Back to

Europe reviews

Current reviews

Janez Pelko's photos

Mestni Stadium, Izola, Slovenia
July 6, 2004

From the cold Germany and Switzerland to the sunny and hot town Izola on the Slovenian coast!
As I was told Cheap Trick's guitarist Mr.Nielsen was very happy when he stepped out of the touring bus straight into the Mediterranean type of weather (31 degrees C) and saw the blue sea. In fact I was less happy with their performance. Okay, they are good but something is missing there. They're not British...
Status Quo rocked the audience with their stunning performance. I guess they are like wine - the older the better! During their gig the adrenalin is flowing down my veins. They are the ultimate rock band. Can't wait to see them in Stuttgart in October...
Then Deep Purple came on stage. They faced jolly good response from the audience - much better than in Coburg. Even though the audience consisted mostly of young teenagers who have hardly seen Purple live before. The band felt that reaction very much. They gave us a tremendous performance. Gillan told us about the positive vibes from the audience. "Consider yourself a part of the band!" were his words.
The setlist was all the same except one song - Demon's Eye! Yeaaaaah! Great! Thank you for this surprise.
The peak of the show was of course Highway Star and the mighty Smoke on the Water.
All in all it was really a joyful evening of classic rock in a small but proud country.
Purple, see ya in November, - Wembley Arena, London UK!
But I still miss Ritchie...
Boštjan Zadnikar

July 6th was my lucky day. After seven months Deep Purple returned to Slovenia and performed with two great bands, Status Quo and Cheap Trick, supported by slovenian rockers Requiem.
I arrived to Izola in the morning to get my photopass. It's a great feeling to be a big Deep Purple fan and have a chance to make some good photos.
One funny thing happened before the press conference. While we were waiting, Don Airey arrived and went straight to the piano in a restaurant. He played some notes and within a moment he was surrounded by half dozen of photographers. He was very nice and posed us so we could get some good photos. But the greatest moment was for me to meet Roger Glover and Steve Morse at the press conference. They are really nice guys and in spite of all those silly questions that journalists often ask they were very polite. At the end of the short meeting I got some autographs and talked a bit with Mr. Glover and Mr. Morse. I was so nervous that I almost forgot all my English... But these were really a great moments for me.
The show started at about 6pm wit Requiem, which performed only for about 20 minutes. They were good and people enjoyed them.
Cheap Trick show lasted for about an hour and they really set the audience on fire. They were funny, they rocked, they played excellent!
Status Qou are also the legends and they proved it with proffesional, energetic and enthusiastic performance.
At about 10pm the stage was ready for Deep Purple. When they showed up, the audience went crazy. They started with Silver Tongue and continued with Woman From Tokyo. Those were the songs that we, photographers, could also take photos, then we had to ged rid of our cameras and return to the show. So I missed 'I Got Your Number' but really enjoyed the rest of the show, which was amazing in all aspects.
The band was in great condition, Gillan's voice was superb, sound was clear and loud, whole atmosphere was just perfect.
Set list was similair to other shows on this tour and I was glad they added Demon's Eye. Maybe I missed some Purpendicular songs and Speed King, which was on a set list written at Paice's drums as the last song of the encocore.
But anyway, show lasted about two hours and noone was dissapointed. Just the opposite, all that I talked to were amazed. After all, band members are not among youngest, but with their fresh and strong performance they beat many younger rock groups.
Long live Deep Purple!
Janez Pelko