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Reviewed
by Steve Hough
I
am told that Rainbow Rising is the UKs only Rainbow tribute band.
Just
how true this is I don't know, but I do know that anyone attempting to
be a Rainbow tribute would need to be extremely good to pull it off
successfully.
Covering mainly the 'Dio' years R.R. seem to certainly
know their material, which they perform well and with competence.
Sadly the small stage did no favours for the sprawling five piece
outfit so their work area was cramped to say the least. The P.A. rig
was just about adequate but not really powerful enough to do the band
justice and the less said about the lighting the better.
The audience
turnout too was pretty poor (they should have advertised on the UK
RockNet Gig Guide! - Ed.), although everyone there, including yours
truly, enjoyed the music anyway.
I would really love to see the band
on a decent size stage with a big fat P.A. and lighting rig. As a unit
the band worked together well, the guitar work was too close for
comfort and the keyboards were excellent.
To tell the truth I was
secretly expecting the vocals to be a little on the poor side as I
rate Ronnie James Dio as having one of the most distinctive voices in
rock music. I was, as they say, pleasantly surprised! Vocally I was
almost unable to find fault and the bands cover of 'Kill the King'
sticks in my mind as one of the best 'take offs' I have ever heard.
The band, while excellent musically is without doubt more of a sound
alike than a look alike though, which in the case of the lead singer
is actually a bonus. I don't think anyone would really want to be as
short and ugly as the real R.J.D! |