Ritchie Blackmore\’s Rainbow: Black Masquerade DVD review

When I mention the name of the band Rainbow, what do you think of? Ritchie Blackmore? Ronnie James Dio? How about Cozy Powell? Of course you do, but hey, you left out Joe Lynn Turner and Graham Bonnet. The lineup of Rainbow has always been a revolving one but their sound has always been great. For years their 1995 performance on Germany’s Rockpalast television program has been bootlegged over and over again. Finally, thanks to Eagle Rock Entertainment, we have a legitimate version of the show on DVD and it features yet another lineup of Rainbow. Fronted by Doogie White, this is the lineup featured on 1995 Stranger in Us All record that showed Blackmore in the hard rock genre for the last time before his Renaissance-laced band Blackmore’s Night, which he formed with his wife Candice Night. This lineup features not just Blackmore and White, but Night as well as Paul Morris, Greg Smith and Chuck Burgi and saw the band enjoy a huge tour and some success with Stranger in Us All. Obviously, since this was the record the lineup recorded, the majority of the performance is going to be taken from that record. Of course there’s also going to be the Rainbow classics. With this evolution of Rainbow being the bridge for Blackmore between Deep Purple and Blackmore’s Night, we’d be moronic to expect not to hear at least one Deep Purple song.  We get a better dosage than that, though with “Perfect Strangers” and “Smoke on the Water.” Overall this is a great DVD of the performance. Sure, it’s not going to be the best quality in the world, but it’s from 1995…and Germany! What more can you expect? This is a great showcase of what once was Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow and makes you wish Blackmore would step back in and reform the band. Rating:8/10 -Reggie Edwards