Diamond Gig Review
Rainbow are definitely Rising again
The Diamond in Sutton-In-Ashfield has always been one of the best places to play with a great sound system, enthusiastic staff and is well supported locally. The sound check went well and a nice balance being found which along with the guys being well and truly up for it laid the foundations for one hell of a gig.
Mick was living on his nerve ends, this is his local venue, plenty had turned out to support him and by 9.00am the place was filling up nicely – start time was delayed 15 minutes but at 9.30pm the band hit the stage to the sound of Dorothy telling us we were not in Kansas anymore. Two great sets followed with the first after the thunderous Kill The King being smooth and sleek ending with the powerful Mistreated. The Second began with Andy giving us a perfect and haunting into to Gates Of Babylon followed by Rainbows best power tracks and to add icing on the cake an extended encore demanded by the crowd. Feedback was tremendous with most only having one question and that was to know when the band would return for another show.
It’s hard to pick out stand out moments as the chosen setlist blended so well with something for any Rainbow fan regardless of era – they even threw in a couple of Deep Purple classics at the end one of which I’ve not seen them perform before, that being an incredibly powerful version of Smoke On The Water.
Mick needn’t have worried – the entire band played well but if I had to pick one member who stood out it would be Wayne Dorman. Wayne is his own worst critic but even he must have been feeling good afterwards – his energy was off the scale, vocals on pitch but the main thing was the way he took on the characteristics of the songs with a masterful theatrical performance.
1st Set
Kill The King, 16th Century Greensleeves, Jealous Lover, I Surrender, Love’s No Friend, Catch The Rainbow, Lady Of The Lake, Stone Cold & Mistreated
2nd Set
Gates Of Babylon, Man On The Silver Mountain, Still I’m Sad, Starstruck, Since You’ve Been Gone, Stargazer & A Light In The Black
Encore
Difficult To Cure, Perfect Strangers & Smoke On The Water
Thumping performance and it just keeps getting better!!
