Strand Theater / Lakewood (NJ)

Report by Brian Stephen

Well.. Ritchie Blackmore has done it again. Everytime I think I've seen him at his best, he manages to outdo himself. Thursday, May 13th in Lakewood NJ is proof of that. This is the show I've been waiting to see Blackmores Night play since it's inception. I've seen quite a few shows, and while each one has had it's highlights in different areas, this one combined the best of all those shows and surpassed the level of excitement of all put together.

It actually promised, from the start, to be one of those shows where you think Ritchie is going to be in a bad mood and just put on a standard show, which by all standards is still worth it's weight in gold.

There seemed to be some problems that was concerning Ritchie from the start, opening with "Cartouche". He was distracted from the song at hand and kept slipping behind the PA system to see if he can correct whatever problem he was facing. As far as I could tell there were no problems with the sound coming out at the audience so I'm only guessing it had to do with his own monitoring system. As it was, "Cartouche" and "Play Minstrel Play" were just average run throughs while the crew worked on the problem. It may have also been Candice's mix, as when the band played some of the more aggressive bits, she was a little low in the mix.

By the time Ritchie started noodling around to begin "Minstrel Hall", any problems that were bothering him before, were now history.
As we all know, little idiosynchrosies like this can really toss a wrench into the workings, and it was my biggest fear moving forward. But MH was the turning point towards one of the most incredible shows I have ever been witness to.

As the show moved forward, Ritchie became more outward and expressive with his solos and fills. Candice, as usual, was her own bubbly outgoing personable self taking jabs at Ritchie throughout the show and asking for requests, which of course go unheeded because Ritchie already has his mind made up anyway. But it's always fun to shout out your favorites regardless. There were calls for Temple of The King, Greensleeves and Run With The Wolf got a few chuckles as well as my own request just to play everything louder than everything else. But the one that hit Ritchie was Gates Of Babylon, which he used as the ongoing joke for the rest of the evening, instructing Candice to introduce each song as a newer updated version of GOB. However, after numerous new versions of GOB, Candice finally put an end to it by announcing that it was funny the first hundred times.
There was nothing new about the set and all of the standards were played as well as Wind In The Willows.

There is a new Violinist in the band. Unfortunately she was not properly introduced, but she seemed much more at home within the context and fun spirit of the band than Lord Marnen was. To me, he seemed like a deer caught in the headlights on stage, while the new girl was really having fun. She is every bit as competent as Marnen and also Chris Devine. She knew the material very well and complimented Ritchie just perfectly.

I was beginning to wonder whether the White Fender Custom Shop Strat would make an appearance. But late in the show, much to everyones delight, Ritchie finally strapped in on and let fly with 16CG. To me it seemed as if he were holding back all of this energy. Although all of his solos were of the highest Blackmore standards with his acoustic work adding some very flashy classical/Spanish flavor which I love, to his intros and fills, when he strapped on the Strat, all hell broke loose and he was a man possessed. It was as if he'd been waiting the whole show to finally let it rip. And let it rip he did. Now I have seen TMIB several times on every tour since 1976, but have never seen the man eclipse the way he handled the Strat in Lakewood NJ. I had more chills running through my spine than a naked Eskimo at midnight in Alaska. From his extended solos in 16CG, to more extended solos in All For One, Difficult To Cure and Self Portrait, he seemed like he didn't want to stop and seemingly played forever. I was in Eternal Stratocaster Heaven. And during Writing On The Wall, after building our fluids and heightening our senses with the most beautiful acoustic foreplay, we all came to orgasmic submission when we burned with the wave of his hand.

I brought along my 17 year old nephew to the show after my wife couldn't make it. He loves the newer generation of rockers like POD and Godsmack, but plays in his school band and has an appreciation for good music as well as the aforementioned bands. I tried to clue him in as to what to expect, but to no avail. Afterwards, I asked him what he thought, and he said, "it wasn't what I expected, it was awesome". I must say that while Ritchie was soloing during WOTW and standing next to my nephew who had just seen POD, knowing that he has never seen anyone play guitar like this before, I was never more proud to say that I am a huge fan of Blackmores Night. He also made mention of "that chic has an incredible voice" which of course is never more evident than on Diamonds and Rust.

It was also fantastic to see a lot of the familiar faces who share this one phenomenom and came from all over the world to witness this event. Just another notch in my belt when I was able to introduce my nephew to people from all walks of life throughout the world whom I have met in my Blackmore Fan Career and as we walked by the backstage entrance to have Carole recognize me and say hello was a real treat.

Once again, as with most Blackmore shows, a night I will never forget.

Showtime: just over 2 hours

Setlist in no particular order:

Cartouche
Minstrel Hall
Play Minstrel Play
Durch Den Wald Zum Bach Haus
Mr Peagrams Morris And Sword
Under A Violet Moon
Fires At Midnight
I Still Remember
Diamonds And Rust
Self Portrait
Difficult To Cure
Writing On The Wall
Past Times With Good Company
All For One
Clock Ticks On (with bagpiper and Ritchies intro on the Hurdy Gurdy)
Rennaisance Faire
Ghost Of A Rose
16th Century Greensleeves
Soldier Of Fortune