Review: Ritchie Blackmore – Genting Arena, 28th June 2017
What can be said about Mr Blackmore that hasn’t already been said ??
Last year saw his first live gigs as a Rock guitarist for 28 years and now, here we are again, 12 months later, playing to a sold out venue in the heart of the UK. Unlike last year where the Brum gig was the ONLY UK appearance, this year the tour has been extended to include London, Manchester and Glasgow also, the man is getting ambitious…..
So, last year we had UK Prog act Mostly Autumn as support, this year was rather more fun – SWEET, the Chinn/Chapman Soft Rock guys from the 70s, albeit with only one remaining original member – Andy Scott. We had the full treatment tonight – Blockbuster, Little Willy (no jokes please), Wig-Wam Bam, Teenage Rampage, The Six Teens, the hits kept coming – even a track from Sweet Fanny Adams. Nice they paid tribute to Brian Connelly and Mick Tucker with “Love Is Like Oxygen”. Their music might be considered twee these days, but they certainly got the audience up, dancing and in the mood for a good time so you can’t knock ‘em for that. In fact, Andy mentioned that they regularly sell out venues all over Europe and that it’s a shame they have to take their music abroad to get the recognition, unfortunately, typical of many bands and artists these days. At one point, he commented that he’d “had surgery on his left leg so he was drugged to the eyeballs, a bit like every gig back in the 70s!!”. A great sense of humour, harmless fun and a nice way to get the ball rolling.
The evening was running about 20 mins later than scheduled so even though RB was due to take the stage at 20.30, when a huge Union Jack filled the video screen at the back of stage to the strains of “Land Of Hope And Glory” we knew the band were on the way and so, around 20.55, we were in the company of greatness !!
With a set that ran around 2 1/4 hours we were treated to a “Best Of Rainbow & Deep Puple” including – I Surrender, Long Live Rock & Roll (complete with video accompaniment from Dio-era Rainbow, a homage to Cozy & Ronnie), All Night Long, Since You Been Gone, the inevitable Deep Purple classics – including Lazy, Child In Time, Mistreated, Black Night, Woman In Tokyo (shoe-horned into Man On The Silver Mountain), Burn and (the inevitable encore) – Smoke On The Water.
Two nice acoustic numbers with a be-seated Ritchie, some (maybe unnecessary) drum and keyboard solos which seemed to go on FOREVER, although interesting I do wonder if they were used as “set fillers” – Even so, I have to admit, being a Proghead at heart, I did enjoy the keyboard solo !!
I suppose it is fully expected that the great man would surround himself with an exceptional set of musicians so we had the same line-up as last year’s gigs – Ronnie Romero (Lords Of Black) on lead vocals, Bob Nouveau on Bass, David Keith on drums (both ex-Blackmore’ s Night) and Jens Johansson on Keys (Stratovarius) . Let’s face it, a musician with such a high profile in the industry ain’t gonna use second rate people to accompany him on stage and they certainly didn’t disappoint….
Solos aside, the guys did the music justice and with the mighty Purple due to hit the road this November, it will be interesting to see how they compare to these boys, a hard act to follow !!
At 72, Mr B certainly holds his age very well, but admits himself that after a long period of time ensconced in Renaissance music, has found it a challenge to return to the Rock arena. I have to admit, I’m not a big time fan of Purple or Rainbow, but TOTALLY acknowledge their place in the annals of Rock history and Mr B’s reputation speaks for itself – up there with Page, Clapton, Iommi, Hendrix and the like, I did notice there was the occasional bum note, but as a registered pensioner I think we can make exceptions, although I will say his acoustic work was flawless……
With Ronnie Romero owning the front of the stage, Ritchie seemed more than happy to take his place at the back centre and it was nice to see a man who doesn’t rely on hundreds of effects pedals to “enhance” his sound, relying more on his mastery of the guitar.
Ronnie was a formidable front man and it was nice to see some on stage humour between him and Ritchie throughout, although the great man did venture to the front to pass the odd drink to what must have been a very appreciative fan hanging over the security barrier plus an (apparent) interest in what tracks people were calling for, although I suspect the set was pre-ordained.
Overall, I suspect everyone left the Genting Arena content in the knowledge that the man still has skills and bottle to deliver the timeless classics expected from him.
Mr B, you were the shit and I suspect his return to the Rock arena will continue to excite, enthrall and entertain for the foreseeable future, Long Live Rock ‘n Roll !!
Click here for full gallery (courtesy of Billibee Creative)
