it during second one.
@ Byron….I agree with you 100 percent.
All this talk about Rainbow and Purple had me hunting down some of the old members on youtube to see what they were up to. I found Tony Carey’s cover band doing some Rainbow songs. Have a listen to his rhythm section…. first rate in every way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGZ1-USeT3M
(song starts at 2m50s)
June 21st, 2016 at 23:19Good evening, hello & welcome to a night of rapturous musical fun & frivolity… Please put your hands together & give a warm, loving & hearty welcome to…. The Ritchie Blackmore Super Double Lucky Best Mega Good Time Family Fun Band!. Do you people get it now?!. Smiles & good health to ya.
June 22nd, 2016 at 01:12What great nights…I mean, musically it was really very good (some flaws, but also stunning bits), but above and. beyond the music itself there was so much anticipation and electricity in the air. It felt like we suddenly were back where we belonged.
June 22nd, 2016 at 06:43Already posted my view on that other other thread about NO NEW ALBUM.
Maybe I should lift them to here?
There might be indeed “explanations” for his playing but I m saddened anyway.
Like many others I expected it to be like the great moments on strat he exposed in recent years inbetween the BN songs.
Apart from the loss of Powell in 98 when another possiblilty arose he then waited far too long IMHO, resting under the wings of his wife.
After Dio died the options became fewer.
he could have chosen Daisley, Rondinelli, Turner and JLT.
JLT still has a great voice and always had this extra plus that he ahas a lot of soul in his voice.
If he gets enough rest he does not croak or crackle but sounds amazing after all these years.
JLT was right.
The bashing by senseless people annoyed the hell out of me.
Some wanted Bonnet over JLT.
Well, I saw him end 2014 in haarlem and he indeed was delivering.
I still prefer JLT because the SOUL.
Doogie I never liked)I did laugh about the remark of someone here that said his kitten died of Doogie emoticon but I must admit, Doogie had range and could cover all singers quite well.
But I still prefer JLT , he does not deliver this annoying BraveHeart accent.
Romero is a generic metalsinger and probably hired because he is cheaper than a Jorn Lande.
There is no soul, no variation, not enough octaves.
I hoped he would deliver, improve after he was hired.
The drummer really freaks me out.
Compared himself to Cozy Powell.
Someone here praises him.
Unbelievable.
Rightfully so, Paicey and Glover beat this rythymsection even though BNs bassplayer really delivered.
Did he not say in recent days something across the lines that we should not expect too much because they had not rehearsed much?
Which might have to do with Ritchies operation on his finger?
So now I ve been frustrated for 20 years because
1. Gillan should have retired ages ago.
2. paicey became very slow and one dimensional
3. Morse always depresses the hell out of me with his wrong sound, his overrated doodling
4. Blackmore stubbornly pursuing this BN venture way too long.We could have had a Dio/Powell/Blackmore reunion before Powell died. We all would have die peacefully instead we re suffering these decades of torment.
Must be very warm under her wings.
5. Even now we could have had Turner/Rondinelli, Carey, Daisley and Blackmore.
And why the !@#$ this wrong setlist with too many DP songs(If you dare to provoke everyone by using the old Rainbow rising picture and name show some chops and forget DP and that awful SYBG, there are so many great Rainbow tracks.
Well, maybe he finds some of his old energy and kicks this ridicilous David Keith person, preferebly ask JLT and show us in Birmingham what he is made off.
Maybe also the whole band( I dont think Keith will)would improve drastically if taken on the road for a longer time and with real(!!!) rehearsing?
June 18th, 2016 at 10:59
Answer to Tracy
m not going anywhere.
I just could not muster the motivation or drive.
I think what really demotivated me is the fact that I think the drummer is no good for this kinda music and Romero ‘s singing I experience to be very limited.
Reading on other fora I get the idea more people feel this way.
The next clips are low quality YT so its hard to make up a good idea but so far regarding the points related to Romero and Keith seem to come to the fore.
bassplaying sounds very good, expected.
Blackers seems to playing sensitive stuff but something is missing.
SPEED!
By now it seems that the 2nd show was an improvement and that more shows might have given a lot of difference.
But I still think the drummer sucks, Romero gets overrated by many, JLT was right.
A week of extra rehearsals might give Birmingham a big surprise, but I m not intending to go anymore.
I love Ritchie but the band is too weak and maybe even an insult.
Letting people pay for rehearsals and a BN like band is cold and cruel.
A ridicilous looking and sounding drummer, a singer that sings the same everywhere and dispalys a big lack of warmth /soul in his voice unlike JLT and Dio and might be suited to Malmsteens band or something.
Combination of Dio and mercury my ass.
Romero resembles a bit Adam Lambert in his appearance, thats all.
Dio did nog sing out of tune, had much more reach.
To all the JLT haters : just listen objectively what he sounding nowadays.
He still has the same range and depth, soul of way back.
Some time ago a voice from his former crew said that ritchie probably wanted to save money hiring cheap personnel.
June 22nd, 2016 at 08:38Wonder if Daisley, Carey, Rondinelli and Turner really would have asked so much .
I had the impression they would have loved to be on board for this final Ritchie in Rock shows
Of course if was not perfect. But it was great. Much of the criticism here relates to YT-Clips recorded with phones.
June 22nd, 2016 at 11:47I really helps if you were there! The bass for example indeed sounds a bit groovy and funky on youtube. On location there was a thundering quality added. This combination results in my opinion to the best bass playing that rainbow ever had. It’s the same with the drummer. Most people here seem to critize the size of his drumkit ?!?!
Well guys, I for example found those oversized machines of Burgi and Rondinelli quite ridiculous and the original drum sound of “Difficult to Cure” extremely annoying. Rainbow was never supposed to be a metal band. So, pardon me, I liked the rhythm section. Romero is not just quite good: his singing is a dream. He deserves a truckload of respect. As does the man in black with his surgery, his age and everything. I wonder how many of the most loathful commentators play an instrument themselves. I do.
By the way @ 38: I agree about “Smoke” and “Black”. It occured to me that the more bluesy and groovy Purple songs just don’t fit very well with the grandeur and majesty of most Rainbow songs.
That might be the reason why “Perfect Strangers” worked quite well.
“He did well for someone of his age, who doesn’t play this music anymore & hasn’t for 2 decades or more!”
Agreed, but is that our new standard for Blackmore gigs?
“It was a nice evening at Bietigheim, but Ritchie was not on fire.”
Indeed.
First some statistics: I’ve seen the pre-DP-reunion Rainbow five times (including the legendary 1977 Munich gig with an incarceration-motivated Ritchie), the Doogie-led one twice, Blackmore’s Night more often than I would dream of revealing here (I still faithfully go, but never make it to the first row for lack of sartorial elegance) and DP (lamentably only from the reunion onwards) several dozens of times. I consider myself a DP family fan and appreciate all three banjo-players: Ritchie, Tommy and Steve, everyone of them can do something or other especially well (and better than the other two).
I saw both German Monster of Rock gigs. Loreley just scraped away from being a disaster, Stuttgart was ok to – in all benevolence – goodish in places.
Let’s devote some time to the band:
– The Mohawk Kid was the strongest instrumentalist on stage and seemed genuinely into it. I don’t know what the size of his kit should have to do with his abilities, so let’ not go there. He provided what the music needed, neither over- nor underplaying.
– Sir John of Normandy: Always the best Blackmore’s Night bass player, he – I hate to write this as a busy bass player myself – consistently overplayed and, at Loreley especially, had this honkish, midrange-dominant sound that had him sounding like John Gustafson of the Ian Gillan Band. Now don’t get me wrong: I love the IGB and especially John Gustafson’s playing and sound IN THAT SETTING, but Rainbow needs a meat and potatoes approach on bass and a similar bass sound. In the old days, Ritchie wouldn’t have allowed Bob to get anywhere near a Rainbow line up, he simply doesn’t have the force of Bain (punkish), Daisley (technically exquisite) or Roger (relaxed, but a pumpin’). The mixer had a heart in Stuttgart and darkened and de-midded his sound considerably there, but the man from the D-Day beaches still overplayed (plus a lovely bum note during Stargazer which took him a couple of seconds to realize, but that was cute, shit happens).
– Riff Raff on keyboards: A disaster, he made even a real stiffer like David Stone sound like Fats Domino. Poor ole Jens knows so little what to do with Rainbow’s music, he sounded awkward (and as grooving as an IKEA shelf mis-built without a manual) throughout, his keyboard solos a nadir of not knowing what to do and switching around sounds aimlessly. You could also tell he was unhappy at both gigs. He couldn’t even deliver Child in Time with authority. By far the worst keyboarder I have ever seen on stage together with Blackers, he couldn’t even play the short intro to Perfect Strangers without sounding lost and angular.
– The other Ronnie: He can sing very well (if not with a lot of dynamics, it’s pretty much full frontal onslaught all the way). Sort of a very young (pre-Rainbow even) Dio with a Bonnet-type turbo charger in his voice. Heeze command of zee Eengleesh langwitch whezzer eet eeze lyrics or stage raps left desgraciadamente much to be desired, no?! Well, at least we now know that Bob plays “bus”, I was wondering about that sound already! Young Ronnie’s enthusiasm is addictive, but he could not really (yet) fill a stage as a frontman, neither Dio’s natural authority nor Bonnet’s happy-go-lucky outrageousness. Senor Romero came across like a top candidate of “Britain’s Got Talent”, which in a way I guess he is. He reminded me of Ripper Owens really who had too big shoes to fill too though he was technically a very athletic and pitch-perfect singer.
Did we forget someone? The lead guitarist, yes … Ritchie was on both evenings: “hardly any diamonds, but a lot of rust”. It has nothing to do with speed, I like it when he plays slow, but he seemed listless for much of the time. That said, he perked up for the second night without reaching heights of inspiration. Sorry, I’ve seen him do that too often – even within a few minutes of picking up a Strat with the outfit of his Missus – to say anything more about those two Monster gigs. Loreley suffered especially from him taking on songs too slow – this from the man who in the late 70ies and 80ies would play too many Rainbow and DP songs much too fast bordering on the hectic – Highway Star was slower than the studio version, MOTSM, LLRnR, Black Night and SOTW plodded as well.
Standout moments? Child in Time (with nice sing along parts from the audience), Catch the Rainbow and Stargazer.
Oh, by the way the PA mix at Loreley was terrible (it had been fine with TL – who sounded like Nickelback covering Lynott, heavy-handed, but committed as they were – and MMEB, who were perfectly in synch as a band and whose keyboarder could play more fluid with one finger than Mr Johansson could with 10) and improved only slowly. Mix in Stuttgart was good, but could not mask keyboard inabilities. Candice and her backing vocals sidekick from BN were largely inaudible at both gigs.
All you who dislike the current DP line up: The two Monster gigs amply showed that that mighty DP sound, rumbling, but always rolling and grooving cannot be easily replicated. Not even by Herr Blackmore (but then the old Rainbow line-ups could never swing as well).
Now before some of you accuse me of “What kind of a fan are you?!”, I’ll reply: “A tough and stern one, just like Ritchie used to be!”. ; – p
I’ll be seeing Blackmore’s Night again next month. And I would have gone to both Monster gigs even had I known of the lacklustre performances beforehand. Try to match that for loyalty. ; – )
June 22nd, 2016 at 13:17I still can’t believe that some people are saying “Wow, we are so lucky to have Steve Morse and not Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple !”. Seriously, if it wasn’t for Ritchie, Steve Morse wouldn’t even have a job ! Actually, Deep Purple wouldn’t even exist ! Please be more respectable with the man who created not only one, but TWO of the most important bands in the entire history of popular music !
By the way, I do like Steve Morse and the current line-up of Deep Purple. I just don’t see a point comparing the 2 musicians. Music is not a competition. Who is a better guitar player then, BB King or Steve Vai ? Or maybe a better singer, Jon Anderson or Ronnie James Dio ? It does not work like that….
June 22nd, 2016 at 13:41@39 very well said and all valid points 🙂
June 22nd, 2016 at 14:03Sorry that should have been @40 and not @39 ha 🙂
June 22nd, 2016 at 14:05Disregard my previous 2 posts: Heepfan—–very well said 🙂 and valid points Hopefully my post is correct now ha
June 22nd, 2016 at 14:08@41 Very good clip. Ritchie could just have taken that band and added himself.
One thing that annoys me when people try to defend the sloppyness of the performance is the idea that, “It was their first gig, who wouldn´t be nervous/rusty/whatever”. As someone said, that is so below the standard of RB, or any professional musician. A band of locals trying a new lineup on the local pub can be excused for being new and nervous. Professional musicians playing for a paying audience can not. It would be interesting to dig up recordings of the first gigs with BCC, Living Loud, Flying Colors, any of the million line-ups Glenn has had etc. I can not remember anyone reviewing those as “well, they did not play very well but that is understandable because that was their first gig.” That is what rehearsals are for. That is the difference between professionals and hobby musicians.
June 22nd, 2016 at 14:18The gigs were not as good as hoped for but better than some reviewers said.
It is true, the rhythm section was a bit very stiff at times. Ritchie recently had a arthritis operation on his finger, maybe this explains a bit too.
Also for those who repeatedly write about the “20 years of hiatus from playing that music”…this is completely not true. If you would ever go or ever have gone to a BN concert, you would know that the last section in each and every BN concert is a couple of songs with Ritchie playing his Strat and rocking out. Often it is Black Night, but it has also been “16th Century Greensleeves”, “Man On The Silver Mountain”, “Smoke on the water”, “Ariel” and other stuff. He once even started playing the “Burn” riff during a gig in Heidelberg/Germany when I was there.
But it’s true, it was not as good as I hoped for too. There is different footage now on YouTube, filmed by other people with better audio and better video and in these clips the band makes a bit of a better impression.
But yes, the set lacked some fire indeed. The people there enjoyed it, but it could have been more indeed.
Yet we have to remind ourselves he is 71, his finger was not the best and also the others were probably not the best choice at all. The only RAINBOW member was him. Romero, on the other hand, did indeed do a phenomenal job.
To close this, I would really like to ask you people finally to stop calling each other names and stop insulting others only for having a different opinion. You can disagree even without that and we can still all try to be civilized people. Even it may be hard for some.
June 22nd, 2016 at 14:50Those guys had more than half a year to get ready for gigs they knew would be very important. Even with Blackmore’s finger out of action, the other four – you can rehearse without a lead guitarist you know or they could have gotten someone in to dep for Ritchie’s parts in rehearsals, Yngwie isn’t all that busy these days : – ) and Jens surely has his phone number – should have been shit-tight (like MMEB and even Thin Lizzy with two new guys were) from rehearsals, they weren’t. That is especially true of Johannsen – I think being used to more complicated music he totally underestimated the demands of the job and was visibly disconcerted for it too.
Rehearsals are a matter of discipline, I have never ever seen a rusty Judas Priest for instance, even at first gigs of a tour after a lengthy hibernation.
And the truth is: Ritchie doesn’t have the practice and endurance anymore for an evening full of lengthy inspiring solos.
June 22nd, 2016 at 15:42“It occured to me that the more bluesy and groovy Purple songs just don’t fit very well with the grandeur and majesty of most Rainbow songs.”
Rainbow (all incarnations except the first studio line-up, the Elf guys had a nice American groove) and “groove” are from different planets!!!
Gillan (the band) didn’t groove either, it was all punkish energy. Early Whitesnake grooved (later versions didn’t) and I can tell you two reasons for it: Little Ian & Jon.
June 22nd, 2016 at 16:02@ MacGregor…
June 22nd, 2016 at 17:49No animosity…I’ve been following Ritchie and the Purple family since their first album,in 68′.Got all the stuff (except the BN latest release but Ireally appreciated BN in the beginning.)I’ve seen Purple,Rainbow many times with every line up- even went to see BN in Paris some years ago and that was a very good night IMO..Ritchies’playing was fantastic on that night.And Ritchie still is the best-or the most interesting – guitar player for me.
I don’t give a shit to what JL Turner thinks.I respect Ritchie’s choice ,I love the man ,he gave me so much pleasure for 40 years..but Rainbow is Rainbow,not BN playing Rainbow and Purple songs..Rainbow..it’s all about Heavy sound,flamboyant /pomp keyboards,thundering drums,epic vocals (and yes Romero is the guy IMO) ,heavy and melodic bass lines (Bob Daisley where were you?..),the Marshall/Strat combo and guitar licks not of this earth.
Just take a look at Thin Lizzy -they were the opening band.Big sound,(what a difference with Rainbow)high energy ,and doing their best to recreate the nearest Lizzy’s sound just for one night or two.
“First gig” ,so it’s understandable.??.?Sorry but I still think that Ritchie was not so much interested in that project.They had plenty of time to rehearse with top notch musicians.There’s a lot of known or unknown but fantastic musicians today who are true fans(just like Romero) and they can play every Rainbow/Purple tune just like in the heydays if no better..and they ‘ll do anything to play with Ritchie.But Ritchie decided to play with that low cost budget band and that’s an an enigma for me.
And you know what.?. .I’ll certainly buy the DVD anyway!
Cheers
@Danny N..Thanks my friend-I’m not alone!
@51 Svante:
Seeing three of the Jon Lord shows (Lux, Halle and Munich) back in 1999 and also seeing two of the rehearsals (Lux and Halle): there also was a big difference between the first and the last show, but I enjoyed all of them. If my memory is correct, they even did a restart of one of the songs during first the live show. They are professional musicians, but they are also human beings …
June 22nd, 2016 at 18:24Why are so many Deep Purple fans getting their panties in a twist insisting that we boycott Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow? Strange lot you humans.
I will continue to enjoy the current Deep Purple, and I will enjoy what Ritchie is doing as well. The Rainbow shows sound Good and Very Good so far.
June 22nd, 2016 at 21:30@53: I don’t know what went through the head of Jens Johansson but maybe he also was underwhelmed by the foundation he was supposed to play over? What I do know is that Jens is as big a Rainbow and DP fan as any of us, playing organ just because he grew up with those bands. I think he knows exactly, note for note, what is required playing DP and Rainbow songs. 🙂 I could imagine him being over-excited when he got the call, only to get very disappointed once he started playing with those people.
His brother Anders has just released a biography. In the boook, there is a picture of Jens in his basement with his first organ sometime in the 70’s. On the wall is a Rising poster. Anders comments something along the line, “there is the poster on the wall and 40 years later he is a member of the same band.”
It’s going to be very interesting to hear what Jens has top say about these gigs, if he ever decides to talk about them. But he certainly didn’t look like he was having the time of his life. 🙂
June 22nd, 2016 at 21:46Let’s put it this way: If Jens had set his sights to become for Rainbow 2016 in the keyboard department what Axl Rose became to that former Rainbow opening act from Australia in 2016 in the vocal department, then he failed abysmally. And an excellent keyboard player is key (pun by coincidence) in a DP type line up band. Jon Lord, Don Airey, Tony Carey and Colin Towns all were. And the Stones and Rosenthals of this world were at least decent, Mickey Lee Soule a great piano (but not really organ) player. You don’t even have to be a great technician as long as you have some soul and grit in your playing, think of Ken Hensley who never put himself in an Emerson, Wakeman & Lord league, but he could certainly rock the keys.
I don’t doubt that Jens can play, but he seemed to be frozen both nights. Sometimes instrumentally very good people just don’t work out for certain kinds of music – Colin Hodkinson’s failure to gel with Whitesnake comes to mind. Did someone mention Steve Vai?! ; – )
June 23rd, 2016 at 08:03Svante@ 51 & 58 – there are many professional musicians who are nervous before a concert. It happens not only in music, it doesn’t matter how many times or how long etc, it is a human condition that some are prone to more than others! Regarding the rehearsals talk, it is sometimes said that many professional musicians & no matter how much they rehearse, when it comes to stage time in front of an audience, it is a very different scenario indeed! How many times have I read about concerts from experienced credible musicians, who mention the ‘train wrecks’ as they are known as, at a first, second, or any other concert. It can take a deal of time for some ensembles to gel as a unit. Some artist often make mistakes on stage at times, it happens! Robin Trower & Jack Bruce with Gary Husband on drums, only played a dozen shows in 2009, filmed the 3rd show in the Netherlands & and it sounds ‘rough’ in places. You can tell big time that they are under done sot to speak. It doesn’t matter though, it is still a good show with plenty of highlights & a fun time guaranteed for all! ELP live at High Voltage 2010. A one off gig, they rehearsed for 5 weeks apparently. A bit ‘rough’ in places, slow at times even, Emerson having serious tendon issues in one arm from years before. Lake & Palmer rusty, most of the fans lapped it up, critics panned them, so what. Still good rock n roll though. All these acts are playing for the fans for pleasure etc! In regards to the newer bands you mentioned supposedly not having these issues, well who can tell! But I will say one thing, they do NOT have the scrutiny of 4 to 5 decades of high expectations from tens of thousands of ‘fans’. How many ‘fans’ are going to expect those bands to live up to their past, they don’t really have that much of a past! Certainly not over the time of the artists I have mentioned, excepting Glenn Hughes of course! Yes, they are very professional acts who play serious rock music & as you say there is no excuse for a shoddy perfomance from professional musicians.! But who is actually criticising them, expecting a ‘perfect’ show, like the good old days? Blackmore was on a hiding to nothing, just like ELP, Bruce & Trower also. I didn’t mention the one off Led Zeppelin gig in 2007, that went off well it seemed. But apparently the live recordings were touched up from what I have read, so it is hard to tell. It certainly appeared to be a decent concert appearance though. Maybe Blackmore & co didn’t rehearse enough, who can tell. Still good rock n roll though, exciting indeed! I certainly did not expect them to be spot on, it was predictable in a way. But still wonderful. In regards to Jens, he could have been ‘not into it’ for any number of reasons. Overwhelmed by the occasion, nervous or not feeling well on the night, not hearing the other band members properly. “I could imagine him being over-excited when he got the call, only to get very disappointed once he started playing with those people” What, at rehearsals, if so he would have walked one would think, wouldn’t he? Or do you mean once he was on stage at the gig? Cheers.
June 23rd, 2016 at 09:16People remember one thing, everyone is entitled to there own opinion. I think sometimes we forget that. There is no right or wrong, it is what it is.
June 23rd, 2016 at 10:17byron @ 55 – no problems byron, I guess I took exception at the word deception. That is not the word to use in my book, in regards to these shows. We all have our opinions, I can understand some being disappointed, but there seems to be some harsh criticism at Blackmore for some reason & some ‘fans’ are taking these shows a little too serious perhaps?. I don’t know, I never expected these shows to be clinically ‘perfect’ for want of a better word. I like my concerts from my favourite artists to be very good, as most do no doubt. But in this case I was leaving the door ajar, it is the way it is! I have always enjoyed in a manner of speaking, musicians making mistakes here & there, not too often of course! But as one fan posting here said, they are human after all! I have even heard Neil Peart from Rush make a few here a there, sheeesh Peart is human after all! Ha! You certainly have seen Blackmore in action way more than I have, good luck to you. Regarding Rainbow playing DP songs, I always thought there were a couple played at most shows, weren’t there? It is Blackmore’s history, as he said it will be a nostalgia trip. He is entitled to it. I certainly don’t want to hear any other guitarist playing his music. No disrespect to them at all, but originality is the key in my book! Cheers.
June 23rd, 2016 at 10:24So tired of people running Blackmore down, this guy who reviewed the show must be a Gillan relation. Bottom line, the man can still play,and as mentioned above, the current DP touring band wouldn’t exist had Blackmore not been involved. People like the Hero need to give it a break already. This is not 1976 anymore, just seeing arguably one of the most influential guitarists play HIS music is incredible.
June 23rd, 2016 at 12:09Yes ,very strange indeed.Johansson is a great keyboardist ,he has that Prog/rock touch Rainbow needs… A very good choice in the beginnning ..So I can’t understand how weak his playing was.Sad to say ,but he’s the worst Keyboardist Ritchie ever had.Jens really looked lost and very bored too.
June 23rd, 2016 at 15:40Treblebooster says:
Of course if was not perfect. But it was great. Much of the criticism here relates to YT-Clips recorded with phones.
RV : Dont think so. And many with me endorse that opnion.
It is a lame excuse.
It wasnt great, thats you rationalising the shit out of it(cognitive dissonance theory).
I really helps if you were there!
RV : I ve read many reviews and also in those I found the same critcism as in the reviews by people not there.
The bass for example indeed sounds a bit groovy and funky on youtube. On location there was a thundering quality added. This combination results in my opinion to the best bass playing that rainbow ever had
RV : See above. Even people who gave me reviews who there said Bob was playing something was out of context, too busy, too funky.
. It’s the same with the drummer. Most people here seem to critize the size of his drumkit ?!?!
RV : I and other cricise his montoneus drumming and his weird hair do.
Well guys, I for example found those oversized machines of Burgi and Rondinelli quite ridiculous and the original drum sound of “Difficult to Cure” extremely annoying.
RV : I love DTC and many people do. Ritchies words way back just before DTC was released : “Bobby is like Cozy but more mellow”
Rainbow was never supposed to be a metal band.
RV : And it never was.
So, pardon me, I liked the rhythm section.
RV : Thats your problem. 🙂
Romero is not just quite good: his singing is a dream.
RV : Well, good luck to everyone who thinks so but I think you re wrong.
He deserves a truckload of respect. As does the man in black with his surgery, his age and everything.
RV : maybe. He waited too long, should have done this ages ago when Lordy, Powell and Dop, Daisley, etc were all up to it.
I wonder how many of the most loathful commentators play an instrument themselves. I do.
RV : Congratulations. I dont need to know who a bread is made , unlike the maker of it, but I can taste if a bread sucks or not.
By the way @ 38: I agree about “Smoke” and “Black”.
RV : probably the one point that veryone seems to agree upon.
It occured to me that the more bluesy and groovy Purple songs just don’t fit very well with the grandeur and majesty of most Rainbow songs.
That might be the reason why “Perfect Strangers” worked quite well.
RV : I read a lot of people that do not endorse your perception of PS.
June 22nd, 2016 at 11:47
June 23rd, 2016 at 16:41Don’t really understand the fuss, here is a man in his 70’s whose achieved all there is to achieve in music who decided that he would like to revisit his past a few more times before arthritis etc kicks in,so he gets together people he wants to play with and goes out to play a series of dates.
June 23rd, 2016 at 19:54So he could have played a bit more Rainbow ,or come to think of it a lot more Rainbow,but so what they are his choices its his band and thats really it,if you don’t fancy it then all fine by him I expect,
its how he always has been and will be until the final breath he breathes.
I am going to Birmingham ,purely out of nostalgia,this isn’t a new Rainbow and thank god there won’t be a new album as in all reality it would be disastrous ,but it will be a good night, to relive a few old memories have a beer and reminisce and see a legendary figure one last time do what cast him as legend in the first place,Long Live Rock’n’Roll and all that sort of thing…
It is curious that RB would choose to open and close a Rainbow show with Deep Purple classics.
June 23rd, 2016 at 23:56Also curious is that Whitesnake is currently on an Greatest Hits Tour ,which may be DC’s last….and it’s gone virtually unmentioned here.
Has anybody seen the WS show ??
I believe Jens & the others played exactly how they were asked to play, nothing more or less. The old days are long gone. YOU CAN NEVER PLEASE YOUR CRITICS. The only problem the critics have is the one that’s in their collective minds…. may the sky fall on their heads!.
If you want all that technical ecstasy of yesteryear, why not go and see a really good cover band, such as Demon’s Eye for example. Mark Zyk is one of the best purveyors of R.B.’s style that I have ever seen/heard (on youtube). Plus, they have Doogie!.
MacGregor @ 62 is clearly on the right track, a very stable mind!. Anyway, whether the word fan is short for fanatic, or more accurately, over obsessed nutcase, at least it all goes to show that one old man didn’t just sadly fade away without a single person giving a damn!. Lol. What a lucky bastard, eh!. Smiles to ya.
June 24th, 2016 at 00:33The band did look a bit stiff at times and Ritchie was clearly nervous. If you look at his left hand, the ring finger is still pretty swollen from the operation he had, must be quite painful and would have hindered his playing quite a bit. It would have helped if he’d waited until all the swelling had subsided, and also playing more dates would have helped the band to loosen up more. Ronnie sounded great (Dio would have approved) and I understand what some have said about a bit a Klaus Meine tones in his voice at times, and I liked the bass player (except for the trousers!). Ultimately, it is lovely to see the great man playing some rock once more. Be interesting to see how he is at tomorrow’s show in Birmingham.
June 24th, 2016 at 14:39First, huge fan of the MIB, Second, huge fan of the DP and Rainbow music. However watching the youtube vids, I have to say RB looks pretty uninspired and uninterested in whats happening on the stage and coming out of his Fender. The instrumentals seemed pretty standard, spontaniety was just not there and RB just taking over command of the stage with his guitar was light. Maybe at 71 that’s hard to do. RB on stage was always known for improvisation and unpredictability, these shows and his playing seemed pretty straightforward. Although I have to say watching RB fretwork on highway star seemed like RB of the early days. Romero sounded good, rest of guys mediocre. When your doing songs like Stargazer, Mistreated, Catch the Rainbow, even Highway Star, these are kick ass songs. The band and RB just seemed to be going through the paces.
June 24th, 2016 at 14:50I’ve been reading some of the reviews here, not all, but some. I think many of you got it all wrong. These gigs are about the music, not the musicians, except for Ritchie, of course, who was the originator. We all got to hear Ritchie play those songs, that music we all grew up on, again. Listen to the audience sing along with the songs. That is of more significance than whether or not one musician replicated the look or sound of a previous member. If you didn’t smile when Ronnie Romero acknowledged Ronnie Dio on the MoTSM, or if you didn’t eagerly anticipate hearing Stargazer once again, then you just don’t get it. Don’t criticize, just enjoy what is likely the last time you will get to hear the legendary Ritchie Blackmore play those songs again – polished, unpolished, different musicians, it doesn’t matter. It’s the music we love, and seeing Ritchie play them again (outside of the excerpts he does in BN) is what it’s all about.
June 24th, 2016 at 16:15AnthonyC @ 71- well said, excellent & you ‘hit the nail on the head’. Cheers.
June 24th, 2016 at 22:13@71 Anthony C, YES!!!…. at least you get what it is when so many others don’t. You deserve a gold star. Be happy & smiles to ya!.
June 25th, 2016 at 03:10I can appreciate Blackmore’s desire to rock one more time as he looks at his fellow chaps he has played with for a half century and sees age and mortality taking its toll. He sees the writing on the wall. But if you bill yourself as the headliner “Monster of Rock” show, you had better live up to the billing. In watching the videos of the two German shows, I wasn’t expecting a California Jam performance but, good grief, (1) put a tremolo bar on the Strat and (2) get away from that whiny, shrill guitar sound and jack it up to a “RatBatBlue” tone for your grand finale. Rated second show a B-.
June 25th, 2016 at 16:49@27 Ron, @63 Big Al:
Sorry to disappoint you both – the only DP-member I’m sort of related to is RG as I’m running his website. 🙂
I DID enjoy the music and the musicians.
What I DIDN’T enjoy was travelling to a RAINBOW show to find out that half of the songs are Deep Purple covers.
Would have been ok with me if the project had been called “The Ritchie Blackmore Rock Project” or something similar, but the way it was felt like Etikettenschwindel.
June 26th, 2016 at 07:57http://www.guitars101.com/forums/f145/rainbow-2016-06-25-live-in-birmingham-flac-253809.html
Like many expected the band is picking up steam.
Unbelievable that het lets people pay for rehearsals.
Another 2 DP tracks extra : Burn and Soldier of fortune!
Brings up again the question why call it Rainbow again?
I still think Romero is a limited singer although he shows some depth in his singing compared to thye previous shows.
His voice does nothing to little for me, sorry.
I still think Keith is a lame drummer.
Chuck Burgi who I experienced less than Rondinelli(I still do!) : all is forgiven!
Ditto for Mister Braveheart.
OMG, that ugly screaming for instance in CIT.
Mercury, my ass. He looks like Adam Lambert, I suppose?
I do regret about Birmingham, more songs, Blackmore more into it, although not like before those typical RB moments.
And the idea of never hearing or seeing him live makes me sad.
June 26th, 2016 at 09:29Soldier of Fortune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNbH7X6JOBw
BURN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8bCqQXLxfY
June 26th, 2016 at 09:33@74 Kenny,
I may well be wrong on this one, but I suspect that the Rainbow tag was not Ritchies idea but came from the promotors to boost ticket sales. The man himself would have probably been happy with a low key BN type of gig.
June 26th, 2016 at 09:52andreas, they weren’t ‘covers’! Ritchie co wrote all these songs, what it makes it any different to the current DP? It was always clear these were going to be shows covering his entire catalogue, I was at Birmingham last night and it was just wonderful!
June 26th, 2016 at 09:59There was some Rain, but there wasn´t a Rainbow…
Last friday I took the chance to see the return of Ritchie Blackmore´s Rainbow at the Loreley. Well, I should have known better.
Blackmore himself uninspired, slow, sloppy in parts, no fire, hindicaped, just going through the motions, the rhythm section laid back, more suitable for a pop band (Blackmore´s Night). Keyboarder pretty basic too. Add a underrehearsed set to the equation. However chilenean lead vocalist Ronnie Romero was the one to save it, superb voice.
But… in a nutshell: it just was not a Rainbow…
IMHO it was basically two problems:
1) Fitness/Health (Ritchie Blackmore): I get the feeling, that they cut down necessary rehearsals to help a speedy and necesary recovery of RBs hand after the surgery in April. Or, eighter they should have postponed the shows or the surgery, if that was medically possible. 2) Band (Rhythm section): The easy way was chosen here. when hiring the rhythm section of Blackmore´s Night. I am certain there would have been no name, but mich more Rainbow-a-like drummers and bassists in the NY/Connecticut area, who would have done it for next to nothing, and at the same time doing the Rising/On Stage sort of performing justice.
Which finally leads me to comment on the set list. Does a show by “Ritchie Blackmore´s Rainbow” (as the tickets and posters state) really need a blast from the Deep Purple catalogue with Child In Time, Highway Star, Perfect Strangers, Black Night & Smoke On The Water (I leave out Mistreated, as Rainbow recorded it)? And Burn & Soldier Of Fortune were also earmarked… I mean, why not make it something more interesting and special, i.e. play Rainbow songs rarely or never performed live, like Tarot Woman, Run With The Wolf or LA Connection? Need a ballad? Why not do Rainbow Eyes. Surely you can´t please everybody, but this set list with half Deep Purple songs seems really out of place.
P.S.: I tried to stay positive.
June 26th, 2016 at 12:58Expectations, Synergy, Passion ~ a huge letdown altogether. firstly, you don’t get a soda pop amateur to impersonate a drummer. his lack of imagination and punch mirrored a rythm section in disconnect. the bassist has a sound and dexterity that would gel well if the drummer and keyboardist were on the same page. its not just about a lack of rehersals, it lacked presence. ritchie may have had more to give but was not at his optimum. his guitar was equalised in a way that it sounded like it way beyond the rainbow. there are two major factors for such mediocrity: first, the rest of the band did not gel as a rythm section or as a unit reading ritchie. though Jens keyboard sounded right, he was not in equilibrium with ritchie. this was evident on ‘highway star’ and stargazer. ritchie seemed to be struggling in some of the solos and it was painful to see a guitar maestro let the shadow of the moon eclipse his brilliance. romero has good vocals but lacks dimension and soul. all in all it may have not met ritchie’s expectations either. as some has commented, this nostalgia indulgence may have come in a little late. i wish to thank ritchie for taking the challenge.Long Live Rock n Roll!
June 26th, 2016 at 14:30OMG! Genting 6/25 should SILENCE ANY Naysayers! Watching now…stunning!!!
June 26th, 2016 at 15:35Last night at Birmingham Genting Arena was amazing. Child in Time and Stargazer back to back. Spellbinding. I don’t know why people are complaining about the rhythm section, they were superb, maybe it is a visual thing. David Keith’s drumming was spot on for everything, he had the grooves for the Purple songs and the thunder for Dio era Rainbow. And talking of Dio, Ronnie Romero was simply stunning.
June 26th, 2016 at 18:18The only negative for me was the keyboard solo just lacked something, no doubt Jens can play but after a little workout with bass and drums it went flat for a few minutes.
Ritchie Blackmore showed everyone his brilliance this night.
Talking on the train station after to fans old and young every single one said it was quite possibly the best concert of their lives.
highway star had the best vocal part since it was recorded in MH.Thanx Romero!!
June 26th, 2016 at 19:19Scott W @ – But will it Scott, you know know as well as I do, that it more than likely will not! It is their loss though. What a nice way to spend my Sunday afternoon here in Oz, watching the Genting Birmingham concert! Kudos to the individual who filmed that from in front of Jens, decent enough quality & online within a few hours after the gig, brilliant, thanks for that! Nice to see Burn in the set & Soldier also! Nice to hear the organ & keyboards, much better! As we know, it takes a few gigs to start getting it together in many ways, not going to go on about it again as i & others here who don’t have unrealistic expectations, have stated that already! A cracking concert by the look & sound of it, only hope they filmed that & they release it. I couldn’t see any film crew though, bummer! Always better indoors than out in my opinion, I have never been a fan of outdoor concerts for many reasons! Thanks to the band & crew, I have enjoyed listening & watching online, wonderful to see Blackmore playing rock classics again! Cheers.
June 26th, 2016 at 22:16Hope you’ll forgive a silly comment, but…. I thought the show was great…. my nipples explode with delight!. 🙂 they were afterall Ritchie Blackmore shows & you all knew that going into these concerts. For those whingers that couldn’t hack it, well I hope some kangaroos come & kick your fences down!. Underground, overground, wombling free, the Wombles of Wimbledon common are we….!. (So there). Smiles to ya.
June 27th, 2016 at 02:08I can’t comment on the two German shows but I was at the NEC on Saturday to see for myself and can say it was a fantastic show.
Ritchie was on top form and the band were very tight being only their third public performance. Ritchie said all along he wanted to go and do a mixture of Purple and Rainbow songs and that’s exactly what he did and why not… he wrote them after all.
The rest of the band, being consummate musicians, were excellent and did the job they were hired to do.
The venue was totally sold out, there was a great atmosphere, and Ritchie was clearly enjoying himself. He played superbly.
We got a full 2 hour show and it was awesome.
If they do more shows next year as Ritchie said they might then great, but if not they finished in fine style.
June 27th, 2016 at 15:27Are Current day Deep Purple fans really not interested in Ritchie Blackmore?
June 27th, 2016 at 20:07A bit jealous as the Birmingham gig turned out (predictably) to be the best performance-wise and I went to the two in Germany. However, the electricity was such, particularly at Loreley, that it was indeed great to go.
I am not jealous, however, of those who always find something to complain about – it must be a difficult life, always striving for what can’t be realistically achieved.
I had not heard versions this good of these songs for ages, and I am grateful to Ritchie for having put together a band that does the songs fully justice. First of all, their predecessors were masters (Cozy Power, Ian Paice, RJD, etc), so difficult to substitute anyway, and secondly long live a lineup like this over one with a generic metal approach and a drum mega-kit to impress adolescents. This music has grown up as has Ritchie, and the newer interpretations would not have been coherent with a drummer that was hitting too hard or being too flashy. And finally: were 1995-7 Rainbow (with all due respect, and apart from Ritchie being of course younger) superior musically?
Finally, on being under-rehearsed: it is true, but: 1. you can rehearse as much as you want, when you take it to the stage it’s a different situation and it takes REAL gigs to gel, as anyone who has ever walked a stage knows; and 2. warm-up gigs were not an option…the first gig was on YT within minutes, imagine if a club gig with a small rig and horrid sound, done only for warm-up, had been distributed like that.
June 28th, 2016 at 10:09I’m happy to hear that the English gig was better – there is hope then. If Ritchie does something similar again, he should simply makes sure there is no finger surgery beforehand (half-pun unintended) and that the band has a chance to properly rehearse with him. I hate to see ole Blackers turn into a hard rock Chuck Berry, forever treading the boards with underrehearsed bands not attuned to his style and mannerisms.
And do get a different keyboard player! Everyone seems to be in agreement that Johansson was not in the Lord/Carey/Airey league. Even the guy who is currently with Blackmore’s Night would have been a better choice, he is at least an organic (in the true sense of the word) player and his solos flow properly.
June 28th, 2016 at 14:48mth @ 89, Well said!! And ditto to MacGregor and Blackwood Richmore in their posts as well! You gentlemen all have the correct level-headed perspectives in this matter.
I say to all naysayers, why not just be grateful that Ritchie Blackmore came back out for 3 nights, played some of his legacy songs from both his major bands?
Why worry about details such as of the number of DP songs in a band supposedly billed as Rainbow???
Why belittle the talents of the players who supported Ritchie on those nights?
Why all the negativity???????
Enjoy life! Let others enjoy life! Be happy!
June 28th, 2016 at 15:37As a fan of RB and DP dating back to the 70’s, it was good to see and hear RB lace it up one more time for posterity. Based on YT clips it sounds and looks like the Birmingham gig was clearly the best of the three. Even with that, if you take the best Rainbow tune from these gigs and follow it up with the living breathing DP you have a quantum difference in sound and feel. Likely the difference of playing together for 14 years vs. what, four weeks? Hell, Steve’s been playing Ritchie’s songs live longer than Ritchie has! Echo comments on the rhythm section and keyboards, just been spoiled by Ian, Jon, Cozy, Roger down through the years.
All that aside, we are all here on this site because of what RB contributed to Purple and Rainbow through the years. Nobody in either band is the same as they were 40 years ago. Neither are we. There were moments during Mistreated and Catch the Rainbow that brought me back to the live gigs from the mid ’70s. Good enough! DP & Rainbow, with or without Ritchie have been threads through our lives for decades. Thanks to all the boys for that!
June 28th, 2016 at 18:49Birmingham was a dream. What I heard from Ritchie was the tunes that he helped write being played on a Strat which is what they should be. To me, Morse doesn’t come anywhere near because he doesn’t use a Strat, therefore can’t get the sound. (Some will say that’s the point). So to hear Purple tunes played properly was truly magnificent and apart from Highway Star and Spotlight Kid which I felt didn’t quite happen, from Mistreated onwards, it was all I could ask for. Romero was stunning, such presence and control. If people thought they were going to get MiJ standard performances, they would be disappointed. Me, I was totally satisfied. I’ve given up seeing DP, poor set list, no spontaneity and having just listened to the Wacken and Budokan CDs, I can’t believe how pedestrian they are.
June 28th, 2016 at 19:52I was at the NEC and its was awesome. Yes the first show was rough and the band need to gell more, but the NEC show had so many highlights and on several songs Ritchie was ace and as for Ronnie and his voice, its very, very good.
Gillian cant sing like that anymore or Coverdale either. In fairness would anyone expect dudes in their 60’s and 70’s to be able to scream and roar like they did years ago. Dont know about Graham and despite all the hate that spews on here for Joe, he can still belt it out, as i suspect Doogie can.
But i think Ritchie made the right choice to get Ronnie in, his range was good to cover so many vocal styles.
So for me having seen him in London in 1995 and then this weekend, it was truly magical and for all the nay sayers and older fellas on here who are banging on about it not being Dio or the 70’s, grow the f*$k up and either get a new life with new bands or start being real about the fact the man in black has been doing this for over 50 years and we are very, very lucky to still have playing, be that in BN or Rainbow or whatever its called and i have no problem with him playing Rainbow and Deep Purple tunes at his gigs.
Honestly, there is so much snobbery on here at times from people its enough to make you sick. For those who are happy and not bitching on here, i say power to you and Long Live Rock and Roll 🙂
June 28th, 2016 at 19:56What a great night at the genting arena,great atmosphere beforehand around the venue and yes the gig itself had the odd shortcoming or two,but overall i agree with the Birmingham Mail whose review “Ritchie Blackmore Triumph’s” ,its a one off return after 19 years and at 71 he delivered a reminder of just how good they were ,the singer well there are many who didn’t like him ,but nowhere has Stargazer been performed in the last 35 years any better ,sure it would have been great for it to include all Rainbow songs ,but this was about the man and his chance to take to a stage and perform some of the music he either wrote or helped write and thats what he did.
June 28th, 2016 at 21:22And the drum kit seems to be irritating some people , well frankly the 99% of us who go for pleasure to relive some great moments from our past revel in the company of one of the greatest of any era it served its purpose.
I note that on the twitter page of “the backing singer” she asked teasingly,”if there were a few more shows in the future which songs would you like to hear” which seems to suggest that after the ecstatic response they got on saturday a return may well be in the offing, tickets should be fine to get hold of as well as all those who disliked the singer and the drum man obviously won’t be going ,and as for which other songs well my response ,
Kill the King,
Hi everybody,
I don’t want to repeat a lot of what has already been said. I also witnessed the Loreley gig, and felt quite disappointed afterwards. I didn’t expect that many Deep Purple songs, certainly not Black Night and Smoke on the Water!
I didn’t know about Blackmore’s hand surgery, but as a possible explanation it answers the question marks in my mind after the soloing of RB in the first two songs. In my ears he wrecked these two trademark solos. But since these were the opening tunes I still was looking forward to the next songs.
I would have loved a lot more from the “Rising” album, since it had been featured so prominently on the tickets / posters, therefore Stargazer was my personal highlight on that evening. To these ears Ronnie Romero is a very able singer, displaying his versatile abilities with such strongly differing songs as Mistreated, Child in Time and Stargazer.
Beside the overall unconvincing guitar work (all the solos seemed a bit lacklustre in retrospect) I was quite annoyed by Blackmore’s behaviour, directing the singer’s announcements, leaving the stage without checking back with his “bandmates”, returning again at the end for playing the SOTW Riff two or three times and hurriedly leaving the stage once more – leaving the band trailing behind, confused and abashed. At least this is how I saw it, it did ruin the mood of the evening for me.
The mood in the crowd was fantastic, which made the evening tolerable (Catch the Rainbow and Child in Time stand out especially). In the end I wasn’t so sure, whether it would’t have been better to rely on some old video tapes and memories instead of this “update”
cheers
June 28th, 2016 at 22:46Dear Friends Ritchie was there ata the stage in front of a big crowd that was yeldin Ritchie Ritchie Ritchie Ritchie Ritchie Ritchie Ritchie Ritchie Ritchie Ritchie Ritchie Ritchie nothing more import.It was magical.And Ritchie was happy,all smiles!!!!!Nothing really matter.
June 29th, 2016 at 00:19I think the NEC concert was the best of a lot of lives,yessssssssssssss
June 29th, 2016 at 00:27mtb @ 89, yes, I believe your comment is a reasonable summation of the trio of concerts. The old 1, 2, 3… and the winner is… well, basically everyone that attended the shows! That last show in Birmingham was like a welcome home to the conquering heroes, it gave the impression of huge group orgasm!. Youtube shows the evidence of that.
Now, you say that you attended 2 of the 3 gigs?, you lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky,… sorry, the record’s stuck, the record’s stuck, the record’s stuck, the record’s stuck….. & when my mind is clear, I can’t get no release. Smiles to ya 😉
June 29th, 2016 at 00:43It was nice to be there but Ritchie didn’t play Rock’n’Roll for many a year and it showed. They did all right, breathtaking it was not.
June 29th, 2016 at 07:47Thanks God, for these three shows!
June 29th, 2016 at 14:13Blackmore still has his sound and tone, Romero actually sings better than all other living DP related singers combined, and he sings those songs they way they should be sung!
On the other hand, I actually believe that the current DP line up should fold. Unfortunately, Gillan cannot really sing any more, while their Steve Morse era albums are mostly boring, and with no memorable riffs whatsoever. Steve himself, while technically brilliant, is too sterile, without a signature sound and in 20 years that he has been with Purple, he has not written even minor hits.
Mario @ 101, Now What?! was the highest selling DP album since Perfect Strangers in 1984. The cash registers speak for themselves!. Smiles to ya.
June 30th, 2016 at 10:07“Steve himself, while technically brilliant, is too sterile, without a signature sound and in 20 years that he has been with Purple, he has not written even minor hits.”
Unlike Ritchie of course, whose many hits with Blackmore’s Night have dented charts worldwide in the last two decades!
And Herr Morse doesn’t have a signature sound? I need to hear about 5 seconds of him to recognize him immediately whether with the Dixie Dregs, in a song with Lynyrd Skynyrd, in Kansas or Deep Purple. His style and groove is totally idiosyncratic, even the way he plays rhythm guitar. Perhaps you just don’t like it. Actually, Steve would have probably had it a lot easier had he tried to ape Ritchie more with his playing. That said, Steve is a quintessentially American style player and Ritchie a quintessentially British/European one so there are limits to how much they could emulate each others’ style.
All three – or four if you count in Satriani – DP banjo players had and have totally individual styles. I’m not even sure whether Ritchie is the most original one (he has never denied his Hendrix influence and his playing and sound certainly took a turn once he had heard/seen Jimi) because I have seen many guitarists reasonably emulate (yet never quite match) his style whereas I have to this day to hear a guitarist that could/can copy Tommy Bolin’s phrasing, tone, choice of notes and general groove.
As for memorable riffs and melodies: If the Ted the Mechanic riff doesn’t stick with you … Or the intro melodies of Fingers to the Bone or Sometimes I feel like Screaming …
July 1st, 2016 at 11:01Birmingham indeed seems to have been the one to go to.
Tracy, two wrongs dont make a right. 🙂
July 1st, 2016 at 22:30@102
July 2nd, 2016 at 22:36Sales these days say nothing. How many copies of NW have been sold?
Wonder how many of those marvelous tunes will be in the set when they release a new album
@ 101
July 3rd, 2016 at 01:51this is only your opinion and you continue to fall into that category of fans,that compare things and musician and having a mind set about the past and how the future should be.I know it is a matter of taste,but get a grip man! Really ?Gillan is 71 yo soon to be and he is doing a pretty decent job last time I checked,sure he cannot scream and hit those notes like he used to …but then again who is doing at his age?I know people will be split btw Steve and Ritchie,but it is totally 2 different schools and styles of playing….so enough with that! Go and listen to the old staff and continue the bashing,but this band is playing good rock n roll music and making some good music with the right producer and you are still talking about hits and singles?! we are in 2016 dude,the music industry is not the same as in 1970’s.Romero is a good singer,but he is “cover” singer to this point,as long as there is not new album,as rightfully some of my friends here stated so.So enough with the nonsense
@86 LOL…My testicles swelled with delight as well….He He…
July 3rd, 2016 at 01:58Being a RB fan I do realize a lot of the excitement is that ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ in the case of these ‘Rainbow’ shows. To put it in perspective though… I collect ALL DP related dvd releases. When a dvd features Ritchie I cannot wait to tear the cellophane off and watch every second of it. I still cannot get thru DP’s latest dvd’s all the way thru for some reason. Verona, Wacken, and The Rising Sun dvd sets still have all not been watched completely. What does that mean? I do like current DP, (‘Now What’ is great!) but there are hundreds of audience shot DP shows from the last decade that do not hold my interest for whatever reason. It must be the danger and unpredictability as well as the ‘feel’ in the way the songs are performed. That said, the Loreley gig is hard to watch for me…but what do you expect after 20 years.
July 3rd, 2016 at 02:10All of the Rainbow vocalists since Dio have been cover singers, especially Bonnet as he didn’t write any of the lyrics or music for DTE. Even Dio was a cover singer pre-Rainbow & he covered ‘Mistreated’ with Rainbow. They were all great singers for the band, so why are the critics bagging hot Ronnie & the boys?. Because certain masturbatory fantasies have been left unsatisfied?. Get over yourselves, hot Ronnie did a great job. Que sera sera…..
July 4th, 2016 at 01:17I would hate to think the first two shows will be compiled together for the dvd…I was at Loreley and though a fantastic spectacle and experience, the playing was rusty . I guess Ritchie annoys us once again by playing the best show at Birmingham but not actually recording it haha 🙂
July 4th, 2016 at 07:36Interesting range of comments. Having attended all three shows I don’t think my views would add anything to the debate.
July 14th, 2016 at 14:40Now listen to this:
July 17th, 2016 at 15:47http://www.radioveronica.nl/gemist/highlights/countdown-cafe/telefonisch-interview-met-ritchie-blackmore-van-blackmores-night-15-07-2016
At least Ritchie played his own songs, which helped make all other current and past DP and Rainbow members rich and famous.
Steve Morse has been in the current DP line up now, during which time he has not written ONE SINGLE memorable riff. Not one!
Ritchie can still play, and while not on top of his game, he still plays well. Gillan cannot sing any more AT ALL.
So, I would take Ritchie’s current Rainbow over current DP any day!
August 1st, 2016 at 19:21sinceramente,yo acabe de barro hasta los ojos,pero desde que escuche la primera nota de sr,blackmore se me quito todo,blackmore imprecionante,rainbow imprecionante,me merecio la pena viajar desde las islas canarias ,hasta alemania para cumplir mi sueño
August 1st, 2016 at 19:23long live