Child In Time the highlight

This was only my second time ever seeing Deep Purple, the first was about 10 years ago in London when Joe Lynn Turner was singing. Is it true they had never played in Dublin before? [We think so, yes. Rasmus] The Point is Dublin's premiere live venue and it was packed as Purple took to the stage bang on 9 o'clock. They started with a blinding version of Woman From Tokyo that showed Gillan's voice in fine fettle and really got the crowd going. The band were amazingly tight considering it was their first gig in a while and everyone was on top form.

The highlight of the show was the stunning Child In Time which Ian Gillan said had not been played for a decade. Other highlights for me were No One Came, Perfect Strangers, When A Blind Man Cries, the Gillan/Morse The Aviator, Speed King and a Steve Morse led medley of classic 70s metal songs like Sweet Home Alabama, Stairway To Heaven and Voodoo Child, climaxing with Smoke On The Water.

The band really seemed to enjoy themselves and Ian Gillan seemed bowled over by the rapturous reception for the band from the Irish fans. His singing was amazing and Lord, Paice, Glover and Morse were on top form. They finished with a rousing Highway Star to send the masses home happy after a great two hour long concert.

I can safely say that Deep Purple will not encounter a better audience in 2002 so lets hope they play the Emerald Isle again soon!!

Martin Fahy

Back to reviews