Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow triumph at Birmingham Genting Arena

The new incarnation of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow concluded their trio of 2016 shows with an epic performance at Birmingham’s Genting Arena on Saturday night (25th June).

With Ronnie Romero continuing to impress on vocal duties and Ritchie’s dexterity on guitar captivating the sell-out crowd, the band played an impressive 15-song set that consisted of eight Deep Purple tracks, six Rainbow anthems and their defining cover of Russ Ballard’s ‘Since You Been Gone’.

The set was expanded from the two Monsters of Rock shows in Germany last weekend to include Deep Purple’s ‘Soldier of Fortune’ and ‘Burn’; the penultimate track before set closer ‘Smoke on the Water’.

One of the hottest tickets around, fans from all over the globe had travelled to Birmingham to see a slice of rock history.

The full set-list was as follows:

1. Over the Rainbow/ Highway Star
2. Spotlight Kid
3. Mistreated
4. Since You Been Gone
5. Man on the Silver Mountain
6. Soldier of Fortune
7. Difficult to Cure
8. Catch the Rainbow
9. Perfect Strangers
10. Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll
11. Child in Time
12. Stargazer
13. Black Night

Encore
14. Burn
15. Smoke on the Water

It’s currently unclear whether Ritchie’s return to rock after delving in renaissance folk music for two decades will result in more live shows.

Although Ritchie has previously stated these trio of shows were a one-off, speaking to Dutch magazine Aardshock he hinted at performing again: "If we enjoy ourselves and the audience gives us a positive vibe back, then I won't rule out the possibility of continuing.

"However, the second round of dates will probably take place in 2017. But the crucial factor will be the chemistry between the musicians and the audience reaction. These shows will be recorded on video, so that we can release it later on. But my heart will always belong to renaissance music."

You can watch fan-filmed footage of all 15 songs right here: