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RAINBOW TOUR PROGRAM 1982 "HEY TOTO, WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE ...WE MUST BE OVER THE RAINBOW" KERRRRANNNNGGGG!!!! When it comes to contrast, style, depth, mystique, sheer naked power that's totally strung out on that irresistable hookline -- with so many facets to their credit this group definitely picked the right name. But even a monicker as grand as this is not vast enough to grasp the band's total capabilities and immense talent. "Rainbow is more than the average heavy metal group" - Circus Magazine 
Named after an infamous rock'n'rollers night club in Los Angeles, the original Rainbow has gone through so many traumatic changes of line up to get to the status that it's reached today.Founder member, rock guitarist supreme Ritchie Blackmore is renowned as being a mysterious, moody and unpredictable character and in the eyes of some of the media is regarded as some kind of rock and roll tyrant. On the other hand, the audience (who I personally feel to be the more rational faction of this crazed musical world) look up to him in awe as a legend who has actually survived all the blows and pressures that have knocked many of his allies of the eras gone by down like helpless bowling pins. Blackmore is not God and he knows it better than anyone else, but he's also no temperamental megalomaniac either. He is in fact a totally dedicated musician who has been striving to achieve a balance of perfection or something as close enough to it and that sheer positive will is what has got the band where it is today. THE PRESENT Recorded on a sophisticated digital process in the wild outbacks of Canada Straight Between The Eyes shows that both Glover and group have firmly gripped the reins on Rainbow's sound coming up with such masterworks as "Power," "Miss Mistreated," "Death Alley Driver" and of course the classic "Stone Cold" which truly captures the guts and embodifies the class of the band proving that rather than riding on the reputation of past glories they all have enough individual talent to take equal credit in the billings. "Stone Cold" is what you would call an instant classic and was recorded in an almost spontaneous manner which gives it that inspired feel, as Glover recollected: "It ('Stone Cold') was a very natural thing to do, sometimes when you work in the studios and spend days on a track, it ends up sounding a bit mechanical, whereas the tracks that sound fresh are the ones you accept, because they happen to feel good and to me `Stone Cold' is one of those tracks." Live Rainbow still remain to be one of the most dynamic, powerful, exciting bands to witness onstage. They combine the virtuosity and brillianc that transcends the normal everyday kickass boogie outfit who in comparison to this group's natural sparkle and style come over as nothing more than a dull glimmer. But then again, originality and progression has always been the band's forte as Joe Lynn pointed out: "If the album gets airplay and is successful, fine, but we've always played the music we've wanted to and so as far as I'm concerned it's a success already." Long live rock and roll! RITCHIE BLACKMORE 4 x Marshall 4 x 12 speaker cabinets Marshall 200 watt amp Fender Stratocaster guitar (white) Picato strings  "Mean, moody and mysterious, Blackmore has been described all these things. Onstage he doesn't utter a word, allowing his guitar to do the talking. A performer in the true sense of the word, his career spans three decades, yet he can still carousel around the stage with the vigour of a swashbuckler who has the gift of eternal youth" (Excerpt from "Heavy Metal-the Powerage" Delilah Books) No one needs to be told the story of this awesome talent. Responsible for some of the most memorable and influential riffs in the history of Heavy Metal during his time with Deep Purple during the zenith of their career. After their demise Blackmore wasted no time and went straight into the studios to record a solo single "Black Sheep of the Family" which acted as a catalyst for him to make the major move that he'd been planning for quite some time and duly went about forming his own band, which began a constant battle to achieve the balance of accessibility and perfection that the man has always been accustomed to. "I guess the older you become the more you get into melodies. I can't stand just knocking out three chords. That doesn't move me at all. I'm classically orientated; a good strong melody with a strong metal feel is my ultimate aim and it's difficult because rock and roll is limited usually to three or four melodies." Master of unpredictability, a craftsman and performer in the true sense of the word, Blackmore has never failed to surprise his audiences and probably never will. ROGER GLOVER Wired amp rack with 2 x Crown DC300A power amps and 1 Crown UXF-2 electric crossover 2 x 12" bass speaker cabinets 2 x 15" bass speaker cabinets Bass mixer rack with JBL mixer & Urie graphic equalizer Fender Precision bass guitar Rotosound strings  Another Purple stable mate, after taking a lengthy hiatus from the insanity of touring and entering the world of production, Roger Glover's reunion with former Purplelite came about by sheer chance when Ritchie called upon his old comrade to produce the Down To Earth album. Having already worked wonders with groups of such grand status as Judas Priest, Glover's presence resulted with a shift in direction for Rainbow, which captured both the raw essentials that gave the group a raw abrasive edge plus a perception that made for a commercially accessible feel, that in no way detracted from the original heavy metal thunder. We were moving into a new decade and it was decided that there was room for a change in the music. Originally brought in purely for production purposes, Glover soon found himself contributing lyrics and music and eventually played bass, simply because it became evident that there was nobody around that could replace him. He was eventually persuaded to join the band on a full time basis (as he had always missed the lure of the road and the charge of live performing). JOE LYNN TURNER Shure microphones  Heralding from Hackensack but growing up walking on the wilder sides of New York's avant garde playground - Greenwich Village - Turner had already laid down his chops on the road with a band with the sassy name of Fandango, who forged themselves quite a wild reputation on the road circuit and recorded a couple of albums that have since provided material for other up and coming artists. It was his vocals on "Jealous Lover" that burnt the U.S. airwaves and totally turned on America to Rainbow. Combining the spiritual and musical flow that came naturally with Blackmore's wealth of experience, Turner's voice strutted around the musical structure with the soul searching/heartbreaking power that could only be found in such talents as powerfully emotive as Paul Rodgers - a true original. BOBBY RONDINELLI 2 x 24" bass drums (Yamaha) 2 x top toms (Yamaha) 2 x floor toms (Yamaha) 1 x snare drum (Yamaha) 14 Paiste cymbals 1 x 40" Paiste gong  Twenty-six year old Rondinelli hails from Long Island and already had quite a heavy reputation with local band Samantha who caught the eyes and ears of Blackmore when he saw them playing at a local club date. He immediately asked Bobby to audition for Rainbow and when invited to join the group he eagerly accepted, even though this meant turning down some other lucrative offers (he was at one time on the short list to join KISS, after the departure of Peter Criss). A one time tutor of the infamous Carmine Appice, this curly haired Italian stallion of the highways did more than prove his prowess on the group's Difficult To Cure album and live unleashes his energy with a stunning solo proving that he can pummel more than a paradiddle even with the bare palms of his hands (talk about masochism and mayhem). DAVID ROSENTHAL Wired amp rack with 2 Crown DC300A power amps and 1 Crown UXF-2 electric crossover JBL Horn box with JBL driver 2 x mid bins with 15" Gauss speakers and 12" Gauss speakers Roland string synthesizer, Ober OBXA synthesizer 2 Mini Moogs, Moog bass pedal Hohner clavinett, cut down Hammond B3 organ DSX digital sequencer Studio Master mixer Yamaha graphic equalizer, Lexicon digital echo unit 2 x MXR Flangers, 2 x Hammond Leslies  Enlisting the services of classically trained Bostonian born and bred musician Rosenthal finally locked the direction of Rainbow which has since won them many new fans. Out of all the (obviously) countless applicants for the job Blackmore found himself immediately attracted to Rosenthal's versatile style of playing, as he recalled in a recent interview: "I had a lot of people coming to auditions, and while most of them had the rock and roll thing off, they couldn't play any classically orientated pieces on their own. However, I was given this tape by a friend, it was a piece by Liszt performed at a recital at the Boston University of Music. I said 'This guy is far too good for us, he'll probably be a musical snob!' but after I'd auditioned everybody I could find, I invited him down and he played in such a brilliant way that I asked him to join. He didn't care that he wasn't taking a solo or doing an intro, he was so sick of playing Liszt and Bach that he was just happy to be a part of the rock and roll thing." Rainbow Credits
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