A couple of hours before Over The Rainbow’s concert in Ioannina and only moments after the band’s soundcheck, Bobby Rondinelli dedicated to Rockpages some of his literally precious time. We tried to learn as much as we could under this time pressure…

Interview: Dimitris Kazantzis

Rockpages.gr: Bobby, is Over The Rainbow a “real” band or a nostalgic project?

Bobby Rondinelli: It’s a normal band; we will record…we love playing together and we become better with each show. It’s definitely a real band!

Rockpages.gr: What really happened with Tony Carey?

Bobby Rondinelli: He got sick. He had a serious operation and he wasn’t ready…at least 100%. That’s the only reason he is not here.

Rockpages.gr: How did you decide on which songs you will play? Do you change the set list?

Bobby Rondinelli: We always change it a little bit…but, we got to have all the eras of Rainbow…you know the Dio stuff, stuff that Joe sings, the Bonnet songs…even some with Doogie.

Rockpages.gr: Was there any offer that was made to any Rainbow member of the past that it was declined?

Bobby Rondinelli: Nobody said “no”. The people we asked said “yes”. Joe called me, I and Joe called Jurgen, Tony, Greg…as I said, Tony, unfortunately, got sick a week before the Sweden Rock Festival. Still, he wanted to tour with us in the USA and we immediately said: “What? Are you nuts? You are still sick”! He said: “I am fine, I am fine”, but we wanted him to get better. We were doing the tour and he was still in the hospital. So, we were right. He was forced to quit due to the whole medicine fatigue. But, we are still friends and anything’s possible in the future.

Rockpages.gr: What’s your impression of the current tour?

Bobby Rondinelli: I love it! It’s going great.

Rockpages.gr: Do the fans accept Over The Rainbow as Rainbow?

Bobby Rondinelli: You will tell me after tonight’s show (laughs). Athens was a great crowd!

Rockpages.gr: On a more personal note, why did you leave Blue Oyster Cult?

Bobby Rondinelli: I love Blue Oyster Cult, I love these guys…we are still close friends but I was playing with them and The Lizards from time to time and…have you ever seen the movie “The Godfather”?

Rockpages.gr: Of course.

Bobby Rondinelli: Well, The Lizards made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

Rockpages.gr: What are your memories from the Greek audience both from your experiences with The Lizards and Over The Rainbow?

Bobby Rondinelli: The Greek audience is great. I love playing here but with Over The Rainbow we took it to another level. The audience has been super!

Rockpages.gr: I know that you don’t have much time, so that was my last question. Good luck in the future.