Rainbow - Live In Japan 1984 (2015)

The date is March 14, 1984, and it's one of the more interesting twists and turns of the convoluted "Deep Purple Family Tree" saga, a majestic rock soap opera that has been unfolding since the early sixties and is still going strong to the present day.
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow are playing live for the second night in a row at Tokyo's prestigious, 14500-capacity Budokan hall, scene of some of rock's most memorable live engagements (and recordings) over the decades, starting with the Beatles' first (and only) Japanese dates in 1966.
Japan has always been one of Ritchie's strongholds, he's always been revered there as the rock God he is, so there's nothing unusual about his band headlining such a big arena - what IS unusual is that at this point in time he is active as the guitar player of both Rainbow AND Deep Purple.
Explanations are in order: by March 1984, the long-awaited Purple reunion is agreed upon, handshakes and contracts firmly in place, albeit not yet announced to the public. Rainbow, on the other hand, are in effect put on ice, but there's the matter of three final Japanese dates to be honoured, one in Osaka on March 11 and the two Budokan gigs on March 13 and 14. And, even though Blackmore was effectively at the end of the Rainbow and his heart set on the next chapter, honour these dates he does, with some spectacular playing and showmanship.
A similar thing had happened in spring 1975, with Rainbow Mk.l having already been formed, but Blackmore playing some final European dates with the then current incarnation of Deep Purple, and again in November 1993, the man in black out of Purple for the final time and already thinking about the next version of Rainbow, yet playing some fiery guitar in Scandinavia. Confused? You will be…
Back to March 1984 at the Budokan, Ritchie is heading the last Rainbow lineup, completed by the Renaissance man Roger Glover on bass, David Rosenthal on keys, Chuck Burgi on drums and Joe Lynn Turner on vocals. Now, Rainbow fans may argue on who was the best singer for Rainbow until the cows come home, and it's really a matter of personal taste, but the fact remains that Turner has been the most versatile of them all, being able to handle songs from both the Dio and Bonnet eras with ease as well as his own recorded contributions. Here, as in every gig during Rainbow's final few years, he's assisted by the delectable Dee Beale and Lin Robinson on backing vocals.
The set list is naturally focused on the Joe Lynn Turner era of the band, with 12 out of 17 songs taken from the "Difficult to Cure", "Straight Between The Eyes" and the then current "Bent Out Of Shape" albums.
It wouldn't have been a proper Rainbow show without nods to Dio-powered songs like "Catch The Rainbow" and the Bonnet-era hits "Since You Been Gone" and "All Night Long" (including, for topical reasons obviously, a snippet of "Woman From Tokyo"). And it wouldn't have been a proper Blackmore show without a bit of "Lazy" and the obligatory closer, an almost free-form version of "Smoke On The Water". They are all here. Along with those mainstays of the 80's double-live album, guitar, keyboard and drum solos.
If one were to pick highlights, the sensitive, "Greensleeves" - interpolating intro to "Catch The Rainbow" comes to mind, along with an amazing long solo in "I Surrender", the explosive "Spotlight Kid", the frenetic "Death Alley Driver" - I could go on but there's no point, the whole show is a highlight, it's one of THOSE nights for Blackmore, he is enjoying himself, having fun and playing some of the most fluid, fast, precise guitar of his career, inspiring the band to a tight, energetic, lively performance, even more amazing considering that they hadn't played together since the 1983 US tour, over four months earlier.
Special mention must be made to the centrepiece of the show, "Difficult To Cure (Beethoven's Ninth)", performed alongside a full symphony orchestra conducted by Takashi Hiroi. In a contemporary interview, Blackmore said that he'd enjoyed playing the specific track very much, having commissioned keyboard player David Rosenthal to write and score a whole new part to compliment the orchestra's involvement. Rumour has it that the orchestra's involvement was the Japanese Procter's idea, trying to entice Blackmore to do the shows, as he was supposedly having second thoughts about continuing with Rainbow while the Deep Purple reunion was on the cards.
In any case, the moment the rainbow-coloured lights reveal the orchestra is spine-tingling, and it only gets better from then on. Surely a performance that merits a place in any Rainbow "best of" compilation.
Speaking of which, this version of "Spotlight Kid" was the only excerpt from this show to be released officially on audio, back in 1986, on the double-LP compilation "Finyl Vinyl". The whole show was taped and filmed, but only released on (slightly edited) videotape in Japan in July 1984, titled "Japan Tour 1984".
Polydor, the band's record label at the time, sat on the tapes on purpose, avoiding the release of a live album presumably not wishing to clash with the upcoming Deep Purple album, also on the same label.
Two more songs from the soundtrack appeared on a 2014 Rainbow box set, but this is the first time the full show appears officially, taken from the original master video tapes, in a sonic and visual remaster that benefits from state of the art technology.
Alongside the show itself, this disc includes a short, funny contemporary interview, presumably done for Japanese TV, showcasing the band minus Ritchie, strangely enough…
It's a must-have for every Rainbow and Ritchie Blackmore fan, seeing as it's the band's final concert (before the 1995 reunion anyway) and a historic document, but also a great show, one of the best the band's particular incarnation has ever played.
A few weeks later, the Deep Purple reunion was officially announced by the late Tommy Vance on the BBC, and consequently Rainbow had to come to the, er, end of the rainbow. But what a way to go!
And don't the white Marshall stacks look nice, matching Roger's dapper suit?

~ Stathis Panagiotopoulos

Tracklist:

1 INTRO
2 SPOTLIGHT KID
Ritchie Blackmore / Roger Glover
3 MISS MISTREATED
David Rosenthal / Ritchie Blackmore / Joseph Linquito
4 I SURRENDER
Russell Ballard
5 CANT HAPPEN HERE
Ritchie Blackmore / Roger Glover
6 CATCH THE RAINBOW
Ritchie Blackmore / Ronnie Dio
7 POWER
Ritchie Blackmore / Roger Glover / Joseph Linquito
8 KEYBOARD SOLO
David Rosenthal
9 STREET OE DREAMS
Ritchie Blackmore / Joseph Linquito
10 FOOL FOR THE NIGHT
Ritchie Blackmore / Joseph Linquito
11 DIFFICULT TO CURE (BEETHOVEN S NINTH)
Ludwig Van Beethoven / Arr. Ritchie Blackmore / Don Airey / Roger Glover
12 GUITAR SOLO
Ritchie Blackmore
13 DRUM SOLO
Chuck Burgi
14 BLUES
Ritchie Blackmore
15 STRANDED (inc. HEY JOE)
Ritchie Blackmore / Joseph Linquito
16 DEATH ALLEY DRIVER
Ritchie Blackmore/Joseph Linquito
17 FIRE DANCE
Ritchie Blackmore / Roger Glover / Joseph Linquito / David Rosenthal
18 MAYBE NEXT TIME
Ritchie Blackmore / Don Airey
19 ALL NIGHT LONG (inc. WOMAN FROM TOKYO)
Ritchie Blackmore / Roger Glover
Roger Glover / Jon Lord / Ian Gillan / Ritchie Blackmore / Ian Paice
20 LAZY
Ritchie Blackmore / Ian Gillan / Roger Glover / Jon Lord / Ian Paice
21 SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE
Russell Ballard
22 SMOKE ON THE WATER
Roger Glover / Jon Lord / Ian Gillan / Ritchie Blackmore / Ian Paice

Bonus:
- Interview

Musicians:

RITCHIE BLACKMORE GUITAR
ROGER GLOVER BASS
JOE LYNN TURNER VOCALS
DAVID ROSENTHAL KEYBOARDS
CHUCK BURGI DRUMS








All thanks go to tatuk