Ritchie Blackmore Hints at More Rainbow Concerts, Says Deep Purple Won’t Be Part of the Setlist
Ritchie Blackmore still doesn't sound like he has much interest in reviving his career as a rock guitarist — but he also doesn't seem to be ruling out another return to that part of his past.
Via BraveWords, Blackmore discussed his recent "return to rock" Rainbow shows during an interview on Dutch radio, and indicated that if he were to reconvene the band in the future, he'd make some changes to the setlist.
"We had about 15 songs that were very obvious songs to play, like 'Catch the Rainbow.' And we incorporated a few Deep Purple songs — 'Black Night,' 'Smoke on the Water,' 'Highway Star,'" said Blackmore. "Some of the fans said, 'Why did you do those Deep Purple songs?' And I would say, 'Why not?' And they said, 'Well, we thought it was just gonna be Rainbow. We would prefer to hear Rainbow songs.'"
Although he claimed to find that point of view "ironic," Blackmore added that, from his vantage point on the stage, it seemed to be the majority opinion of the audience. "I noticed when they clapped, they weren't clapping so hard for Deep Purple. They said, 'We hear that every year,' because Purple goes around," he added. "So the next time, if we go out and we do anything, I would do probably 95 percent Rainbow songs. That's what they seem to want to hear. And it didn't occur to me. I just naturally assumed they wanted to hear everything."
Blackmore's comments come shortly after he pointedly ruled out any further activity on the Rainbow front, but he's certainly entitled to change his mind. In the meantime, he has commitments to Blackmore's Night to keep him busy — including a short run of U.S. tour dates lined up for August.
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