RONNIE ROMERO – Live At Rock Imperium Festival

Vocalist Ronnie Romero was the voice of modern-era Rainbow and Michael Schenker Group, and more recently, Lords of Black with guitarist Tony Hernando and The Ferrymen. He was invited to play at the Rock Imperium Festival in Spain, and Frontiers Records recorded the event, now releasing the recording under the title Live At Rock Imperium Festival. The album consists of 10 tracks, rightfully weighted (7 of them) towards Romero’s first all-original solo record from 2023 entitled Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters.

The first thing that jumps out is the solid recording quality of this concert. It’s well mixed, heavy yet bluesy, and Romero’s voice comes through cleanly and full of soul, showing he was certainly meant to sing in a live setting. All of the tracks are entertaining and well-performed, but the highlights would have to include “Vengeance,” which incorporates Megadeth-ish Progressive Thrash elements, the opener “Castaway On The Moon”, which does a good job of setting the tone for the rest of the concert, and the closer “Rainbow In The Dark” (the Dio cover).

The only negative of this album is the inclusion of Romero’s dialogue with the crowd. Romero addresses the crowd in Spanish (not unusual, being that he was performing at a Spanish festival) after each track … sometimes at length. If you don’t speak Spanish, these crowd interludes come through as unnecessary at best, if not annoying, and should have been either reduced in quantity and length or eliminated entirely.

Other than that, what you have here is a well-performed and recorded live album that, if anything, should make you interested in checking out Romero’s Too Many Lies, Too Many
Masters solo record! Check it out …

Tracklist

1. Castaway On The Moon
2. I’ve Been Losing You
3. Chased By Shadows
4. Ferryman
5. Too Many Lies Too Many Masters
6. Crossroad
7. Not Just A Nightmare
8. The Last Ship
9. Vengeance
10. Rainbow In The Dark

Lineup

Ronnie Romero – Vocals
Jose Rubio – Guitars
Aurelian Dinca – Bass
Andy C. – Drums
Fran Gil Torres – Keyboards