Rainbow performed on this day in 1981 at the Rainbow Theatre in London, England.
This was the first UK date the band did on their Difficult to Cure Tour, added after some cancellations in France. This took place on the European leg of their tour. England was the native land of two members of the group, keyboardist Don Airey and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. A third, bassist Roger Glover, lived there at the time, though he’d originally gone from Wales.
Reviews of the show were incredibly mixed, with one stating Rainbow was in poor form, with Bobby Rondinelli as a poor substitute for Cozy Powell and Joe Lynn Turner as the worst yet of Rainbow’s singers. Another, however, stated it was the best they’d performed yet in the UK, only criticizing Blackmore’s tendency to steal the spotlight from other band members despite their own competence.
This concert is known to have been recorded, and is in circulation online.
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