HI,
Well, the second gig on the UK tour at the Reading Rivermead Leisure Centre took place on Friday night (16th Feb) and by all accounts was a stunner!
We arrived at around 6:50pm to see a large queue of people filing into the hall. Inside, it was your basic large sports hall with stage at the far end.
There seemed to be a good range of merchandise and the programme is more a diary of events for the band through 1995. It contains Rogers studio reports and other nice bits and bobs. I won't go into content here but will just say buy one as (IMHO) it is much better than your average concert programme (cost = 6 UKP).
Pan Ram started up around 7:30 and seemed to be heavy metal based. The singer reminded me of Rob Halford and the chap from "The Scorpions" (neither of which I am very fond ;-}). The band tried to do some complex stuff but sometimes got a little lost. All in all they seemed to get the crowd warmed up.
They played for around 40 minutes. In the break we noticed the new stage setup. Jon Lord at the back left stage on a platform, Ian Paice on the right back platform.
At 8:45pm, house lights down, crowd roars and suddenly we are off:
Fireball: A cracking version. I like this opening and gives Roger the chance of the spotlight in the first five minutes of a concert ;-). The sounds is very good indeed. We were standing right in front of the sound desk.
Rog is on the Right of the stage and Steve on the left.
Maybe I'm A Leo: Similar version to the 94/95 tours - nice, tight and very well done by all band members.
Vavoom - Ted the Mechanic: First of the new album but already known from the live tapes. This song works really well on stage and although most of the crowd don't seem to know the new stuff, this goes down very well indeed. Nice chugging rhythm.
Its at this point that I notice a totally relaxed feel to the concert. All is going well and the band are enjoying what they are doing. The crowd seem very happy. I felt sure there were going to calls for Blackmore but they are not obvious.
Woman From Tokyo: Cracking. The middle "quiet" section done perfectly! Jon's piano solo ringing out loud and clear.
Pictures of Home: Again, this version is similar to the versions on the 94/95 tours but does not go into the organ/keyboard solo. Instead:-
Black Night: Good, powerful version with a lovely guitar/organ duel in the solo section. Sounds fresh and alive.
Rat Bat Blue: This was a nice surprise and as IG noted was a "new one" for him.
Part of the hardware on stage breaks down and we have a little gap which allows IG to tell us a short story - about the "wheelbarrow position". Nuff said. Jon finds the problem and we are into.
Cascades - I'm not your Lover: well executed. Not one of my fav tracks from the new album though.
Sometimes I feel Like Screaming: This was brilliant! Good vocals. This is a good live track. Here I notice that we are having a very good vocal performance from IG. Screams are not being thrown in but the songs are being sung. There is not a lot of "I thaaaaaaaaannnnnnk You!" in between songs either. This is great (IMO). SM is also showing what a great guitarist he is and how well he has fitted into the band. Many people may not see this line-up as the classic Purple but I hope you will all see just how good they are (and soon ;-))
Mary Long: Good stuff. I have always liked this tune and it was nice to hear it get a live airing again. The closing section is particularly good. SM is not playing the solos note for note - they are his versions.
Purpendicular Waltz: Another one you may be aware of live. Similar delivery to the 94/95 versions.
We then get an interesting bass introduction to:
No One Came: This was the highlight of the night for me. A classic tune that has been overlooked for many years and it works wonderfully live. Well done guys for including this one (did the a.m.d-p wish lists influence this choice?)
Rosa's Cantina: One of my faves from the new album and it works really well live.
Smoke on the Water: Uh-Oh! I feel this could be the end of the main set. The song has a freshness to it and it is not drawn out. This is very close to the classic MIJ version. Is it the end...?
No because we go (nicely) into Jon's solo section. Good Hammond playing, some nice piano pieces and it all has a good direction. The man still has it ;-)
When a Blind Man Cries: This was the second highlight for me! The guitar work was great and IG sang wonderfully. Crowd singing gave this a nic e dimension too.
Somebody Stole My Guitar: Good version.
Speed King: A very powerful way to finish the main set. Nice soloing and some great IG vocals (again). The band have obviously picked up some confidence on the way through the show and the crowd response has got better and better.
End of main set.
SM had a couple of nice solo sections at the beginning of a couple of songs and these were well appreciated. No Ian Paice solo. I wonder if this has been dropped because he has been powering the rhythm along for around 110 minutes with a couple of breaks. Roger is also very apparent in the sound. It is nice to hear his bass again. A short break and the band are back.....
Perfect Strangers: I remember the power and majesty of the 1987 tour for this song but this sounds much more powerful. No lasers this time but good use of the vari-lites instead.
Hey Cisco!: I think it was mentioned here about possibly combining this with Highway Star as the snare beat intro sounds similar. This is another good song live and seems to sit nicely in the encore section.
Highway Star: Again a very strong version of an old fav. Nice use of a mirror ball during the song and we crash out to IG screaming away!
Overall around 132 mins (from recorded source ;-)). I really enjoyed the concert. I wasn't disappointed and my expectations were very high having heard the new album. Some of the classic riffs may have gone but there is a driving power to this group now. The crowd were very appreciative and seemed well pleased judging by comments on the way out. I think there could be room for changing some of the songs in the set list (not permanently) just to add a little variety now and again ;-).
The crowd size must have been somewhere around 2000 people. The venue itself was quite good so may go there again.
Jason, Ian, Claire, Lorraine and Peter all seemed very happy with the concert. Geoff seemed a little more reserved about it (what do you think now Geoff?). It was nice to see some a.m.d -p people and put faces to names (like the t-shirt Geoff).
Next stop is Cambridge next Saturday ;-)
Newsgroups: alt.music.deep-purple Subject: Reading/UK 16/2/96 - Review From: Howard.Surridge@brunel.ac.uk (Howard Surridge)
[ Purpendicular | Rosa's Cantina ]