RAINBOW
Live In Munich 1977
Mercury Studios 2024
The formation of RAINBOW in 1975 happened because of a rift between DEEP PURPLE guitarist RITCHIE BLACKMORE and his PURPLE bandmates. Blackmore assembled RAINBOW with former members of ELF, whose music was produced by PURPLE bassist ROGER GLOVER and their connection landed ELF a supporting slot with PURPLE. Unless you've lived under a rock for decades you know ELF's singer was none other than the late great RONNIE JAMES DIO.
In addition to Ronnie James Dio and Blackmore, RAONBOW featured powerhouse drummer COZY POWELL, bassist JIMMY BAIN and keyboardist TONY CAREY. The lineup featured on Live In Munich is slightly different but as a fan you already know that. Rainbow On Stage was also recorded from this very tour. That recording has been heralded as one of definitive live albums of the 1970s.
This performance was captured live in Munich Germany on October 20th, 1977 and captured RAINBOW at their peak. The lineup for this recording featured a couple changes, the new members, namely Bob Daisley, bass and Canadian Dave Stone on keyboards. This concert date was close to not happening. If you know your Blackmore history you know that Blackmore was lodged in the regional jail while in Austria. The man in black had gotten into a scuffle with security who were pummeling fans within view of Blackmore. As legend goes, Blackmore spent the night in jail, he posted bail the following morning and busted ass to get to Munich. Blackmore arrived at the gig with minutes to spare and hopped right on stage! How's that for a story! The band and the gig's notoriety made this particular gig one of the most sought after bootleg recordings of RAINBOW's storied career. To have it released, remastered and in a package that includes not only the glorious audio but video documentation of it, is absolutely glorious.
While the track listing might be similar to On Stage, you could make an argument that Live In Munich is a 'better' live album. RAINBOW sounds tighter and Blackmore appears to be having a ball, which as you know the guy's emotions could flip at the drop of a dime. Perhaps he was appreciating his freedom and the enthusiastic audience. Did I mention Blackmore's fiery performance? This album features the usual suspects "Kill The King", "Catch The Rainbow", "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll", "Man On The Silver Mountain", amongst other RAINBOW classics and a stellar cover of PURPLE's "Mistreated". You can't go wrong with Live In Munich and the extras on the DVD are an added bonus to an already all-time classic live recording.
5.0 Out Of 5.0
