The venue was at Schloß Waldeck, a castle in the north of the German
state Hessen. The scenery there is just gorgeous. The castle is right
on top of a mountain (of course! - castles always are....duuuh) right
at the lake Edersee (see left). This lake is not a natural lake, it's
there because of a huge dam, a tourist attraction. From the castle you
have a wonderful view to the lake and over the woods. There's also
a cable car running down to the dam. Parts of the castle hold hotel
rooms, but in case anybody's planning to go there, do not expect
any medieval atmosphere in the rooms. The interior is top modern, not
castle-like at all. So are some other parts of the castle, like the cafeteria.
High tech. Something I personally do not like to see in a historical
building.
The night before the gig the band and crew was celebrating the U.S. release
of their second CD, Under A Violet Moon, and I had the honor to join this
little party. Those were unforgettable moments.
But let's talk about the gig. The support band was
"Des Geyer's Schwarzer
Haufen", as they are at almost every other gig in Germany. These guys
play medieval music on authentic instruments and they are one of Ritchie's
favorite bands as well as friends of his for more than ten years. Besides
that they are very nice people and party ANIMALS, as I found out later that
night. Their performance was great, they warmed up the crowd and made
them dance despite of the nasty weather.
 |
 |
 |
The "Geyer's" (sorry Albert, you were too far
away from me) |
During their performance it was raining heavily and we were worrying whether
or not the concert may be cancelled, especially since Ritchie's guitar roadie
Jerry told me the night before that it was too dangerous to play in the rain
because of possible electrical strokes. So I knew, in case of heavy
rain they wouldn't be playing and we all were praying for the rain to stop.
It seemed to help because finally the rain stopped and after a certain
delay Blackmore's Night entered the stage.
They started off with Shadow Of The Moon, followed
by
Morning Star. Next came
Play Minstrel Play. Either here or during
the next song Ritchie injured one of his fingers but I swear, if I hadn't
seen it happen I would have never, ever guessed that. He continued playing
perfectly like nothing had happened but sometimes he had to shake his fingers
to relax. I bet he suffered from some serious pain but it did not effect
his performance whatsoever.
Minstrel Hall
Avalon
Under A Violet Moon. I'm not quite sure
why this song didn't catch onto the audience immediately. I personally can't
help dancing or tapping my feet whenever I listen to it. Anyway, here it
needed some motivation of Candice's to make the audience move, but she got
them though.
16th Century Greensleeves This was the
first time he used his white Stratocaster. So, unlike at earlier gigs, we
heard a heavier version of this old Rainbow song.
In her announcement of the next song, Durch Den Wald
Zum Bach Haus, Candice told us the story behind this one. Since the
title is in German language it created some confusion among the fans and
gave lots of room for weird guesses. The story is: Ritchie and Candice went
to Eisenach to visit the house of the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach.
Candice took the bus while Ritchie decided to walk there through the
forest. Candice says he met a big old Rottweiler there which made him
run the rest of the way. Therefore the designated title for the song
was "Durch den Wald zum Bach Haus mit einem grossen Hund" which appeared
too long to the record company. Anyway, there are *little* differences
between Ritchie's and Candice's version of the story (Ritchie denies
the running part....) but there is no doubt ( I asked him again
personally and
he was pretty surprised that there can be any
other interpretation) that this song is about when he walked "Through the
woods to the Bach house".
At Past Time With Good Company Ritchie
was playing the mandolin while Candice played on a little flute, accompanied
by the violin.
When Candice introduced No Second Chance,
which was next, she asked the crowd who among them had ever cheated on his/her
spouse ('cause that's the background of the song), nobody raised his hand.....
anybody surprised here? -- well, I'd say the audience just consisted of all
good and faithful people....
For Possum Goes To Prague Ritchie used
a capo dastro pretty high up the neck, something I've never seen him doing
before. And he played it very beautifully, very full of emotion. Next was
March The Heroes Home. During this song the
Geyers joined in and it was a big time party on stage. What energy and
fun there!!!
It got a little calmer again with Catherine Howard's
Fate
and Renaissance Faire
The regular set ended with Spanish Nights (I
Remember It Well) Ritchie's playing here was just unbelievable!!!
I have never heard such powerful playing on an accoustic guitar. People
around me in the audience were also shaking their heads because his stroking
(of course without a pick) was amazing. I guess everybody else
would have cut their fingertips off on the strings if they'd try
to play like this.
They did not play Clock Ticks On this time (like they did in Solingen).
But we got plenty of encores.
The first one started with
Gone With The Wind. Then it was "white-Strat-time"
again.
Writing On The Wall , performed in a pretty
heavy version, was followed by an extensive guitar solo which built up for
Black Night. Alrighty, the "old" Blackmorans
got their rocking Ritchie too, so everybody was pleased.
The second encore was accoustic again. It was
Wish You Were Here and Mr.
Tambourine Man. I'm not quiet sure why they have this one
on their recent setlist but they play it almost every time....
We even got a third encore that night which was
Now And Then. A very nice "nightcap", good
song to end a fantastic concert. And that's what it was. One of the
best gigs so far. |
Corner