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Creativity Quote by Ritchie Blackmore

"I however don't go to clubs to show off and to be seen, and certainly not to make statements. I just want to be able to quietly watch a band"

About this Quote

Blackmore isn’t just dodging nightlife; he’s drawing a boundary around what music is supposed to be for. The line is pointedly anti-spectacle: “show off,” “be seen,” “make statements” are clustered like a diagnosis of modern club culture, where attention becomes the main currency and the band is often background to the audience’s self-presentation. His “I however” carries the sting of someone who’s been lumped into that economy and wants out.

The phrasing matters. “Certainly not to make statements” is a small rebuke to the expectation that every public appearance must double as branding or politics or a lifestyle signal. Coming from a rock guitarist whose own career helped build the myth of the larger-than-life performer, it reads like a refusal to keep playing the role offstage. He’s not selling humility; he’s protecting focus. “Quietly watch a band” is almost comically modest, but that’s the point: he’s asking for the simplest contract between artist and listener, one that clubs increasingly violate with VIP areas, phones held aloft, and a social scene that can treat live music as decorative.

Contextually, it’s also a veteran’s fatigue. Blackmore came up when the live set was the event, not content for the feed. His intent is less nostalgia than insistence: if the room can’t grant basic attention, the music gets demoted from experience to soundtrack, and he’s not interested in being either the peacock or the wallpaper.

Quote Details

TopicMusic
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Blackmore, Ritchie. (2026, January 15). I however don't go to clubs to show off and to be seen, and certainly not to make statements. I just want to be able to quietly watch a band. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-however-dont-go-to-clubs-to-show-off-and-to-be-153351/

Chicago Style
Blackmore, Ritchie. "I however don't go to clubs to show off and to be seen, and certainly not to make statements. I just want to be able to quietly watch a band." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-however-dont-go-to-clubs-to-show-off-and-to-be-153351/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I however don't go to clubs to show off and to be seen, and certainly not to make statements. I just want to be able to quietly watch a band." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-however-dont-go-to-clubs-to-show-off-and-to-be-153351/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

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Ritchie Blackmore (born April 14, 1945) is a Musician from England.

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