I was just in the German town of Bietigheim-Bissingen to witness the resurgence of Ritchie Blackmore as a rock guitarist. It was the second of three appearences, planned to culminate with a Birmingham concert on June 25th. The event took place as part of the Monsters Of Rock festival, under the arches of a long railroad bridge. Freight trains loaded with cars passed endlessly above us, as if to remind us that yes, Germany produces a lot of cars. I guess I knew already, but still I was quite impressed. A strange choice of venue, that Bietigheim viaduct, as this open air place is only quasi-famous for the so-called Bietigheim Horse Market, one of Oktoberfest's smaller-sibling beer festivals. It was as if Blackmore needed to do it somewhere out of the way to avoid publicity in case the concert proved to be a total disaster. Well, if that was his intention, he succeeded only too well. Our small company must have been the only ones crazy enough to dare the elements of nature and drive 700km away through rain and storm (sounds like a Dio lyric, but it's true nevertheless) to witness the new Rainbow. The muddy festival ground held a few thousand pretzel-munching beer-slugging aging rockers from the nearby villages. Maybe some had come all the way from the closest big city, Stuttgart. The place wasn't exactly suitable for a big rock festival either, and it reeked of a combination of dung and grilled bratwurst - so if you weren't there you haven't exactly missed much. Unless, that is, you're a Classic Rock fan who grew up listening to Deep Purple and Rainbow. In which case, you'll be glad -excited even- to learn that Ritchie is back! 20 years of absence from rock haven't diminished his ability to play the electric guitar! So what if he looks like an aging 16th century pilgrim?
He's been playing lord of the castle for 20 years, the man doesn't have any normal clothes anymore, give him a break! To prove he's still the same old Ritchie he opened with Highway Star and his famous trademark solo. Then he went on with a perfectly executed mix of Deep Purple and Rainbow classics. New singer Ronnie Romero was a real revelation too, a spectacular talent reminiscent of Ronnie James Dio and, at times, Freddie Mercury. The rest of the players ranged from plain good (keyboards) to average (bass, drums) to non-existent (wifey Candice and the other back-up singer were barely audible). Despite that fact, they played Deep Purple songs with more urgency than the current touring version of Purple. As for the Rainbow material, it just hasn't sounded that good since Dio was in the band. A magical night for all involved, and the most perfect setlist: Highway Star/Spotlight Kid/Mistreated/16th Century Greensleeves/Since You Been Gone/Man on the Silver Mountain/Difficult to Cure/Catch the Rainbow/Perfect Strangers/Stargazer/Long Live Rock 'n' Roll/Child in Time/ Black Night/ Smoke on the Water. Beat this if you can, Ian Gillan & Co! 
...And after a few words on the latest version of Rainbow, we can focus on today's album, a live recording of the band in their 70's prime. Also from Germany, as there probably hasn't been a better documented Rainbow tour than Germany 1976/77. Shows were recorded with a live album in mind and indeed some of that material was used for the double LP "On Stage". That album, though, was heavily doctored in studio by producer Martin Birch, who not only used material from different performances but also spliced songs together from various sources - so that the final product wasn't really "live" at all. Years later, whole concerts of that tour resurfaced, of which "Live In Munich 1977" was (chronologically) the last. It was recorded for the German TV show Rockpalast and released in CD and DVD form in 2006. The main difference from previous shows was that the epic "Stargazer" was replaced by the poppier crowd pleaser "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll". Right from the beginning, another difference becomes evident: "Kill The King" is faster and much more aggressive from the "On Stage" version - it feels like we're witnessing the birth of power metal. This is followed by Deep Purple's "Mistreated". A heavy blues a la Zeppelin, at 11 minutes it allows Blackmore to showcase both his heavy and sensitive side, with long expressive blues solos in the middle. Dio's performance may be a bit over the top though, as he substitutes original singer Coverdale's pure emotion with heroic pomp. The 3-minute baroque intro to "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" presages Blackmore's later fascination with Renaissance music. Then it's back to heavy metal, with everyone giving their best: Dio and Blackmore, of course, but also Cozy Powell on drums who's fantastic throughout the whole show. The studio version of "Catch The Rainbow" was a (gorgeous) 5-minute ballad. Here the 5-minute mark is just where Blackmore starts warming up. The next 12 minutes will either test your patience or have you marveling at the virtuoso guitarist. "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" comes just in time to wake the audience with its populist chorus which Dio sings along with the crowd. It's followed by another catchy tune "Man on the Silver Mountain". This is stretched to 15 minutes, incorporating jazzy solos by Blackmore and keyboardist David Stone and a detour into "Lady Starstruck" from the Rising LP. "Still I'm Sad" is a Yardbirds cover that graced Rainbow's debut in an instrumental version - a shame, as Dio always nailed it live. Above all, though, it's used as a showcase for the players' considerable instrumental talents. Blackmore, of course, shines above all others, but at 25 minutes there's enough room for lengthy solos by Stone and Powell, too. The proceedings close with a romp through "Do You Close Your Eyes", and no amount of intricate solos can mask the fact that it's one of Rainbow's weaker compositions. It ends with noisy feedback and Blackmore smashing his guitar. All in all, this live album manages to convey the band's energy on stage and features Dio, Blackmore and Powell on top form. It is, however, fraught with excess and should be approched with caution as the over-long solos will delight guitar afficianados but may bore less patient listeners. Lucky for them, the new Rainbow should be releasing a live CD/DVD of their hits-laden live set pretty soon. Sure, Ritchie isn't as fast as in his youth and Ronnie Junior isn't exactly Ronnie James Dio, but they can still wipe the floor with the competition!
**** for Mistreated, Sixteenth Century Greensleeves, Catch the Rainbow, Man on the Silver Mountain, Still I'm Sad
*** for Kill the King, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
** for Do You Close Your Eyes
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