BLACKMORE’S NIGHT – Paris Moon

Ritchie Blackmore’s biography is full of classic albums with famous and historical Hard Rock bands like Deep Purple and, of course, Rainbow. The master of the six string has given to the Rock scene beautiful songs that nowadays are called classics.

During the late 90s, Ritchie decided to make an almost 180 degree change (there are some Rock elements here and there) in his artistic direction, forming Blackmore’s Night. This band has Ritchie’s sweetheart Candice Night on the vocals and musically moves in medieval territories with distinct Folklore influences.

So, the band came to France for the first time and to glory the moment they filmed the show and released the DVD called Paris Moon. The DVD package includes an audio CD with 9 tracks from the same concert and two studio versions of “The Village Lanterne” and “All Because Of You.”

The venue that hosted the live show was a theater — that means the audience is sitting and the whole atmosphere has nothing to do with a Rock concert. The stage is decorated in such way to meet the bands outfit that brings to mind a caravan of Gypsies during the Medieval days. Actually, the band members are in a really high mood and seem to enjoy this atmosphere. Ritchie seems to be absorbed in his universe with his classic guitar and someone could characterize him as distant. All the lights are focused on Candice Night who does an excellent job with her vocals and her on-stage presence fits perfectly with the music atmosphere. Well, sometimes she gets too sweet and the viewer gets the impression that this is her concert and not the band’s.

The sound quality is excellent and literally takes the viewer to the front seats of the theater, while the direction captures everything that is happening on-stage. Apart from the band’s tracks, the setlist features some cover songs like Jethro Tull’s “Rainbow Blues” and Joan Baez’s “Diamonds & Rust” — that is closer to the original than the Judas Priest version with Rob Halford on the vocals.

The whole show flows smoothly like a genuine theatrical play, while Ritchie is at least impressive performing flawless with his acoustic guitar that leaves no space for errors. In the highlights of the show there are “Under A Violet Moon” where the audience join Candice during the groovy chorus, and Deep Purple’s “Soldier Of Fortune” where the guitar master gives an excellent acoustic guitar intro. Even though Candice’s voice is clear, sweet, and sometimes powerful it fails to capture Coverdale’s passion on this specific track.

Ritchie gets his electric Stratocaster for just two songs, but those are enough to bring some classic memories from his historic past.

The bonus material of the DVD can be characterized as poor since they feature a “Documentary” and the “classic” photo gallery. Well, there are some interesting things in the “Documentary” where Ritchie and Candice share some thoughts, but it’s just for the Hardcore fans.

This DVD is a very good live recorded compilation that has some of the band’s finest moments for every fan of Ritchie’s latest era. Whoever is still waiting for Mr. Blackmore to come to his Rock senses — well this DVD will put an end to those hopes.