Newsgroups: alt.music.deep-purple
Subject: Deep Purple in Hartford (11/23/96)
From: wfeltovic@aol.com
Date: 25 Nov 1996 16:50:26 GMT

Hi. I have been waiting patiently (well not really patiently) to see Deep Purple (with Ian Gillan) since 1985. I didn't have the honor of meeting the band backstage after the show, but what I saw out front (fourth row center stage) was enough to make it worth the wait. I thought I would offer my (humble) opinions on the show for any who are interested.

I have seen literally hundreds of bands in my life, both new acts trying to make it and old veterans, and that band on Saturday had to be one of the tightest bands I have ever seen. They played with a precision that many bands only dream about. The obvious criticism is that when you play the same set over and over again, you cannot help but get it right, and that may be true, but each member was msiling, and there were numerous times where one member would lean over and whisper something to another, and both would crack huge smiles. Rarely in this day and age to you see bands have that much obvious fun on stage.

Great start with 'Hush', and 'Fireball' was no let down (was that a snippet of 'Into the Fire' I heard at the end?) Steve Morse played the old material close enough to the Blackmore versions to get the spirit of the song without becoming a parrot. During 'Woman from Tokyo', my friend and I just looked at each other in amazement; we could not believe the power of the band on stage; it was like a freight train. The new material fit in quite well. At the very least there was no letdown in the energy level of either the crowd or the band. 'No One Came' was a highlight for me, and Ian Gillan in particular was in great form on this song. In fact, Ian Gillan was a surprise to me, as I had heard from a few people (including Ritchie Blackmore's comments in several recent guitar magazines) that he was prone to his off nights. Well, based on this show, I openly wonder what Ritchie is talking about. Anyway, nice touch with the strobe lights during (I think) 'Speed King', and nice touch with the green lights in 'Perfect Strangers'. the band ended strongly with 'Highway Star' (nice touch again with Steve Morse picking up the slack a little, recreating Ian's screams from the original recording).

Just a great show all around, strongly recommended to those contemplating going. Although I rarely post to the group, I do lurk and read most of what gets written, and in appreciation to all those that gave information on previous shows, I thought I would return the favor for those not able to make the Hartford date.

Bill F.

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