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Everything is on standby
Ronnie Romero is doing interviews promoting the latest release of his other band Lords of Black Alchemy of Souls Pt. I. During the chat with Italian Linea Rock, he was asked whether Rainbow is still an active band:
Well, we are locked down. We will see. Obviously, nothing’s gonna happen next year. And Ritchie and Candice, they’re really focused on the new Blackmore’s Night record. So probably if everything comes back to normality in the next few years, probably we’ll do some more shows. But at the moment, everything is on standby.
You can watch the interview on youtube.
Thanks to Blabbermouth for the quote.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Maybe it is best if that part of the Rainbow saga is put to rest for good! I’ve seen the relaunched Romero-fronted Rainbow four times. While there was a gradual improvement over time in their rustiness, a well-oiled machine they were never. And Deep Purple and Rainbow were always well-oiled machines. It was painful sometimes, songs being played too slow (when Rainbow of old had a deserved – thank you, Cozy! – reputation of hammering the studio numbers way too fast) or Ritchie even losing the plot in riffs and solos. Crucify me, but he can’t play the Burn riff properly and elegantly anymore. You know there is a Problem when Reb Beach no longer sounds hamfisted playing that riff, but actually months into unding better than Ritchie. (It hurts to write that, but the riff has become to Ritchie what the Child in Time falsetto screams have become to Big Ian.)
And watching Ritchie on stage strumming his electric guitar without a pick as if it were an acoustic one and he were backing his wife in medieval garb, I sometimes thought to myself about the Maestro: Maybe you just don’t want to be doing this anymore and it overstays its nostalgic welcome quickly with you, but then why are you here?! I can be scathing and dismissive about Blackmore’s Night at times, but at least he doesn’t seem out of place there. With the relaunched Rainbow, however, he often did.
And young Romero belting out those lyrics with very little nuance … I don’t know how you native speakers feel about him, but his apparent lack of feel for the English “langwich” pains me, maybe he’d be great singing Spanish. I’m sometimes reminded of my very own countryman Klaus Meine, vere efferyzing zat kännot be vergeben is hopefully vergessen, but Klaus at least sings/sang with feel, never mind his linguistic grasp.
November 25th, 2020 at 02:01I have done more or less all the Rainbow shows of the last four years and loved the experience, but I think Malaga was and will be the last and I think it should be too, unless a full new album happens. All good things come to an end. So many sublime moments from the man in black on many of those shows, but even a die hard fan like me thinks its time to hang up the boots to trying to play the fast up tempo numbers now. Songs like Mistreated, Catch the Rainbow, Carry On Jon, Soldier Of Fortune have been and can still be beautiful and dazzling, but the rest is beyond his hands and energy now. Your legacy is strong enough to shine forever Ritchie. Focus on the acoustic now 🙂
November 25th, 2020 at 08:41Better to keep the standby mode for long time.
November 25th, 2020 at 14:16On hold???? How about going into the studio and making a Rainbow album? You know, something NEW.
November 25th, 2020 at 17:50Tracey,
Ritchie would embarrass his legacy if a new Rainbow record were up against the latest Purple recordings. Whoosh and Infinite are both great records and I would bet any amount of money they can’t put together a record of new material half as good as anything on Whoosh….
November 28th, 2020 at 20:44I can still get Kebab and Kofta from my local kebab shop and nothing can hold me back.
November 28th, 2020 at 20:47🥙🥙🥙
Well said Uwe, couldn’t agree more. In regards to Romero, as soon as I heard him. same old same old, modern day rock vocalists are a bit like modern day actors, no experience in the Theatre. lacking nuance, phrasing, timing etc. They just blurt it out, so to speak! These official ‘tribute’ bands that are treading the boards these days are just that. Pseudo ‘Yes’ is another example, Steve Howe & his band of troopers imitating a once mighty entity. There are others also, I loathe it actually (can’t you tell?).
November 28th, 2020 at 21:58Ian Anderson also, is it his solo band or is it a Jethro Tull mimic?
At least Steve Hackett playing homage to classic 70’s Genesis, isn’t called Genesis! That’s the key in my book! I know the market forces sell a name, a brand! Nostalgia indeed, it can be nice at times, but for how long as the dimming light fades? I couldn’t believe Blackmore carried on after the initial 2016 appearances!
Oscar Wilde “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness’
Time Gentlemen.
Long Live Stand By.
November 29th, 2020 at 12:50bonsoir à tous ..à mon humble avis Ritchie est revenu trop tard à la guitare électrique vraiment trop tard…dommage car ces séries de concerts montraient sa déchéance et le fait qu’il ne puisse plus jouer comme avant!!
November 30th, 2020 at 21:00en conclusion il à trop longtemps fait durer blackmore’snight et à mon avis c’est un échec car que restera-t-il de cette formation au niveau musical dans 30 ans??? au grand contraire de deep purple ou le rainbow des années 70??? qui lui perdura dans les souvenirs….
Couldnt agree more. I thought it was fine that he said he was “doing it for the fans and for the money” as he was financially defrauded in the past.
The Birmingham gig 4 years ago was a real occasion. A packed arena for a return to rock at last. I could see and hear that people had come from all over the world to witness it. Ritchie pulled out all the stops on Stargazer, giving his all to a great solo (with shredding) and real dynamics from the band. I’m sure 99% went home satisfied. Ritchie handed out lager throughout and later, armfuls of T shirts, which he flung to the crowd.
I saw Rainbow again a few years later. The band were in ABBA style, good time, feelgood mode, which is fine but I want to see intense music played with intensity and you could tell the audience did too. I could see on Ritchie’s face, as they bowed out that he knew it had fallen flat. I’m not a Nationalist but some advice … don’t play “Land of hope and glory”, with an English flag flying at the beginning of a gig in Scotland and then pull on Scotland football tops, a few songs later.
I considered walking out, after the band thought it was hilarious to leave the keyboard player embarrased and playing his solo spot INTERMINABLY, (20mins) Result? The energy of the gig fell completely flat … no way to pace a premier rock gig. The final straw …. witnessing the onetime greatest living rock guitarist, substitute “practice scales” on most songs in place of a solo. Even a ropey improvisation would have sufficed or the album version.
I’ve seen him on practically every tour since Machine Head, 1972 and this was my first dissapointment. Yes they should do those planned gigs in Japan next year because the fans will be dissapointed if they don’t, but knock it on the head Ritchie if you can’t post anything better than (bad) 70’s pub rock on ITunes and call it … new Rainbow material. Failing that … cut the larking about, play these songs with the passion and commitment we pay good money to see, or pack Rainbow in for good.
December 3rd, 2020 at 17:46I saw them at Loreley in 2016 and the setting and spectacle upstaged the band ! They were not terrible musically by any means but the ‘fire’ was not there . Every song seemed to be slowed down to pedestrian pace . Kinda felt sorry for Ritchie as he was suffering from finger pain. Not convinced it would be any better with more powerful drummer and bass player
December 12th, 2020 at 20:29Kind of odd that a post regarding Ronnie Romero doesn’t make a single mention that — under rather odd circumstances — he has also replaced Joe Lynn Turner for the 2nd time in his career, this time in the band Sunstorm on their brand new 6th release, Afterlife. The five previous albums featured JLT who states the band was originally formed as a project for him, and after feeling they had run their course, isn’t happy they are continuing on without him: https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/rainbows-ronnie-romero-distances-himself-from-joe-lynn-turners-sunstorm-dispute-with-record-label-its-not-my-fight/
April 13th, 2021 at 16:47Geof: try this https://www.thehighwaystar.com/thsblog/2021/01/18/one-instead-of-one/
April 13th, 2021 at 18:49