RAINBOW In Concert 1976 – Live In Nürnberg Blackmore and company promote the band's classic second album Rainbow Rising in style. This triple-album set – available in black or green vinyl – was recorded at Nürnberg's Messezentrum Halle on September 28, 1976 on the band's first European tour, by a line-up comprised of Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio on vocals and drummer Cozy Powell, completed by bassist Jimmy Bain and keyboard player Tony Carey. Parts of the show were patched into 1977's double-live On Stage: the first minute of opener Kill The King (spliced into the rest of the song played the following night in Munich), and the Yardbirds cover Still I'm Sad (though edited down to 11 minutes). The whole show was released 20 years ago on CD, but this is a first vinyl version. Newly remastered by Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham, it sadly omits the intro of the Judy Garland dialogue from The Wizard Of Oz but does include the Do You Close Your Eyes encore, so runs to 92 minutes – much better than the paltry just-over-63 of On Stage. What you get is every song extended to include solo spots and diversions that either add to the fun or disrupt the momentum, depending on your point of view. Guitarist Blackmore is in thrilling form throughout, including on a number of quieter passages that point towards his style with Blackmore's Night two decades later. Dio's voice, too, is immaculate (although his patter is often naff), impressing everyone with his superior version of Deep Purple's Mistreated. Powell's 1812 Overture-based drum solo in Still I'm Sad (excised from the On Stage version) is another highlight, but it's doubtful whether anyone will be moved by Carey's noodling intro to Stargazer. Elsewhere, Blackmore's guitar is rightfully dominant. His intro to Sixteenth Century Greensleeves is beautified by solo classical improvisations then brutally juxtaposed by the riff that follows. At almost 14 minutes, Man On The Silver Mountain is probably over-extended by both an intro melding the riff to Lazy with some bierkeller shenanigans, then a blues outro that, together, treble the running time. Blackmore fanatics might rejoice in that but, in retrospect, others might need to have been there. The 13-minute Catch The Rainbow, however, flies by in stunning fashion. Rainbow peaked early. A year later, Stargazer was dropped and the slide began. Score: 8 out of 10 Neil Jeffries, Classic Rock Magazine - September 2026