That's All For 2017

On a sad note Rainbow Rising played for the last time this year. On a good note they bowed out in tremendous style. The venue was Eleven in Stoke-On-Trent, a new venue for the band and all the good stories we had heard about the venue were proven true. Eleven really have their act together - the venue is perfect for live music, has a terrific sound system, great lighting, very friendly & helpful staff, excellent facilities and an appreciative enthusiastic crowd.

Load in was at 5pm – and by 6pm the guys were ready for the sound check. This one was to be a bit special as Andy Gotteri had got to grips with the tricky Tarot Woman and was performing it for the first time with Rainbow Rising. There was nothing to worry about as the track was nailed so everything was set.

A good sized crowd had braved the cold weather which was very much appreciated and at 8.30pm the band hit the stage with the expected intro of Kill The King. The band have standardised the set list swapping out odd tracks and this time Perfect Strangers was moved to the first set with Gates Of Babylon intended to start the second set. Still I’m Sad opened the second set which meant back to back keyboard intros for the second and third tracks - a minor hiccup which no one seemed to mind. As in rehearsals Tarot Woman was as good as the original – a majestic keyboard intro followed by a thumping track and capped off with an equally impressive keyboard heavy outro. Andy even threw in a special SI-FI effect to end the song which I believe was intended to fade out ……. But didn’t!! The video has been uploaded and can be found on YouTube - Link or on our Facebook page.

A couple of encores were squeezed in with a fans favourite in Since You’ve Been Gone and Burn was given the nod to finish the gig and the year with a power track.

One of the highlights was the reaction from 7yr old Alfie Guard having Stargazer - Link

dedicated to him. His dad Steve had mentioned in a Facebook post that he was bringing him along as it was his favourite rock song. This was followed up after the gig with Alfie receiving a few gifts from the lads and an impromptu photo shoot at Micks drum kit. Hopefully the band will get a return invite for 2018 but for 2017 – That’s All Folks!!