When we arrived at the gate to the "Waffenplatz" some fans already have been waiting there. To my surprise mostly elderly people - probably still fans of Ritchieīs time with Deep Purple. First everyone was is a good mood, we had a lot of fun together and in contrast to some other concerts Iīve visited even the security team was quite larksome. The first displeasure arose when the fans who already had flocked together at the gate were asked to make way for a car that was about to arrive. Regarding the narrow castle road this was really a complete joke and caused some howls of protest, because the people had to leave the bridge and their good places in front of the gate to make way. Some time later a car with Candice Night and Richie Blackmore on board passed by. The fans were waving at them and Ritchie Blackmore seemed to be really happy to see his fans, because he covered his face with his jacket right away and I wondered what kind of odd bird this guy actually is.
At 5.30 p.m., the official admission time, a big crowd was waiting in front of the gate. It was getting 6.00 p.m., 6.15 p.m. and at 6.30 p.m. the people still cooled their heels in front of the gate. Slowly but surely the fans got angry, especially when they were told that the reason for the admission delay was Ritchie Blackmore, who didnīt want to see any fans on the concert area for whatever reasons. Some people got sick because of the long wait in the sun Some of them fainted and the ambulancemen got some work to do even before the concert began. Now voices were being raised: "How many people still have to pass out till we can get in ? Tell as a number and we can arrange that." But it didnīt help much. We still had to wait. Meanwhile the people around us told us some stories about Blackmoreīs moods. One told us that he cancelled a concert just because one person in the audience dared to use his camera to take a picture. Another one said that he had to leave one of the first rows because his 8-year-old daughter was considered as a security risk for the band. At 6.45 p.m. the fans started to boo and at 7.15 p.m. the situation got a bit risky for the security team because some fans got in a mood for fighting and shook their fists. This somehow helped and they finally let us in.
We were lucky to get some seats in one of the first rows. But even though the concert was scheduled for 7.00 p.m. we still had to wait another two hours till it finally began at 9.00 p.m. and Ritchie Blackmore enterned the stage with a face like three rainy days. At the beginning the audience was shown once again which side their bread is buttered on: everyone who dared to use his camera was just thrown out.
The concert itself was ok, even though the sound engineer seemed to be a real dweeb. The more slow songs were really beautiful, but the heavier ones almost teared you eardrums to tatters, because the sound was completely overmodulated and you only heard nerve-racking shrieks. Some songs Candice really sang very well, others left a bit to be desired. It was nice that they played most of my favourite songs like "The Clock Ticks On", "Play Minstrell Play" (one of my absolute favourite songs), "Dandelion Wine", "Where Are We Going From Here", "Old Village Lantern", "World of Stone", and above all "Home Again", which really spoke my heart out this time. The audience was also gorgeous. These were really fantastic people who were clapping and singing along with Candice, which created a great atmosphere, especially during the song "Home Again". I never experience something like this before. Ritchie has an awesome musical talent and heīs a great artist. So I can say the concert itself was good, except for the sound in some of the songs. What I didnīt like at all is his attitude. Even though he is a talented musician thereīs no reason to play the high-flyer and to ignore the audience, especially regarding the fact that the tickets were anything else but cheap. During the whole concert he didnīt deign to look at the audience, let alone to speak a few words to them. And Candice? I have to say that I donīt think much of factitious cheerfulness. The music is great, but unfortunately Blackmoreīs Night is an example for how success and money can go to peopleīs heads. They donīt have any charisma. You also could place some puppets on stage and get the same effect. The energy just came from the audience, but not from the artists. All the more I was wondering why so many Blackmoreīs Night fans complain about that, but visit every concert of them anyway. For me it definitely was the first and last Blackmoreīs Night concert I visited.
But despite the camera ban I managed to take some pictures :D
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