Rainbow concert review; November 11th, 1977 by RicardO

The following is a review of one Rainbow concert, originally posted to alt.music.deep-purple.

From: mikekeo@concentric.net (RicardO)
Subject: RAINBOW REVIEW LIVERPOOL 1977
Date: 24 Apr 1997 20:00:41 GMT

RAINBOW LIVERPOOL 1977 REVIEW

Yes group it is time to sit and relax for another of RicardO's reviews.......Hey wake up!! OK. The performance is a really good one and the sound quality (for 1977 standards) is very good as well. Sounds like the "producer" was standing in front of Pilgrim Hat's side of the stage. The only bad thing is that it IS so old that the recording speed is slow and "wobbly". Oh well...on with the show. I might add that this review was written in a DRUG FREE state and therefore I am unable to provide youse guys n gals with the pre-concert ritual's that a few poor individuaL seems to think is SO necessary to enjoy a show. :-0

KTK- Well Sir Dio is in great form here (as always) and then that stupid slide solo comes in. RB...you are NOT a slide guitarist!

MISTREATED (this one)-RB starts the song off with guitar and bass pedal interplay and then launches into the song. RB does a somewhat boring middle solo but he really turns up the heat on the ending solo!

16th CENT GS- RB provides a really cool traditional GS intro and then goes of into some classical riff that I would love to learn! I believe it is the same one he did at Donnington with the Bonnet era Rainbow. The solo on this masterpiece is a cooker. Impressive! DIO IS JUST AWESOME!!!!

CTR-Fair to good effort and RB gets lost a couple of times here but gets back on track. He is really trying to get things in gear but seems to be having a problem doing so. There is a noise solo at the end. He must be frustrated.......

LLRR-Hey this is a GREAT version! Unique intro with lots of stops and starts. Good interplay between the band. Brilliant solo too. For a song I dislike so much live, this is a really good effort. Once again....Short Stuff (Dio) leads the crowd in a sing along.....

MOSM-RB does a great solo (seems like he is finally warmed up) and there is a guitar solo at the end. Good store licks and sounds like the guitar is going through the Blackmore Quality Control Test.... Oh WOW! YIKES! ZOWIE! I have soiled my trousers!!!!!!! This is the FINEST set of BLUES TMIB has EVER performed!!!!! There is almost a jazz inflection there as well! Who cares about SRV???? This is truly AWESOME and inspired! They go off and do some organ and drum jam here too and then Dio gets involved with some improvising as well!

KEYBOARD SOLO- David Stone is the man here and he does a BRILLIANT gothic style solo here. Very errie sounding and spooky! Just what RB likes I am sure. Anyone know where David is from? What is he doing these days???

SIS- RB unable to click here too. He is trying but it is just not happening. COOL synth solo and his style reminds me of a cross of Emerson and Wakeman. His synth playing is better than TOMATO's (but I do not think he can touch Jon's piano playing). Cozy provides a powerful solo as always.

So there you have it. I never thought to much about David Stone in the band but he was really brilliant here. Dio is a great front man and I think one of the FINEST vocalists EVER in rock. He can sing it all! This is one of the finer Rainbow line-ups! The crowd can be heard quite well during the quiet moments too. Some of which is quite entertaining! This is a must have for the collector. Let me say that the best source to find these kinds of things is record shows and Goldmine magazine also has ads for these from time to time. Good luck!

RicardO