House of culture / Helsinki

Report by Rainer Klos

After 20 minutes walk through sunny and warm Helsinki I arrived at the venue in the afternoon. It was nice meeting everybody of BN before the show for having a little chat, as for once there was not the usual ‘fan-family’ around. The opening act was done by a Finish 5-piece medieval band playing for half an hour. They even sang ‘Herori Matori’, a German song some of you might have already heard performed by the Geyers.

At about 8.55 Blackmore’s Night started the evening with ‘Cartouche’. Ritchie did not play the guitar synth ‘Mandalay’ intro, but the opener managed to get the crowd clapping wildly. Ritchie had a new guitar technician, as the one he used in Stockholm was given a permanent vacation as an appraisal for his superior lack of quality. The new chap seemed a bit nervous, but did a good job. Only the percussive intro into ‘Past Time’ was elongated due to problems with the guitar, but this might not have been the tech’s fault, the way things looked.

Temple of the king came as a bit of a surprise (especially for the band) and sure was well received by the crowd. Renaissance faire was introduced with the bridge of the song, which was rather unusual (and not necessarily intentional???), Fires and 16th Century Greensleeves featured long and excellent guitar solos, Bach Haus a glimpse of the abilities of new violin player Tudor Rose, who still seems a bit shy, but otherwise did a great job. Mond Tanz was done as a medley with Child in time as the middle part, with the sisters of the moon taking over on the higher screams. Both had been changed, with Candice taking over the melody part of Mond Tanz on her shawms and adjusting child in time to the style of Blackmore’s Night.

All together a show the BN camp considered the best so far, a good audience and a surprising ‘Pavarotti’ stint of Bard David at the end of Past Time…they were all having a laugh about that one after the show. At two hours 20 minutes not as long as some of last year’s German shows, but still longer than most artists are willing to play nowadays. Then Richard Beatty and I hit the pubs…with the Finish summer leaving at daylight was no real problem. Now another month’s wait for the other shows…

Showtime: 2 hours and 20 minutes

Setlist:

Cartouche
Queen For A Day (part 1 & 2)
Under A Violet Moon
Past Time With Good Company
Minstrel Hall
Soldier Of Fortune
The Temple Of The King
Mr. Peagram's Morris And Sword
Diamonds And Rust
Durch Den Wald Zum Bach Haus
Fires At Midnight
Home Again
Wind In The Willows
I Still Remember
Ghost Of A Rose
Renaissance Faire
Mond Tanz/Child In Time

Encores:
Since You Been Gone
All For One
Difficult To Cure/Self Portrait
Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
Writing On The Wall
Now and then