BLACKMORE'S NIGHT
27.09.01, Swansea, Wales, UK.
Grand Theatre

Kevin Dixon, haydncorelli@hotmail.com
alt.music.deep-purple



      It’s raining, it’s Wales and all the signs look like a bad hand at scrabble. There is a local TV crew going around filming things. Somehow we all get our chance at fame, and they interview us prior to the show. Although quite what they made of Callum’s accent......anyway on with the show.
      Shadow of the Moon kicks off proceedings, and Ritchie plays a wonderful solo during the song. Not to be outdone Chris responds with a fine solo intro to Morning Star. Minstrel Hall is superb once again, every night Ritchie has taken this song and somehow played a different intro piece each time. You can only watch in awe at times like this.
      For some reason Times is dropped, not sure why, maybe they just forgot to play it. I get another name check prior to a boisterous version of Violet Moon. 16th Century Greensleeves and Soldier of Fortune are warmly appreciated by the audience. Bach Haus ends with the usual interplay between Ritchie and Chris, and as usual much humour is evident.
      These two seem to interact exceptionally well, something that was really obvious tonight. Fires at Midnight, and once again we get an electric solo. Chris plays his solo, before a short duet with Ritchie. The guitarist then adopts the Catch the Rainbow approach to the solo again, every night this is getting better and better. Slight echo, gentle playing leading up to the climax of the song, wonderful to watch and listen to. The electric version of Storm was brought back into the set, and again is stunning. The sheer power of the song when performed this way, really helps you to visualise the theme of the song.
      Home Again, sing-a-long, excellent version. Even Ritchie seems impressed. He plays the tune on his Mandolla, before going into Past Times. Tonight this song is played really well, with Candice and Vita providing excellent harmonies.
      Following Possum, Candice warns us of yet another curfew, and they finish the set with Renaissance Faire. Returning to play I Still Remember and an aggressive Writing on the Wall, everyone thought that was it. Ritchie, however had other ideas. At first I thought he was going to do Temple of the King, but then it quickly changed into Hey Joe. The band joined in, Sir Robert took the vocal duties and Ritchie delivered another great solo.
      Certainly an unusual song to end an excellent show with and one I have not heard him do in many years.    ^{WWW . DEEP-PURPLE . RU}