Up in the clouds

Just got home from the show. I've been a fan for 30 years and this was my first live Purple gig - and at Grimsby of all places! Was it worth the wait? You bet it was. They were tremendous.

They started with Woman From Tokyo, then (not necessarily in the right order) Ted The Mechanic, Fools, The Aviator, Mary Long, Speed King, Smoke On The Water, No One Came, Hush, Highway Star - the new ones were Up The Wall and an instrumental that I can't remember the name of. [Well Dressed Guitar or WD40. Rasmus] There was also When A Blind Man Cries and Lazy which were very good. I'm sure I've forgotten a few as well, but I'm still up in the clouds at the moment.

There was a very impressive Steve Morse feature where he played bits of Communication Breakdown, Stairway To Heaven, Here Comes The Sun, Hey Joe, and I Can't Explain. That went down really well. For a small venue there was a good crowd, and the band seemed to really enjoy themselves.

They played most of the stuff I wanted to hear with a couple of new ones included which were pretty good. The highlight had to be Child In Time though. I wondered whether Ian could still scream after all these years, but no worries, he was sensational. For those of you who are due to see them during the rest of the tour I envy you.

The support act were called the Planets - a classical/Celtic instrumental group, and very good they were too.

Bob Brill

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