Ronnie Romero - Live At Rock Imperium Festival

This live release is ripped from Ronnie’s set at last year’s Imperium Festival in Spain. For the greater part this is a live rendition of Romero’s 2023 album, Too Many Lies Too Many Masters. The studio album was good and hearing it with the twist that only comes with a live recording is a bonus.

That said, there are no surprises in this collection, it is simply a good rock show record. There are the anthems, the big choruses and the ripping guitars all of which provide the background for one of the biggest voices in rock. Ronnie tears through these songs with passion and that operatic swagger that suits his choice of metal just perfectly.

The production on this 10 song album is good, everything has a real clarity which, when played through the big speaker, turned up to 11 really packs a punch.

There are a couple of tracks from elsewhere in the Romero songbook; “The Last Ship” and “Ferrymen” coming out of the era when our protagonist was the singer with The Ferrymen. The albums Romero produced with that band were all excellent rock fayre and translate well to the live groove.

Romero is a talent in his own right, but he does wear his influences on his sleeve. One of those is undoubtably Ronnie James Dio and so, it’s fitting the curtain comes down on this release with a Dio cover, “Rainbow in the Dark”. Ronnie and his band deliver it well and it serves as a reminder that having the ability to hit the high notes of metal makes so many people smile.

This is a record that is well worth a listen.