Fans Get In The Groove To Rock Legends

A packed Grimsby Auditorium rocked last night to the legendary sound of Deep Purple. This was a golden opportunity to catch one of rock's hardest working bands in our own backyard and they did not disappoint.

The first time I saw this band was way back in 1985 at the Knebworth Festival. They were excellent then and like a fine wine, have got better with age. The current line-up of Ian Gillan (vocals), Jon Lord (keyboards), Ian Paice (drums), Roger Glover (bass) and Steve Morse (guitar) swaggered onto the stage wearing lazy smiles and oozing shedloads of cool.

They soon got the crowd into the groove with the opening song Woman From Tokyo and from the very first guitar solo it was obvious why Steve Morse has got such a reputation as one of the best guitarists in the world.

The set list was a mixture of old classics like Speed King, Perfect Strangers and more recent material, and when Steve played the first notes of that world famous riff of Smoke On The Water the crowd erupted and nearly took the roof off again.

It was certainly good to see a packed Auditorium and just shows that the people of Grimsby are prepared to turn out and give their support.

Andrew Bolton

Ian GIllan appeared on Grimsby TV...

Celebrity Scoop For GTV

Rock legend Ian Gillan brought a touch of glamour to the GTV studios yesterday when he popped into the East Coast Media facility at Grimsby College. He talked about Deep Purple's UK tour which kicked off at Grimsby Auditorium last night.

Gillan was the biggest celebrity so far to grace the studios which are part of the local TV news service in which the Grimsby Telegraph is a partner. Broadcast journalism candidate Sarah Rourke asked the questions as the veteran rocker talked about his career, his enduring appeal to a younger audience, his new album and the thrill of playing venues like Grimsby.

After the interview, Gillan and his management gave GTV priority passes for last night's show at which footage was filmed to use with the interview to produce a GTV special.

Thanks to This Is Grimsby and Matthew Norman Hedley

Back to reviews