Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore has posted the first photo of his new “rock” lineup on his Facebook page along with the comment, “And so the rehearsals begin..”
As previously reported, founding Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, has announced that he will be playing three rock shows in Europe under the name of Ricthie Blackmore’s Rainbow.
Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow and guests are scheduled to play at two Monsters Of Rock festivals in Germany on June 17th and 18th and one UK show on June 25 in England at Birmingham Genting Arena. More dates are expected to be announced. Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow will perform “the classic rock anthems of Rainbow and Deep Purple,” according to show announcements. Blackmore reportedly plans to film and record the performances for future release.
Blackmore’s band lineup includes: Lords of Black singer Ronnie Romero, Stratovarius keyboardist Jens Johansson, Blackmore’s Night drummer David Keith and bassist Bob Nouveau.
The singer I found is very exciting,” Blackmore told Billboard in September, before he announced the lineup. “He’s a cross between [former Rainbow frontman Ronnie James] Dio meets Freddie Mercury. So, this will mean exposing a new singer to the masses, and I’m sure he’ll become pretty famous because of his voice.”
Listen to Romero cover of Deep Purple’s Stormbringer here.
26 Responses
I’m sure they sound more like a band than they look like one. That picture is funny. Those guys look scared to death knowing Ritchie is sitting behind them. Ritchie is one of my favorite guitarists of all time and this is what me and millions of Rainbow and Deep Purple fans have been waiting for. But with the amount of shows he’s doing and where he’s doing them, this almost seems like he’s saying, “Okay, I’m playing rock again briefly, so now you can all shut up about it! ” After all, Ritche’s reputation of being a jerk is legendary.