Customer Reviews

Blackmore's Night - Paris Moon

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Once upon a crisp winter's eve, I stood outside a brightly lit theater in New Jersey, dressed in my finest medieval garb. A local approached me, and asked me what band was playing that night. "Blackmore's Night", I replied. The quizzical look on the person's face indicated to me that she was not familiar with the band. So I added, "If rock and roll was played 500 years ago, it would sound like their music... you could call it Renaissance Rock." With a look of understanding, the person smiled, and went on down the street.

Blackmore's Night has been the purveyor of "Renaissance Rock" for ten years now, and shows no signs of slowing down. From America, to Japan, the UK, Germany, and Eastern Europe, Ritchie Blackmore, Candice Night, and their fellow minstrels have been filling the night air with lovely music, new and old, original and borrowed, for their appreciative fans, and for all others, too. It is difficult to convey to the uninitiated what feelings a Blackmore's Night concert imparts to dyed-in-the-wool fans such as myself.... the soaring vocals, the exquisite guitar mastery, the love and passion that is infused into each note, all lending to camaraderie, good cheer, good humor, and an all-around joie de vivre that is poured out like sparkling wine at each BN show.

Paris Moon is no exception to BN's earlier labors of love. This DVD and CD combination was recorded in Paris, France, in late 2006. BN's earlier two-DVD release, Castles and Dreams, gave an inside glance at their enchanting castle concerts in Germany, with imposing walls and natural twilight furnishing the backdrop to their magical performance. I submit to you that Paris Moon is the "flip side" of Castles and Dreams. Shot in a lovely theater, Paris Moon's 20 DVD tracks are a musical tour de force... the spectacular cinematography, lighting, and sound recording blew me away; they make me long for the wide-screen TV and surround-sound home theater that my wife says I can't have.

With selections from CD's old and new, Paris Moon is sure to please long-time fans of BN, and is bound to create some new fans, too. The songs that especially touched me were World of Stone (with Joan of Arc as subject matter, how can you go wrong?), Diamonds and Rust (a cover of Joan Baez; Candice Night has made this song her own!), and Renaissance Faire (as an unrepentant Ren Faire enthusiast, what would you expect?). And for the Deep Purple and Rainbow fans among us, yes, Ritchie's Stratocaster was spotted on this DVD! He used it to especially good effect on Ariel, Loreley, and the intro to Saint Theresa. Ritchie also demonstrated his mastery of an odd-looking, odd-sounding, non-Fender instrument, known as a hurdy-gurdy, on the BN standard The Clock Ticks On.

This DVD also offers an insightful documentary of BN's Paris show, and an enchanting photo gallery of the tour set to Candice Night's rendition of Streets of London in flawless French. These were pleasant bonuses, not unlike a rich chocolate dessert after a fine gourmet dinner!

The CD with this set most certainly did not disappoint. It reprises nine of the songs from the DVD, and throws in two bonus tracks, The Village Lantern and All Because of You. I think the band gave us the CD, to dissuade their fans from trying to watch the DVD while driving down the road.

BN fans, buy this set to round out your collection. Everyone else, buy this set to start your BN collection. Or, come over to my place... as long as you bring some chocolate!

Don't get me wrong: I love "Castles & Dreams" and all things Blackmore, as well, but, dare I say it, I find this DVD a tad BETTER than the last Blackmore's Night DVD. Why? I think the main performance is more inspired and VIRTUOSO in its depth: longer solos and more keyboard interplay. Unlike the band Kansas, not having the violin does *not* detract from this band in the least. In actual fact,Ritchie's amazing guitar---and the other musicians, too---shine even more without the addition of a violin player. Particular standouts are "World Of Stone", "Fires at Midnight", "Ariel", and even "Home Again", a track I felt was cute but kind of lame on the studio version.
I must admit that, when I first saw the track listing and so on, without having viewed the DVD yet, I thought Ritchie and Co. were merely "biding time" until another substantive release was forthcoming (and, yes, I also felt, again without having seen the DVD yet, that "Castles & Dreams" HAD to be the better of the two, was more definitive, and, frankly, "why bother"?). I was wrong. Get this asap!

First, let me say, "I believe that Blackmore's Night is head and shoulders above 'any' musical recording artist of the past ten years!" I wish they would stick with renaissance flavoured music and leave the hard rock to a minimum! Granted, Ritchie Blackmore is a genius at his craft. The whole band is terrific, (Bard David, Squire Malcolm, Sir Robert! All the best at their art!) including the loveable 'Sisters of the Moon', and Candice is the best lead vocal in a generation! Perhaps had I not enjoyed "Castles and Dreams" over and over again before watching this performance then maybe I would have liked this concert better. But I am not a Blackmore's Night fan because of "Soldier of Fortune" for example. I am a fan because of songs like "Queen For A Day" and "Mid Winter's Night", etc.. That's what I and my wife truly love about this band!

I had the chance of going to that concert last year and was something unforgettable. Everyone was really excited and all of us enjoyed the lovely songs of Blackmore's Night. Their medieval melodies took us to another dimension and we fell in love with the lovely voice of Candice Night and the sounds played by Ritchie Blackmore. In this pack you will get the whole concert in a DVD and also a cd with some live tracks to catch the magic of the concert. You won't get disappointed.

I'm a fan of R. Blackmore for over 35 years. I was present at this show in Paris. It was an amazing concert and a magical evening.
This DVD perfectly captures the atmosphere of that night and the great performance of Ritchie (see Fires at midnight). You have to experience this show !!!!!

If you are a Blackmore's Night fan, I don't need to tell you that this is a wonderful and necessary addition to your collection. The show is completely entertaining - the music transcends and the banter is fun. Their DVDs (the other being Castles & Dreams) just offer such an escape that you yearn for more and more. Even if you are not familiar with this group, I believe you would completely enjoy the experience and be happy own and watch it. I do - frequently!

"Paris Moon" is Blackmore's Night's second DVD release, so it is natural to want to compare it to their first DVD release "Casles & Dreams". While Paris is a fine performance, Castles & Dreams is superior for several reasons. First, there is a better selection of songs on Csstles. Second, on Paris Moon the violin is missing. While many of the songs work perfectly well without the violin, on others it is missed (Durch Dem Wald Zum Bach Haus without a violin? That's blasphemy!). On Castles & Dreams the violin added not only a warm texture to a lot of these songs, but on Paris Moon the great solos are also missed. Third, there is nothing on Paris Moon which matches the energy and intensity of the last one-half to one-third of the Castles & Dreams performance where hard-driving, hard rocking encores such as All For One, The Clock Ticks On and Black Night had to leave the audience grasping for more. On Castles you could just feel the energy and intensity. On Paris that feeling is never felt. Finally, Castles & Dreams has an entire second CD consisting of background information, special features, impromptu acoustic performances and home movies. Paris Moon has very little in the way of background info but to its credit it would be unnecessary and redundant to rehash the same information again, so on second thought perhaps the "live" music CD is a good idea. For neophytes or casual fans, Castles is certainly the more complete package. Comparisons aside, Paris Moon is a good video in its own right. The sound quality is even better than on Castles, where the electric guitar soounded slightly muddy and undermixed but here is as clear as a bell. Highlights include the the jam among the bassist, keyboardist and drummer during Durch Dem Wald Zum Bach Haus, the electric guitar workout in Ariel, the most fiery and expressive improvised soloing ever in Under A Violet Moon, and the best version of Minstrel Hall yet to be performed, highlighted by Blackmore's interesting noodling and soloing in the latter half of the song. And World of Stone is beyond words. With the addition of operatic female vocals in the midsection and powerful, explosive, varied drumming, especially noticeable in the latter half of the song, this version has been turned into an operatic tour-de-force, a vast, expansive, room-filling epic, a mammoth progressive rock opus for the ages. Candace also sings majestically here. I cannot say enough about this song. It is rare that a song without electric guitar can send shivers up and down one's spine but this song manages to do just that. The only negative is that I wish there were more variety in the song selection from DVD to DVD. With 2 DVDs released so close together in time, there are simply too many of the same songs repeated. There are many great Blackmore's Night songs which many BN fans will never get to see or hear "live" simply because they aren't being performed anymore, songs such as Gone With The Wind, Catherine Howard's Fate, Storm, Way to Mandalay. Maybe on their next DVD they could release some footage of some of their older concerts where these and other songs from the past are performed "live?" And if performing the same songs, how about some completely different versions? For example, we now have FOUR "live" ACOUSTIC versions of Fires At Midnight: Two from the "Past Times" CD and one each from Castles & Dreams and Paris Moon. In the past some incredible "live" ELECTRIC versions of Fires At Midnight were performed; why not get one of these on DVD (just see the "Under A Violet Moon Tour" Video and you will see what I mean!).

This was a great dvd, however, I thought the previous dvd was better. The violen was not in this one and sound quality wasnt as good as the other dvd. The playing was great and the crowd seemed to really be into the show on this one. I would recommend castles and dreams before this one, but this is defenitely a must have for fans.

I'll keep this short and to the point. Go buy the Castles & Dreams DVD and take a pass on this one. By doing so, you'll hear a better musical presentation, get a better selection of material and all in all get more bang for your buck.

The band lineup on Castles & Dreams is superior to this latest group. The loss of the violin is quite noticeable since it hasn't been replaced. The keyboardist is left to fill in where he can but at the expense of not fully playing his own parts.

Let me just say that I am a fan of Blackmore's Night as well as a professional musician of some 30 years. Unlike the groupies that dress up as elves and follow these guys around the globe and worship the ground Ritchie walks on, I offer a blunt and honest opinion. Paris Moon is merely "awright" but Castles & Dreams is a masterpiece.

I am always amazed by Ritchie's talent in whatever he does right from day one or should I say sometime during In Rock. Paris Moon is a brilliant dvd given the fact that it is well recorded, video and audio wise. I enjoyed Castles & Dreams but I definitely give the thumps up to Paris Moon. The collection gets better. The electric guitar work by the master is undoubtedly the best part of the show along with the vocalist. If you are an RB, BN or CN fan, say no more. The truth is out there, complete your collection with this outstanding box set.