[% META title = 'Tour Reviews' %]
Ripped off in Dallas
I must say I was completely disappointed with Deep Purple's show last night at the Smirnoff Music Centre in Dallas, TX.
Dio started the evening with a solid, hard-rocking set, and Ronnie James Dio was in fine voice. They played a good selection of tunes from throughout Dio's career, from Rainbow classics like Man On The Silver Mountain, Long Live Rock'n'Roll, to Black Sabbath classics like Heaven And Hell, Children Of The Sea, to Dio's own Holy Diver, and Last In Line. The band was also in great form, and the crowd seemed to appreciate their energy and professionalism.
The Scorpions came on next with a killer set and a great performance. Klaus Meine was outstanding, and sang with such energy and passion. In the limited time they had, the band covered outstanding older songs like The Zoo, and In Trans, as well as their well known hits like No One Like You, Blackout, Bad Boys Running Wild, Big City Nights, and many others. By the time they came back for their encore with Still Lovin' You, and Rock You Like A Hurricane, they had the crowd whipped into a rock'n'roll frenzy. They could have easily played for another hour, and definitely deserve to be the sole headliners on this tour.
Deep Purple was a great disappointment, although I'm sure it was difficult to follow such a great performance. It's always a little disappointing when a band goes on tour without key members, and in Deep Purple's case, Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord were key to the band's classic sound and image. They played a few of the hits with little energy, and the rest seemed like filler on a bad club gig. We were treated to endless guitar, keyboard, and drum solos, some new songs that no one seemed to like or care about, and Steve Morse playing bits of other band's songs on guitar. If I had wanted to hear bits of songs from Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, or Lynyrd Skynyrd, I would've stayed home and played them myself on guitar. All in all, it was a major disappointment and a bit of a rip off.