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Majestic Theatre, San Antonio, TX, USA
February 20, 2004

9:15 pm

Silver Tongue
Woman From Tokyo
I Got Your Number
Strange Kind Of Woman
Bananas
Knocking On Your Back Door
Contact Lost
Well Dressed Guitar
House of Pain
Airey keys solo
PerfectStrangers

Machine Head set 10:10pm

Highway Star
Maybe I'm A Leo
Pictures Of Home
Never Before
When A Blind Man Cries
Space Truckin'
Airey organ solo
Lazy
Smoke On The Water

encore 11:00pm-11:12

Speed King (with a medley of shorts)
Hush

What a night! Last night's show was far superior to the last two times Purple have been in (or near) San Antonio - when they co-headlined with Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Scorpions. The crowd at the Majestic Theatre was so much more responsive than the ones at those last two shows, it was unbelievable.
We got there as "The Tribute To Thin Lizzy" was finishing their set. Great musicians I'm sure, but I have to draw the line at them calling themselves Thin Lizzy. Is there a Mrs. Lynott getting a cut? And no Brian Downey! As a drummer, that hurts. This could be why I don't have much of a problem with Purple's membership changes... Mr. Paice is always there.
Okay, Deep Purple was on about 9:10 pm. The set was as described in earlier reviews ("House of Pain" was in there this time). And what a cooking set from start to finish.
Silver Tongue is a great opener, and it's wonderful to see so many new songs played. It would have been nice for a Purpendicular or Abandon song to make it, but oh well.
The entire band had an energy that was astounding. I noticed the previous night's show in Oklahoma City had been cancelled (wonder why?). A night of rest might have been good.
There was a funny moment when Gillan started to introduce the Contact Lost/Well-Dressed Guitar segment and Roger hurried over to remind him that Knocking At Your Back Door was next. After that song, Gillan picked up the intro again with the comment that he'd been interrupted by someone "knocking at his back door."
Amongst the newest members I noticed some things. Don Airey was magnificent and a breath of fresh air (of course, nothing against the master Jon Lord). His solo was very entertaining (Yellow Rose of Texas thrown in for local yuks). I thought he fit in fine with Purple and will probably just fit better as time goes on.
Which brings me to my second point... Steve Morse seems to blend better with the other guys now. When I've seen them the last few years, despite what he brought to the band, it always seemed like Deep Purple plus Steve Morse. He now seems fully integrated into the band. The addition of Don probably helps that along, too.
A fantastic show.
I picked up the Paice DVD for a low $25 (low for concert merch) and my wife bought the tickets as an early anniversary present. I'm on cloud nine...
Lance Farley

San Antonio and Galveston marked my ninth and tenth Deep Purple concerts since the Perfect Strangers your came to Dallas in 1985. They were also the third consecutive tour that has played San Antonio and the Houston area. Both shows were musically stunning - as good as any show I’ve seen them do. The performances were technically spot on and emotionally exhausting with the band in great form, having a ball and obviously loving every minute of the gigs. The big differences were in venue and playing time.
Scott Holman - read Holman's full review

Texans remember the Alamo and will never forget Bananas.
This was an absolute perfect gig. The Majestic Theater is an old venue in the heart of San Antonio, Texas, just blocks away from the famous Alamo Fort. A beautiful setting for a show of this caliber. We traveled from Florida for this show and all I can say is that it was a trip to die for.
We stayed right across the street from the theater on the 21st floor of the Holiday Inn with a balcony overlooking the rear of the theater where the tour buses parked and the equipment was unloaded. (see Tracey's photos). We hung out with the roadies while they unloaded and took some pictures. Later while in the hotel room, looking down from the balcony, John Sykes from Thin Lizzy arrived in a taxi and walked across the street to the show with guitar in hand. What a great hotel location.
We dressed for the show and went on down. It started promptly at 8:00. Thin Lizzy came on and played a very nice array of familiar tunes. Sykes has done a great job rejuvenating this band. He does a great job with the vocals they seem to be having a great time. Approximately an hour set. Enough about them.
Now let's go Bananas! From the opening of Silver Tongue, to the encore closing of Hush, these guys ripped through a blistering set of great tunes, in my opinion, never played better. Roger bouncing all the way, Gillan singing every tune with finesse, Paicey perfectly timing out the whole show, Don putting his own signature to great old songs, and Steve playing now, with the Deep Purple feeling that he probably lacked at the beginning of his time with the band.
It was great to finally get a full show again. The last tours where the bill was shared with other bands, reducing the set lists to 75 minutes and 12 to 14 songs, left you gasping for more and feeling unsatisfied. 20 great tunes played with all the energy and skill ever evoked in a live concert.
This band has finally found its mesh and all I can say is, this is Deep Purple! They've been together long enough for each to rub off on each other. Steve's playing style has conformed just enough to the classic Purple sound where he now, influences the music with his style yet maintains that classic feel. The band's sound has absorbed his style and he absorbed the bands style. This is so apparent and very settling. No one that hears this band at this stage can deny that this is Purple at its best.
I was a little skeptical of the idea of them playing the whole Machine Head album straight through. I've grown weary of those same old tunes. I was wrong! Even though they've always played most of the tunes sporadically during every tour, hearing it done like this was a brainstorm. It really worked. Not to mention hearing the whole thing under the present line-up.
The songs from Bananas went over real well and are great live. I miss the MK 7 tunes.
Speed King was a welcome surprise during the encore. Steve's Well Dressed Guitar has developed into quite a crowd pleaser. I didn't care fore it when I heard it on the orchestra concert. It has evolved since, and they have added just the right stuff to make it a definite Purple instrumental, and it gets the crowd going.
I only have one request for future shows from this tour. Add Sun Goes Down to the shows. Either in addition to or in replacement of one the others. It is the most liked tune on the Bananas album if you read all of the album reviews and I have to agree. An absolute perfect tune to do live, which could easily be expanded upon and driven to an incredible level. Trust me on this one.
After the show, we met the band and got some more pics. They signed some pictures we took from previous shows and chatted for a while. Mr. Gillan looked completely exhausted - as well he should after a two hour balls to the wall performance. He gave it his all and made it very clear that he has plenty left and that he still has what it takes to drive this band.
Tracy Heyder