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Rainbow
Rising Live at
RaynersLIVE, The Rayners Hotel, Rayners Lane, Harrow
Saturday 13th September 2003
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When I saw the posters going up for this one at my local pub I couldn't
resist going along for a laugh. To me, the prevalence of tribute
bands is a rather worrying trend, but I suppose that there must be a
market for it (a flyer I received yesterday for the 'Australian Pink
Floyd' has them playing the Royal Albert Hall!!). Having never
seen a tribute band before I had no idea what to expect, but was
intrigued to see how they would cope. Of course, hopes weren't
high- after all, how can anybody impersonate the 'Master'.
A surprisingly large audience had gathered, most of who were on the
wrong side of thirty (myself included!). Following Judy
Garland's obligatory intro, the power chords to Kill the King
thundered through the PA and I must admit to shivers down the spine at
hearing this classic performed live again after so many years.
The guitarist 'played' Ritchie Blackmore to perfection and has all of
his mannerisms down to a tee-not even acknowledging the audience once
during the entire show! He must have spent hours studying
videos: I was stunned to learn afterwards that he has never seen
Blackmore perform live. The rest of the band can best be
described as 'sound-likes', rather than 'look-alikes' - the vocalist 'being'
Ronnie James Dio (5 foot 4 inches), but he must be over 6 feet tall!
As their name implies the band perform mainly Dio-era songs, although
they do throw in a smattering of the better known songs from later
eras for good measure. I was surprised that they tackled the
songs in a similar vein to the Rising tour, e.g. an extended Catch the
Rainbow and a full blown Man on the Silver Mountain with a complete
rendition of Starstruck in the middle. They were certainly not
frightened to take on the challenge of the epic and grandiose songs.
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did -
close your eyes and you could be transported back over twenty-five
years and it was worth the entrance money alone just to hear some of
the finest rock songs ever written being performed live all over
again. The sound was quite loud and the guitar seemed rather
down in the mix, which makes a comparative assessment of the
guitarists' abilities rather difficult. However, I can only say
that they performed the songs superbly and are a highly competent and
professional-sounding set of musicians.
A lack of time meant that some songs were not included, but they have
an extensive repertoire and it's a shame that Gates of Babylon and
Light in the Black had to be dropped.
I guess that the amount of enjoyment you will derive from this sort of
show depends on how you approach it. Of course, we would all
prefer to see Blackmore blasting out these songs in a live
environment, but in the absence of that this really is the next best
thing. If you are looking to have your musical boundaries extended
then this is really not your bag. However, I couldn't help but be
carried along on a wave of nostalgia and with the aid of a few beers
had a bloody enjoyable evening (and I guess that's what it's all
about)!
If anybody is interested in checking them out they have a website at rainbowrising.net
Alan Whitman - More Black Than Purple
magazine - |
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