[% META title = 'Tour Reviews' %]
Biker chicks, dudes and social deviants - unite!
I clearly recall the impact that Made In Japan had on me as a 12-year-old boy growing up in Queens, NY. It hit me straight between the eyes. (Sorry, no pun intended, Ritchie.)
So, here it is almost 30 years after those historic recordings from Osaka and Tokyo and Ian Gillan still delivers razor sharp lines, although without the unabashed screams and shrieks that only a man in his 20s is capable of.
Between acts I enjoyed gazing at the 70s stalwarts, biker chicks and dudes and social deviants (like myself) who refuse to let the music die even though the days of radio play and sellouts are long gone. Kudos to the ladies that still carry the torch.
The urban landscape comic strip backdrop came down after The Scorpions went off and DP came on about 9:30pm. The sound was improved over the first two acts [Moray The Engineer knows his stuff! Rasmus]. It was of course louder, mixed better and didn't suffer from the muddy bass of the opening act Dio.
The band opened with Fireball and into Woman From Tokyo. I then became aware of Don Airey presence as he provided the soft keyboard touches during the bridge of WFT as Ians voice floated above it.
When Mr. Gillan introduced Steve Morse and The Well Dressed Guitar from the new release you could see why he had received all the critical acclaim since his days with the Dixie Dregs in the late 70s. Morse's Fender had more of an 80s metal tint than Blackmore's fluid mid range delivered. Roger Glover and Ian Paice are still vibrant and musical as they have ever been. Ian Paice played a short solo which brought back memories of Gillan on MIJ: "Ian Paice, Ian Paice - alright!"
One favourite of mine was Black Night which quite naturally flowed into a version of Gary Glitter's Rock And Roll Part II and had even the most stoned of concert goers on their feet. The only between songs banter was when Gillan wanted to tell the story behind Knocking At Your Back Door but, refrained due to the "naughty nature" of the tune. DP also played Lazy, Speed King and SOTW amongst a few others, and at encore time closed with Hush and Highway Star .
In this era of bullshit bands like the Eagles get $100 a ticket for the seats I sat in for just $35. You can't go wrong here, and since you don't have to take ludes or acid like we did back in the day, you actually remember the show the next day.