Blackmore's Night, Glenrothes, Scotland,10 June 07

Blackmore's Night began their mini-tour of the UK in Glenrothes, the only Scottish date of the tour. The choice of location and venue was intriguing, given Ritchie and Candice's penchant for all things medieval, as Glenrothes is a roundabout infested new town, with all the associated anonymity. The venue itself is a modern multi-purpose theatre within the modern shopping centre. It does however have a wide stage, which allows the limited rows of seating to all be pretty close to the band on stage.

The support act Gothien were (I think) from Croatia. They played a fine mix of mainly instrumental folk music from various parts of Europe. The young, two male two female line up were enthusiastic and talented, the audience warming to their eagerness to impress.

Around 9pm, the Village Lanterne was lit, an emotive fanfare built, and Ritchie Blackmore stepped out on stage, followed by Candice Night and the band of minstrels. From there, it was straight into "Past times with good company", and the party had started.

The incredible thing about Candice Night is not only is she a pleasure to watch and listen to, but she is actually a superb front (wo)man. She explained that the band would be performing songs from each of their albums, along with others from older times. Here anecdotes and asides were always entertaining. For example, when they arrived in Edinburgh for the gig, they checked out "The Scotsman" newspaper to see if the gig was mentioned. Sure enough, an article explained that Ritchie Blackmore, the former front man of Black Sabbath was in town.

Ritchie was in good humour, enjoying regular exchanges with the rest of the band, and sharing his beer with the audience. A one stage, when Candice asked if there were any requests, one wag in the audience shouted "I'd like a beer". Ritchie promptly summoned his guitar technician, and a beer was duly provided!

The set list contained many of the usual favourites, such as "Play Minstrel Play", "Under a Violet Moon" and " Wind in the Willows", plus the band's superb version of "Soldier of fortune". Joan Baez's touching "Diamonds and Rust" was one of the show highlights.

The surprise of the evening though was a full rendition of Rainbow's "Ariel", If I remember correctly, this was the first song Ritchie and Candice wrote together, and I think she used to sing the female vocal part on their later tours. Ritchie turned the volume up to 11 here, as he gave his lead guitar the most energetic workout it has had in years. His lengthy solo was as wonderful as it was unexpected.

Mention also needs to be made of the lovely Sisters of the moon 'Lady Madeline and Lady Nancy' who provide exquisite backing vocals throughout. The line up was completed with keyboards (some excellent playing and a virtuoso solo section by Bard David of Larchmont), bass/second guitar (Baron St James) and drums (Squire Malcolm).

The encore was a beautiful rendition of four songs, concluding with "Dandelion Wine" after which the rest of the band left the stage. As Ritchie's guitar master tried to recover his guitar, Ritchie led Candice into a coda of "Now and Then". It was all highly moving and the perfect end to one of the most enjoyable gigs I have attended.