Ritchie Blackmore’s RAINBOW – Live In Birmingham 2016 (2017)
For the past couple of decades, legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore has been focusing on his folk-oriented project Blackmore’s Night. But last year, he put together a lineup of RAINBOW to perform two shows in Germany and one in England. The German shows were released last year as the concert DVD Memories In Rock — Live in Germany.
Now, tomorrow June 9, a double CD of the British show is being unveiled; “Live In Birmingham 2016“.
This was the most requested show by fans to be released, because not only includes all the Rainbow / Deep Purple classics everyone wants to hear, but as well it was regarded as the best performance of the tour.
The setlist for the concert at Genting Arena in Birmingham includes classics from Rainbow such as “Man on the Silver Mountain,” “Since You’ve Been Gone” and “Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll” along with iconic Deep Purple tracks like “Highway Star” and “Smoke on the Water.”
The double CD set has performances of “Burn” and “Soldier of Fortune” from Deep Purple’s Mark III era that were not in the German shows. In addition to Blackmore, the Rainbow lineup included vocalist Ronnie Romero, bassist Bob Nouveau, drummer David Keith (Blackmore’s Night), keyboardist Jens Johanssen (Stratovarius) and backing vocalists Candice Night (Blackmore’s Night) and Lady Lynn.
Things started off in familiar fashion with the sound of Judy Garland’s voice coming through the P.A.: “We must be over the rainbow, rainbow, rainbow,” before this 2017 Rainbow show opens with… a Deep Purple song, the classic ‘Highway Star’. It’s an odd choice to be sure, but Romero’s voice stands out immediately.
Throughout the set, the elastic singer comfortably handles the unenviable task of recreating the voices, and registers, of Ian Gillan, Dio, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Joe Lynn Turner and Graham Bonnet: nailing it. If nerves were an issue in front of a crowd this size, it didn’t show.
Then there’s Blackmore. Inspiration can come from unexpected sources, and Blackmore has historically been content to lay back and listen for that opportunity. When it happens, it’s the reason that everyone is there.
Never a “safe” guitarist, Blackmore always searches for that new source of inspiration—even in a song that he’s played hundreds of times before. This particular evening was no exception. Four months after finger surgery on his fretting hand, the fully recovered Blackmore displayed a deliberate and melodic phrasing to his guitar solos.
“Mistreated”, originally a Purple song, perhaps got more mileage from the version from Rainbow’s 1977 double live album “On Stage”. In fact, most of the Dio-era Rainbow material presented here seems to use “On Stage” versions as a template.
But “Mistreated” has a deliberate 1974 “Burn-era’ feel, with Blackmore finding that sweet zone, and Romero rendering a Coverdale “California Jam” flashback, with crowd assist.
“Difficult to Cure”, the awesome instrumental title track from Rainbow’s 1981 is delivered greatly by this line-up. It supplied the intended old-school nostalgia, including a shredding keyboard solo from Jens Johansson.
A must for Rainbow / Deep Purple fans, “Live In Birmingham 2016” results also quite recommended to all classic hard rock fans.
If you liked last year’s release from the Germany shows, then you need this “Live In Birmingham 2016” as it’s much better in terms of performances and setlist chosen.
CD 1:
01 – Highway Star
02 – Spotlight Kid
03 – Mistreated
04 – Since You Been Gone
05 – Man On The Silver Mountain
06 – Soldier Of Fortune
07 – Difficult To Cure (Beethoven’s Ninth)
08 – Catch The Rainbow
CD 2:
01 – Perfect Strangers
02 – Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll
03 – Child In Time
04 – Stargazer
05 – Black Night / Woman From Tokyo
06 – Burn
07 – Smoke On The Water
Ritchie Blackmore (guitar)
Ronnie Romero (vocals)
David Keith (drums)
Bob Nouveau (bass)
Jens Johansson (keyboards)
Candice Night, Lady Lynn (backing vocals)
PRE ORDER:
www.amazon.de/Live-Birmingham-Blackmore-Ritchies-Rainbow/dp/B06Y21M3PF
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