The ever enigmatic Ritchie Blackmore rolled into my town today with his troupe of travelling minstrels. His destination was the newly restored Birmingham Town Hall - a grade I listed building, inspired by the Parthenon in Athens, that has just cost the City £20,000,000. Anyway, I digress..

Blackmore's Night is (I assume) Ritchie's end of career project, a band who have now been playing together now for a surprisingly long time. Despite their longevity, this was only the band's 3rd trip to the UK. I have been there to see them on every occasion, tonight (I just got back home) being no exception.

Anyone familiar with their music (and as Guitarists you really should be) will know that BN is Ritchie's vehicle for exploring the Renaissance flavoured music that his Rainbow and later Purple work hinted at. Some people have issues with this RB direction - no doubt hoping that he would end his playing days as full flight rock guitarist. But for me, a Blackmore fan of many years standing, I love it. And it seems that many other "Blackadder" fans share my enthusiasm. "Fair play to him" I say, he has more than earned the right to make the music he wants to, and to expect at least a sympathetic ear to his endeavours.

I have to acknowledge that his brand of Renanissance fired pop has split fans of the genre. He has bought that musical style to the attention of many that may not have otherwise known of it's existence, but he also doesn't hesitate to sometimes modify or even subvert the form. And that is a big no-no to certain purists.

Anyway, the band played just fine tonight, but being Blackmore, there have been changes in the line up since I last saw them. Given that the band has been surprisingly stable since the first album, I missed the 2 glorious backing vocalists - The Sisters of the Moon (perhaps they've been credit-crunched) and the original 2nd acoustic guitarist/bass player. Augmenting the band were the fiddler Gypsy Rose Leigh (an occasional member) and a player from 'De Guyers', much admired by RB and probably the current leading exponents of the Renaissance music retrospective.

In truth, I've seen Blackmore's Night perform more engaging sets than they did tonight, but guitarists should be pleased to hear that RB was displaying all his usual fluidity and showed off those lovely crisp legato European/Eastern scales that so jarred with the reformed Deep Purple, but which suit his current style perfectly. Hardly a pentatonic scale was to be heard all night. At times he was utterly brilliant. Clearly he remains obviously content with his current lot - laughing and dancing with his wife and singer, the gorgeous Candice Night (not unlike Stevie Nicks before she coked herself into oblivion). Actually, to see a smiling and joyous Ritchie Blackmore is still slightly unsettling even after all these years. And he did put down his acoustic guitar, mandola and hurdy gurgy, long enough to strap on his signature white strat and play a few mid tempo renalssance rock numbers.


We even got to see his and Candice's young daughter, Autumn Esmerelda Blackmore, when she toddled on to the stage and made a bee-line for her Mother's long flowing skirts. Oh how the ladies in the audience oohed and ahhed, in what was actually one of the most cynical uses of a child since American Beauty Pageants! But sweet all the same. Unfortunately, that event and a few other cheesy stage moves did rather trip the show into a suggestion of potential cabaret. Ah well, he is his late 60s.


Catch them on the current tour if they come anyway near you. You'll have a good night.. you might even become a convert! It was good to see Blackmore on a British stage again - he spends much of his performing time in Germany and Eastern Europe, where the band are hugely popular. And yes, he did play an encore! 2 numbers, during which he even pulled some renaissnace garbed people out of the audience and onto the comparatively low stage for dancing and general merriment..

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If Blackmore played the theme from the Three Stooges I would go see him. No matter what he plays he plays it good.

Yes indeed. And with the exception of the latter Deep Purple days, he has always played with complete conviction. As he did last night.

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!