Blackmore’s Night England - Rainer Klos Tour 2007

My wife Carolina and I flew to Stanstead airport on 11th June, almost missing our pre-booked train to York as the plane arrived more than an our late. An exhausting sprint through the airport got us on the train just before it left and after that everything went smoothly. We arrived in sunny York(27 ° Celcius) in the afternoon, Mostyl Autumn’s Bryan Josh picking us up at the station, Kevin Dixon and Callum Smaill also there to welcome us. After a BBQ at Bryan’s we went into town and met  the 2 Scots again, as well as Mike Garrett(thnaks to you, mate!) and Gothien. A nice evening to start our tour with.
The next day we did some sightseeing, as my wife had never been to the UK before and went to say hello to the Crew and the band in the afternoon. After a nice Indian meal we later went back to the venue for the concert, meeting lots of familiar faces. The show turned out to be an excellent one. Gothien opened with a set of about 30 minutes, nice authentic medieval music, with the two girls on different wind instruments, tambourines and vocals, the two guys on guitars, drums and vocals.
Then, after a nice melodic renaissance intro tape Blackmore’s Night hit the stage, opening with a medley of Pasttime with good company and Rainbow Blues, followed by Play Minstrel Play. For Under a Violet Moon Ritchie used his Lakewood Moon guitar, the first time I saw him play a real acoustic guitar on stage with Blackmore’s Night, all the other guitars being semi-acoustic ones. The crowd in the sold-out and steamingly hot opera house sang along cheerfully. Next a beautiful rendition of Soldier of Fortune brought everyone to an awed silence.  Durch den Wald zum Bachhaus now features the keyboard solo, as no violin player is in the band at present.
Now it was time for a track from The Village Lanterne: World of Stone, in a slow version, building up in a dramatic way to the climax of the song – a lot better than 2 years back, when they first tried it out! This was followed by the Mond Tanz/ Child in Time medley, which never fails to delight the audience.  Diamonds and Rust showed how wonderfully melancholy Candice can sing, it is just great to hear her performance on this.
Now time for another keyboard solo, leading into Ariel. The crowd cheered perceptively when the Strat came out, and the performace was great. The solo was predominantly played with the slide, but with such a lot of feeling, absolutely haunting! A superb rendition of the song. The Strat remained around Ritchie’s neck, as the next song was All for one, another one that got the crowd going, despite the excessive heat.
Back to a quiet song: Wind in the willows was next in the set, people singing along. The audience was great throughout the show, which resulted in Ritchie being in a good playing mood. He feeds of the audience. Home again got everyone of their seats, though there was no space for the usual dancing. Fires at midnight featured an amazing guitar solo, this alone was worth all the travel from Germany! The main set ended with Renaissance faire, I Still Remember and the Clock Ticks On, the latter as now usal starting with Ritchie on the hurdy gurdy. Still remember always moves me a lot, it is still (one of) my favourite Blackmore’s Night song(s).
The audience loudly shouted for more, singing the well-known “Black Night” melody. Thus Ritchie chose to give an encore with the Strat.
Difficult to cure/St Theresa were followed by Ritchie’s Blues, very nice to get a rendition of this-maybe Baron St James can ad-lib a few vocals over it next time?. Black Night was the next encore, with Candice and Baron St James sharing vocal duties. The riff of Woman from Tokyo was followed by Smoke on the Water, ending with the crowd singing along. The band had already played about 10 minutes over the curfew, so there were no more songs to come, but I should guess everybody left the opera house satisfied that night. About 2 hours and 20 minutes, if I recall correctly, of great music.
After a bit more sightseeing in York the next day it was time to say goodbye to the Mostly Autumn camp and set off for an evening in Chester, enjoying a drive along congested and rainy motorways. Thanks to Pete for all the excellent driving and his hospitality! Thursday morning we were on our way to Reading, to witness what would turn out to be the shortest Blackmore’s Night show I remember. 65-70 minutes, I jokingly said they’d come back to play the other half of the show another day. But apparently the manager of the Hexagon was responsible for the way things turned out. But the other shows made up for this one(and my wife had an e-mail from a girl who had been there who told her she loved the show, albeit it being a bit short). Back to Chester the next day, with Kev and Callum in their car following us. Due to very heavy traffic and torrential rain we arrived fairly late, so the sightseeing in Chester had to be done the second day. A nice town with old roman town walls and a rip-off Cathedral- I am not willing to pay money to enter a church, but in this regard the British seem to have perfected the tourist rip-off;-)
The Birmingham show Turned out to be twice as long and twice as good as the Reading one. I met Don Airey before the show and according to what he said after the show he seemed to have enjoyed it. Once again Ariel and Fires were outstanding performances and it was nice to hear them do Village Lanterne and a haunting version of Ghost of a Rose. Next day back to Chester, after having said our goodyes to the Scottish lads-thanks to them here! Tuesday down to Broadwindsor, via Manchester. Thanks to Mark Welch for the help with a little medical routine. Having arrived at the cottage Paul Raymond kindly had arranged for us to stay in, we went for a Cream Tea(can you believe that a German had to introduce an Englishman to this???). We arrived at the Yeovil Octagon at about 6, met lots of familiar faces and got treated with another really good show, this time all acoustic. The crowd seemed a bit quiet at first, but soon they were standing up for lots of the songs, clapping loudly and singing along. After the show quite a few of us met at the mermaid hotel, where Gothien were staying. Believe it or not, they had Stargazer in their Jukebox!!!(But sadly no Blackmore’s Night songs). Next day off to Cardiff, and for once the weather was quite agreeable, just very few little showers. A visit to the castle was done first, as we had to wait before checking in to our hotel. Unfortuately this meant we couldn’t make it to the pub serving the Welsh Penderyn Malt Whisky, but I remedied that on the flight back, buying a bottle at the world of whiskies airport shop. Richard Gillitt and wife showed up for this show again, always great to see them, and we had a few good laughs at the Hard Rock Café after the show(Gothien and Blackmore’s Night turned up there as well, except Ritchie and Candice). The show was once again very good, with lots of crazy dancing during Home Again(there was lots of space for it).
The Strat didn’t come out until the encores-Difficult to Cure/St Theresa and the All for One, ending with first the keyboard, then the bass and then the sisters taking the melody as a “solo” part to do..the crowd joining in, thus creating a “fade-out” together with the sisters of the moon. The guitar solo here was quite lengthy and very good indeed.
Two days off, so we went to see friends of mine in Fleet, Hampshire, a convenient stop on the way to Brighton as well as for our outing to London on Friday. The sightseeing in London-as usual-involved lots of walking, despite the travel card for buses and underground, but luckily the weather was ok that day. Saturday we went to Brighton via Gatwick airport, where we had booked a hotel, to pick up the key. A little walk around the town and the Pier area, then to the stagedoor, awaiting Ritchie and Candice’s arrival. After a chat back into town, a drink in a pub, and soon it was time to get changed and go back to the venue. This last night turned out to be the best show (along with York) of the tour. Maybe the fact that both Ritchie’s and Candice’s brothers were present helped a bit to make them give their best??? Ritchie was clearly having fun, dowon on his knees lots of times and playing stunning solos throughout the whole show, and Candice once again singing magnificently! I can only say I am very much looking forward to seeing them on the German tour!
Thanks to all the people mentioned above, as well as Carole Stevens, and all of Blackmore’s Night!

For convenience I borrowed these setlists from Mike Garrett:

York Opera House, 12th June

 
GOTHIEN: Sciarazula Marazula, O quantum solicitor, Los biblicos, Miri it is, Skudrinka, Saderaladou, Debka, Tempus est iocundum (Encore: Ai vist la lop).
 
BLACKMORE'S NIGHT: Intro, Past Times With Good Company/Rainbow Blues, Play Minstrel Play, Under a Violet Moon, Soldier of Fortune, Durch den wald zum Bachaus (inc: bass and piano solo), World of Stone, Mond Tanz/Child in Time, Diamonds and Rust, Bard David piano solo/Ariel, All for One, Wind in the Willows, Home Again (inc: Drink, Drink), Fires at Midnight, Renaissance Faire, I Still Remember, The Clock Ticks On** (Encores: Difficult to Cure/St Theresa, Blues solo, Black Night, Woman from Tokyo riff, Smoke on the Water).
 
Reading Hexagon Theatre, 14th June
 
GOTHIEN: Sciarazula Marazula, O quantum solicitor, Los biblicos, Miri it is, Skudrinka, Saderaladou, Debka, Tempus est iocundum (Encore: Ai vist la lop).
 
BLACKMORES NIGHT: Intro, Past Times With Good Company/Rainbow Blues, Play Minstrel Play, Under a Violet Moon, Durch den wald zum Bachaus (inc: bass and piano solo), World of Stone, Mond Tanz/Child in Time**, Diamonds and Rust, Home Again (inc: Drink, Drink), I Still Remember, Renaissance Faire**, The Clock Ticks On** (No Encores).
 
Birmingham Alexandra Theatre, 17th June