Renaissance folk rock band Blackmore’s Night returns to Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg on Oct. 7
From a press release:
It was announced today that Renaissance-inspired traditional folk rock group Blackmore’s Night – featuring Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and his wife, singer/songwriter Candice Night – will return to the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 8 p.m.
Tickets, which are $40-$49.50, go on sale this Friday, Aug. 25 at 10 a.m. and will be available through the Sherman Theater box office (524 Main St., Stroudsburg), online at shermantheater.com and ticketmaster.com, and all Ticketmaster outlets. VIP boxes and sky boxes are available for this show and include eight tickets (VIP box) or 12 tickets (sky box), a fruit and cheese platter, and waitstaff. To purchase box seats, call the theater at 570-420-2808.
The year is 1996. The setting: a snowy winter in Massachusetts. Inside a lodge, nestled around a fireplace, a guitarist plays some beautiful acoustic tunes, and a singer with an ethereal voice joins in. They play throughout the night, creating songs of myths and fantasy inspired by nature. All of this is occurring while the guitarist, none other than famed stringsmith Ritchie Blackmore, is working with his band Rainbow to record their last CD, “Stranger in Us All.”
Here in this moment, miles away from it all, Blackmore and Candice Night are using their secluded time around the fire in the middle of winter to create some beautiful music, a new genre inspired by many melodies of the Renaissance period and “Blackmoreized” into contemporary music. They call it Renaissance folk rock. This is the sound of Blackmore’s Night.
In 1997, Blackmore’s Night released their debut album, “Shadow of the Moon,” which immediately went gold in Japan and earned awards worldwide. Meanwhile, their devoted fan base is growing, as the band has created a genre of music for all ages. From grandparents to children, everyone is embracing their medieval mood music and gypsy dances. Clearly, the music of Blackmore’s Night connects with fans on a deep level, allowing them to experience an entirely different era of merriment.
At the helm is the dynamic husband and wife duo: celebrated guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who traverses between acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, mandola, cello, and hurdy gurdy, and Candice Night, who not only contributes her unique, entrancing vocals, but deftly navigates seven medieval woodwinds, including bagpipe, chanters, shawms, corner music, pennywhistles, and recorders. Further enhancing the band’s inspired sound are keyboardist/back-up vocalist Bard David, violinist Scarlett Fiddler, back-up vocalist/shawm player Lady Lynn, bassist/rhythmic guitarist Earl Grey, and percussionist Troubadour of Aberdeen. With lyrics penned by Night, the collective embraces the aura of the old world inn, from madrigals and ballads to good old fashioned pub songs.
Additionally, every one of Blackmore’s Night’s 10 studio albums has debuted in the Top 5 of the Billboard charts, many of which entered or remained at the No. 1 spot. They have earned awards such as Best Album of the Year and Best Vocal Album of the Year, and their sold-out live concerts in castles and UNESCO sites worldwide are filled with thousands of fans dressed in Renaissance garb, dancing and singing as if time stood still. No clocks… no pressure… just the gaiety and camaraderie of a medieval pub. Everyone joins in and loses their stress in the music.
2017 marks the official 20th anniversary of Blackmore’s Night. Their new record, “To The Moon and Back: 20 Years and Beyond,” released on Aug. 18, is a best-of compilation including the most requested and beloved songs from their fans, all of which have been remastered. Alongside these classics, the album includes four re-recorded versions of their favorites – “Moonlight Shadow,” “Somewhere Over the Sea,” “Coming Home,” and “Writing on the Wall” – a live version of “Home Again,” and three brand new songs: “Ghost of John” (with a guest appearance by Autumn Blackmore), Blackmore’s new version of “Land of Hope and Glory,” and Night lending her vocals to the favored Rainbow tune “I Surrender.” The set is complete with a booklet boasting a collage of 20 years of memorabilia and a small unrehearsed video from a sound check, rewarding fans with an intimate glimpse behind the scenes.
Grab your tambourine or your tankard of ale and sing and dance with Blackmore’s Night “Under a Violet Moon,” a concert with music for all ages.
