New Shockwaves Skullsessions Podcast episode is now online and features renowned metal Journalist/Author Martin Popoff along with Swedish Viking Tobe Baad as the two discuss, deliberate and dispute over the extensive Ritchie Blackmore’s RAINBOW album Catalog.
Following last month’s tragic incident and the subsequent temporary closure of the main area outside the venue, RITCHIE BLACKMORE’S RAINBOW has announced that the show on Thursday 22 June 2017 is unfortunately no longer able to take place at Manchester Arena.
Other shows on Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow tour are not affected and will continue as planned, including London’s The O2 (Stone Free Festival) on Sat 17 June, Glasgow The SSE Hydro on Sun 25 June and Birmingham Genting Arena on Wed 28 June.
From Rainbow – “Ritchie, all band members and management are sorry that this tragedy has occurred. Our heartfelt sympathy to all victims and everyone in Manchester”.
The promoter and venue are posting information today where fans can secure refunds.
Later today a ticket link will be provided on promoters site and our FB site to those who purchased tickets for Manchester Arena concert where they can obtain a refund and get. special information regarding remaining Rainbow concerts.
Following the success of last years return to rock, playing two shows in Germany and just one in the UK, it seems that guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore will be back with RAINBOW to play four UK shows in 2017.
Though not officially announced as yet, the venue websites all have dates and booking information displayed. Tickets are due to gon sale on Thursday 8th December. The dates and venues are as follows:
According to the above websites, the band line-up will be the same as last year, with Bob Nouveau on bass, Blackmore Nights’ drummer David Keith, Stratovarius’s keyboardist Jens Johansson and LORDS OF BLACK singer, Ronnie Romero. Support will come from MOSTLY AUTUMN again.
RAINBOW formed in 1975, and had a variety of line-ups, with Blackmore as the only consistent member. The band has sold over 28 million albums worldwide, had hit singles, such as ‘All Night Long’, and ‘Since You Been Gone’, and were ranked No. 90 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. The band disbanded in 1984, only to reform again between 1993-1997.
The return of Ritchie Blackmore and Rainbow to the rock stage was absolutely the biggest phenomenon of 2016 in the rock music world. Three shows were enough to create a tsunami of comments, rumours and reactions from fans in the real world and also on social media. It continued with successful performances by the band on stage, which stunned the eyes and blew the minds. Then there was a plethora of photos and videos taken by the audience from everywhere, which bombarded the cyber world, showing how excited and happy they were. But, there was a man who if he was not the luckiest, then he was the most excited one for sure.
On the last show which was in Birmingham UK, Ritchie Blackmore, who almost everybody including myself knows him as a legend, laid down on stage and passed a glass of beer to one of the audience members, not once, but twice. This occurrence wasn’t ignored by the cameras and we mentioned this on Metal Shock Finland.
We had no idea that it was the same man who received both beers, but he found our article and commented under the related video. So we checked the evidence and as I am always interested in Ritchie Blackmore and Rainbow, I decided to contact the lucky man, Lorenzo Gonzalez and asked for an interview. He was definitely excited and accepted my suggestion. So we had a meeting on Skype and discussed about that experience. If you are interested as well, I suggest you to check out this conversation on the YouTube player below:
Interview By Alison Booth
Only four months have passed since my first interview with vocalist Ronnie Romero, but so much has happened during that time! Last year, Ronnie (also of LORDS OF BLACK) was announced as the singer for the all new Ritchie Blackmore’s RAINBOW to play three live shows, which as we all know took place last month in Germany and the UK (review here). Ritchie Blackmore‘s return to rock seems to have been a resounding success, so I wanted to find out more from Ronnie and catch up with him and his thoughts, now the shows are completed. Check out a few excerpts written below and listen to the full interview on the audio player.
At the start of our talk, Ronnie updated me on how he feels after finishing three huge shows as a part of RAINBOW:
“I feel like in a dream. It’s hard to assimilate all that has happened in the last few weeks. Not just living this situation with Ritchie and the other band mates in Rainbow, meet the fans so close to the stage and back stage and all the people going to the show. And then all these musicians who I love talk to me and telling me that I made a great job, it’s a dream come true.”
Discussing Ritchie and the band’s rehearsal time, Ronnie expressed:
“It’s amazing to see how he can still play guitar at 71 years old, he’s a legend. Ritchie is a really nice guy inside, he makes me feel very comfortable and all the band members, we have like a little family you know. Ritchie makes me feel very good, not just in rehearsals, on stage and this two weeks of tour.”
Ronnie told me how he feels about his performance with RAINBOW:
“I feel really good with my job. I tried to make justice, not just to the songs, but all the singers. I just try to sing the songs in my own way and my own style and I think the people appreciate that. I’m not just a copy of the other singers, I prefer to sing like Ronnie Romero singing those songs.
And I think the people prefer that, I think they don’t like seeing a guy or pay for a ticket to hear a guy try to sing like Ronnie James Dio, it’s not a good idea.”
Looking to the future and if there will be more shows for RAINBOW, Ronnie stated:
“I hope so, I really hope we can do some more shows, maybe next year. I have a really great feeling about the band and Ritchie is really happy with the results, he’s really happy with the audience and maybe we can make some more shows next year. You need to stay tuned!”
Ritchie Blackmore’s RAINBOW
25th June 2016
For more information about Ronnie, visit his official Facebook page here. The official LORDS OF BLACK page can be found here and the official website at this location.
The official Ritchie Blackmore Facebook page can be found here and website here.
Review By Alison Booth
Interview By Mohsen Fayazi
Ritchie Blackmore’s RAINBOW
Genting Arena UK
25th June 2016
Years have passed since I last went to a big show at the NEC, Birmingham, (I think it was MEGADETH in ’92), so what a band to make it back there for, arriving for the gig of the century on a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon, to see The Man In Black’s return to rock! The area was packed full of happy looking RAINBOW fans wandering around the Resort World complex, eating, drinking and watching Euro 2016 on the big screen outside.
Walking into the Genting Arena, we were faced with a great band playing on a small stage, going by the name of DAYLIGHT ROBBERY, with quite a crowd watching their set. After of course buying TShirts to mark this legendary event, we went to find our seats, on the side block next to left of the stage was a pretty good view. I hadn’t heard of English rockers MOSTLY AUTUMN prior to them being announced as support for this show, but they put on a great performance at what must have been the biggest show they have played. It’s easy to see why they were chosen for this gig, they fitted in very well with the whole theme of the night and went down really well with the packed out arena.
Slightly later than scheduled, at 8.45pm, the lights went down and ‘Land Of Hope And Glory’ then ‘Over The Rainbow’ started blasting over the PA, signalling the entrance of the band and guitar GOD Ritchie Blackmore! So many fans have been waiting for this ‘return to rock’ moment for the last twenty years and they greeted the band and of course main man Ritchie with deafening cheers as they launched straight into ‘Highway Star’, setting the excellent tone for the night.
Ronnie Romero
25th June 2016
I’ve known vocalist Ronnie Romero since the return of RAINBOW was announced last year and his work with his own band LORDS OF BLACK. Ronnie was a great choice to be the new singer, his voice is exceptional and suits all the material, whether it be DEEP PURPLE or RAINBOW. Ronnie is also a commanding front man and interacted well with the crowd throughout the show.
The other musicians supporting Ritchie consisted of Bob Nouveau on bass, David Keith on drums and Jens Johansson on keyboards, along with two backing singers, one being Candice Night. Even though I know all the previous incarnations of RAINBOW well on recordings, I had never seen the band live before and it did not matter one bit to me that there were no other original musicians playing these shows. I feel the band worked extremely well as a unit and though not very animated (except for Ronnie) that was okay, the musicianship shone through. Not sure if it was just me, but I couldn’t really hear the backing vocals much.
After a few DEEP PURPLE tracks, the band launched into ‘Man On The Silver Mountain’, one of my favourites of the show. Of course nobody could or even wants to replace Ronnie James Dio, but I’m sure would he have loved Ronnie Romero’s vocals on this song, absolutely excellent!
Ritchie Blackmore
25th June 2016
Let’s just get this bit out of the way – as we all know, Ritchie is now 71 years old, so of course combined with his recent surgery, has slowed down since the days of RAINBOW past! Personally, for me it was unbelievable to see such a legend up on that stage, it felt like a momentous and historic occasion where every moment had to be savoured. And Ritchie looked in fine shape, he made his Strat sing all night long! (no pun intended ;)). There were some very cool moments – not once, but twice Ritchie suddenly lay down at the front of the stage and passed a drink to a lucky member of the front row and we heard him speak just once, to introduce Ronnie. He really looked to be having a great time throughout, waving his arm sometimes. The only tiny criticism I have (which isn’t really!) is that he didn’t go to the other side of the stage so I could get a decent photo ;).
‘Soldier Of Fortune’ was another shining moment, full of emotion from both Ronnie and Ritchie, with the crowd singing along in fine voice. ‘Difficult To Cure’ was up next, followed by brilliant bass, keyboard and drum solos.
‘Child In Time’, what can I say, it was absolutely outstanding! Ronnie could easily match Ian Gillan’s voice, this song particularly showcased his amazing vocal range and he has one hell of a scream on him!
Last month we had a special tribute week to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the RAINBOW “Rising” album and as I had listened to it so much recently and gathered other artists thoughts on it, it seemed to make it even more special when the drum intro to ‘Stargazer’ kicked in, then that riff! A definite favourite of the whole show, Ronnie delivered the vocals with all of his heart and soul and Ritchie’s slightly changed solo was brilliant. The icing on the cake was to see this classic performed under the 21st century rainbow lighting rig, just stunning!
The night ended all too quickly (unfortunately without ‘Gates Of Babylon’, maybe next time!) with two more DEEP PURPLE classic tracks for the encores, ‘Burn’ and ‘Smoke On The Water’, I’m sure leaving most people feeling the same way as me – we would love to see more from Ritchie Blackmore’s RAINBOW!
Set List:
Recordings – Land Of Hope And Glory
Over The Rainbow
Highway Star
Spotlight Kid
Mistreated
Since You Been Gone
Man On The Silver Mountain
Soldier Of Fortune
Difficult To Cure
Catch The Rainbow
Perfect Strangers
Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll
Child In Time
Stargazer
Black Night
Encores:
Burn
Smoke On The Water
Show Rating: 10/10
Ritchie Blackmore’s RAINBOW
25th June 2016
Also, you can watch this short video below, conducted by Metal Shock Finland Chief Editor Mohsen Fayazi, to find out my opinion on the show:
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 