EARS STILL RINGING from last night's concert - I feel privileged to have seen them - what a band!
The first thing that's changed is that Steve and Jon share the same side of the stage. Rog has been pushed out into Ritchie's old spot. Its great 'cos the guitarist and the keyboard player stand next to each other and trade licks like crazy all night.
And what's this ..... I don't believe it... the guitarist has a smile on his face!
They lanched into 'Fireball' as a superb opener, finishing the song with the riff from 'Into the Fire'. The house just bellowed their appreciation as the last crashing chord exploded. Everyone new that Deep Purple was back... and in a big way.
Then onto 'Maybe I'm a Leo', 'Vavoom', 'Black Night', 'Pictures of Home', 'Woman from Tokyo', 'Cascades: I'm not your lover'.
Two acoustic guitars appear on stage. They're strapped to stands. Surely Steve can't play 3 at once, I'm thinking. Rog leans over one - bass behind his back, Steve over the other and big Ian tells a rather unlikely tale about being in a bar, head in hands, reading a letter written in spanish. Sometime I feel like screaming, he says and Steve plays the opening lines of that superb melody. For me, this was the most impressive song of the evening. Morse is just amazing, he's accurate, he's expressive, he's technically accomplished (a master of the pinched harmonic), and the end of that song is just soooooo completely absorbing - I can't get it out of my head.
Then into 'Smoke on the Water'..... not a great rendition but an interesting treatment of the riff by Steve. Jon picked this song for his organ solo (well ...the biggy, anyway). Why is it that nobody can ever get close to the sound of that B3?. He can still impress as he glides up and down that keyboard, a grey pony-tailed dervish, massive twin leslie speakers behind his head, whirling away almost as fast as the man himself.
What else?.... I'm forgetting the song order.
I think it was 'Purpendicular Waltz' next. "I can't understand why they call it a waltz" says Ian..."Doesn't sound like a waltz to me".
Next... 'Rat Bat Blue'............."named after a drum beat" says Ian. Followed by 'Rosa's Cantina', 'No-one came', 'Somebody stole my guitar',
Then the most totally stunning version of 'Speed King' I have ever heard. "This is the most romantic song that we ever wrote", goes the intro. Ian's still able to reach the heights, only perhaps not quite as often as he used to. He was duelling with Steve's guitar several times during the night and was spot on .... well ...close enough for rock and roll. :-)
Encores: 'Perfect Strangers', 'Hey Cisco', 'Highway Star'
What else can I say? Apart from slight distortion in the sound system, one of the best concerts I've seen. The band seem really happy, like men set free, and it shows in their performance. Rog was really getting into it. I've never seen him up front there, leaping about ..even applauding the crowd!.
The new songs fit in well with the old, yet they seem like a different band when they're playing from new album.
What of the missing man in black.... well I'd loved to have seen him up there too. His style and charisma were a big part of DP's performance. SOTW wasn't quite the same without him...
but all the same...
Purpenfanbloodytasticdicular!
Graeme Miller
Newsgroups: alt.music.deep-purple Subject: Leicester/UK 25/2/96 - Review From: G.R.M.Miller@Open.ac.uk (Graeme Miller)
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