[Greg] At least, this band tours named as OVER THE RAINBOW (yes, two extra words do matter) so every fans' expectations are his own thing to have in mind. 70s_80s Rock is always in fashion ,hence Gagarin205 Club was fully packed with a 30-years-old average age (I pray for the day most people stop doing PR in Rock_Metal gigs -drag your ass to have a beer every now and then).

Hitting the stage being 45' late, OVER THE RAINBOW (no support act included) performed in -my opinion- safe mode, smartly fulfilling the crowd's imaginary wants, since RAINBOW had never played in Greece throughout their 70s_80s career. Joe Lynn turner was in the spotlight, mostly as the frontman and most familiar/recognizable face in the lineup, but also due to the challenge stepping on the Ronnie James Dio landmark singing in half the setlist. Joe delivered good vocals but I would describe his singing as far from being something not to be missed. He handled his own era's tunes with dignity, he did secure an average performance in heroic cuts from the 'epic' RAINBOW period, he did not make fool of himself -no way- but he also did not take any prisoners. Letting the crowd sing in many parts was a result of the party atmosphere taking place at the time but also a conscious decision when it was obvious he could not make our bones crush.

The rest of the band was off the radar most time; at times I thought I was watching at a Turner-centered tribute band. Bobby Rondinelli- one of the reasons I was there- was faultless and a fierce shadow behind the kit while Phill Morris and Greg Smith showed less dynamics than possibly expected (the backing vocals helped Turner a lot, though). Blackmore Jr. -cut to fit his dad's standards- played by the book, anyway, and visually brought sacred pictures up.
The sound -at the back area of the venue- was quite blurry and not that tense, but the front rows seemed to enjoy a lot. A 'fan's dream' setlist leaves no space for doubt, anyway, not even for the band's actual performance. Was this an entertaining event? Surely yes. Anyone not making it to the concert should feel eternally doomed? Hell no. Was the 30 EUR ticket price worth it? So and so...

[DimitrisK] Well, this concert was not to be missed for the obvious reason; RAINBOW have never been to Greece and taking under consideration Blackmore's whereabouts this will not happen. So, about half an hour prior to the announced door-opening the road outside Gagarin205 club was filled with a fine age blend spanning for early 20s to late 40s. Of course, the door did not open on time and hence 800 people tried to enter the club and some of them figure out who dropped the ball with the guest-list.

Leaving aside the agoraphobic feeling we entered the venue and found ourselves packed. This was a surprise to me since it was a working day and after all this was not the original RAINBOW lineup. After an annoying delay the lights went out and Tarot Woman gave the first shivers down our spine. Ok, it was not Dio behind the mic nor was Blackmore with his white Strat; but we got Turner who I believe gave a performance that was a frontman seminar. He had the ability to fill the stage and to communicate with the audience despite the fact that he used the cliche lines like You are the best crowd and so on. The sound was pretty good although in time the bass guitar was covering everything. Blackmore Jr did well with his guitar and it was kind of cool looking at him due to the striking resemblance with his father. The rest of the band did not do something out of the box apart from helping Turner with the backing vocals. This concert was not to be judged as an average one since the emotions were too intense. It is really difficult to discuss about the band's performance when I Surrender, Stargazer, Gates Of Babylon and my personal favorite Jealous Lover were featured in the setlist. The audience was pumped only for the logical hits and in total gave the proper respect to the musicians on stage. Personally, I had a great time even if Turner was not that good in the Dio era songs but after all this was to be expected.

All in all, this was a very good concert that gave us the chance to see -once again- the charismatic frontman/singer and to listen to some songs that in different case we would only enjoy in some Rock clubs. If you look this concert with the magnifying glass then you would say it was nothing very special but who can resist listening to all these 70s/80s gems?

OVER THE RAINBOW setlist:

01. Tarot Woman
02. Kill The King
03. Can't Let You Go
04. All Night Long
05. Death Alley Driver
06. Eyes Of The World
07. Ariel
08. Wolf To The Moon
09. I Surrender
10. Man On the Silver Mountain
11. Jealous Lover
12. Stargazer
13. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
Encore1
14. Since You Been Gone
Encore2
15. Can't Happen Here
16. Spotlight Kid

(photos by dirty Harry)

OVER THE RAINBOW