Customer Reviews

Live Dusseldorf Phillipshalle 27.9.76

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This remastered Rainbow Live at Dusseldorf is well worth the money. Everyone is in top form and there is even a version of Stargazer included. I saw Rainbow with Dio back in 1976 in San Jose and this set captures what I saw. But they played Stargazer back to back with Light in the Black. I even took some pictures which I still have. Great concert with everyone sounding superb, before Ritchie decided to go commercial. This CD is highly recommended from a Blackmore fanatic.

One of the greatest concerts that I attended ever, was Rainbow at The Berkeley Community Theater in 1976. It was between Fleetwood Mac in San Francisco or Ritchie's new band, as both shows were on the same night. The entire crew voted for Rainbow. This was a very wise choice by a bunch of acid-fried loonies...Rainbow, was THE show of the mid 70's that could not be topped by any other band in the world.

"Dusseldorf, 27.9.1976" is an fine audio document of the greatest version of Rainbow that stormed the stages on the planet in 1975-1976. With Cozy Powell: Drums, Jimmy Bain: Bass Guitar, Tony Carey: Keyboards, Ronnie James Dio: Vocals, and Ritchie: Guitars, this was the band loaded up with massive talent and showmen.

Dorothy tells Toto, that they are indeed: "Over The Rainbow", and then the band is right into a frantic version of the then un-released: "Kill The King" that would appear on Rainbow's third album in the following year. "Mistreated" The Purple classic is almost 14 minutes here and this leaves room for Ronnie to scream and scat while Ritchie explores some new and different places for his guitar to travel. "Sixteen Century Greensleeves" is: hard Dark Ages rock music, and again Ritchie is the key here with his amazing playing, this is what Rainbow is all about. The music is a marriage of old & new styles and it is fantastic to hear.

"Catch The Rainbow" could be known as this band's theme song as this epic showcases Ronnie's great vocals and Ritchie's soft and hard playing over the 15 minute ride. In the decade of the 'Big' song, this one was one of the very best of the bunch. Nobody could be dumb enough to cover this song, they would never come close to performance that is captured here.

"Man On The Silver Mountain" is by far Rainbow's most popular tune, and it's all due to that riff. Like: "Smoke On The Water", Ritchie had again created music, that you can't get outta your head. "Silver Mountain" earns the classic stamp of approval.

"Stargazer" should have been titled: "Showstopper", as that is exactly what it was. I saw the group play this amazing piece of music and the explosion alone made it unforgetable, but listen to what they are playing here. This song alone shows just how far head of everybody else this band was in the mid-1970's, another epic, that SHOULD be on every list as one of the best songs of the 1970's. Classic, Classic, Classic.

"Still I'm Sad" is Ritchie's nod to The Yardbirds, the sixties are transported into outer space by Ritchie's playing. I have heard the original version, but this is the way it is supposed to be performed, another execellent track and the closer to Disc Two.

These two CD's show the greatest band of the 1970's on a very good night. These tapes are real and un-doctored, {there ARE bum notes included.} and the sound quality is pretty good for tapes discovered almost three decades after the fact.

Rainbow, was a unique blend of fantasic music that was performed by masters of the art. Deep Purple, was a great group from 1967-1974, but Ritchie heard some different music in his head and this band achieved much more than Purple {not in sales or popularity} but in musical growth, Ritchie, had really moved onwards to another place from what had come before. The music of Rainbow, is nowhere near other music of it's time. Rainbow, was the Godfather of hundreds of groups that would come forth in the 1980's {some good, most bad.} To say that Rainbow was ahead of it's time would be a big understatement. For two years in the Mid-1970's, this WAS the band, The best band...Rainbow, great records and even greater in concert.
Just have a listen.
Four Stars !!!

Mike Brown does a great job with the mix on this Hummingbird release. I had about lost all hope of hearing a quality Rainbow live recording after being grieviously disappointed with 'On Stage', 'Live in Germany' and 'Live in Munich 77', all of wish I didn't buy (the sound being varying degrees of mediocre). Ritchie is in a bit of a moody, creative form here...not like, say, Purple's 'Live in Japan' where he tears your face off. Everyone's entitled to his/her opinion, but I consider that night's guitar-work quite satisfactory. The bass sounds seem enhanced, so I hear Ritchie's guitar as powering through it...not violently, but tastefully. This is worth your money.

"Light in the Black" is ignored on all of these live recordings? Such a magnificent song, equal to anything else the Master did, even "Child in Time". Some sort of in-studio gimickry in the song, maybe, not playable live? Seriously too bad........ such a great song.