Rainbow performed on this day in 1981 at the University of Denver Arena in Denver, Colorado.
Rainbow were on their Difficult to Cure Tour, supporting tree recently-released album of the same name. They co-headlined with guitarist Pat Travers, with their names appearing first on some bills, Travers’ first on others.
The majority of the setlist for this tour was taken from either Difficult to Cure or the preceding album, Down to Earth, with a few other songs from earlier Rainbow. However, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and bassist Roger Glover also reached deep within their personal history to get another number, “Smoke on The Water”. It was fitting that this particular lineup of the band would play this number; as of this writing, four of the five members of the Difficult to Cure lineup have been members of Deep Purple.
There is no known recording of this concert.