DEEP PURPLE AT THE A. J. PALUMBO CENTER
PITTSBURGH, PA DECEMBER 6, 1996

In the summer of 1972 my friend Mark and I (both 13 at the time) were outside playing when an older neighbor invited us into his house to hear his new stereo. Up to that point in my life I had never given music much thought. The album we listened to was Machine Head. From the moment the stylus picked up the opening notes of Smoke on the Water, I never heard music the same again. Shortly after that my older brother, Michael, bought the album and we played it until the grooves were white. Over the next three years we became obsessed with the band and collected all of the Mark II and most of the Mark I & III albums. But for one pathetic reason after another we never were able to experience DP live. While others tried to tell me about Zep, Bowie, Tull or Aerosmith I stayed true to DP and Rainbow. As the years went by my brother moved onto Head Music (Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream) while DP carried me through to the early days of Punk to New Wave and finally Alternative. But DP always held a sacred spot in our hearts, even if our wives and kids couldn’t understand the appeal.

It’s simple: Deep Purple captured the hearts and souls of a generation of young men. Consequently, they defined Rock for us. DEEP PURPLE IS ROCK to us.

When I heard that four-fifths of the Mark II Deep Purple was scheduled to play at the Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, I knew I had to be there. Twenty-five years ago to the day, December 6, 1971, that they had started working in Montreaux, Switzerland on the greatest Hard Rock album in history.(Machine Head for those of you not paying attention.) Although I was a little unsure of what to expect without Blackmore, I became optimistic after reading the reviews on the internet. I attended the concert with my brother Michael, Glenn Z., Paul and Lorraine.

At precisely 8:40 p.m. the lights went out and the band took the stage with a no holds barred version of Hush. From the first coyote howl, the crowd on the floor pressed forward. The pit in front of the stage and center aisle were never cleared and the lower level stood and cheered for the whole show. The ‘Burgh loves their Purple! The reviews were right about the energy that Steve Morse brings to the whole band. The first 5 songs knocked me out! Sometime during the drawn out Cascades the energy seemed to subside and the middle third of the show , including MWFT & SOTW, lacked the same punch. But they found the Power Switch again and blew me away with Speed King and the encore songs.(See the play list below.) The show was over in one hundred minutes and the crowd left with Highway Star echoing inside their smiling heads.

Rock's future (as well as its past) is safe with Deep Purple. Don’t miss this show if they play your hometown! The only complaint I heard all night concerned the price of beer.

Answers to some questions you might have:

• The pipes are there!!! Ian Gillan is a phenomenon. He sounds as good now as on Fireball and JC Superstar.
• Roger Glover and Ian Paice play better and look younger than 25 years ago. These two are definitely getting better with age. I don’t think they are as impressive on vinyl as they are live.
• Jon Lord’s solos were the highlight and saving grace during the slow part of the show. It was easy for me to remember why I always liked him best. The electric piano at the end of Woman From Tokyo brought a tear to my eyes.
• Good news and bad news concerning Steve Morse. The DP veterans really seem to like playing with him and he jammed well with Jon Lord. However, he doesn’t have the same Blackmore style and sounds more like Eddie Van Halen. Although he played almost note for note the Highway Star solo, the rest of the night he chose to avoid copying Blackmore’s licks. I missed Ritchie alot more than I ever expected. Thank God that Jon’s playing carried the songs.
• The newer songs played very well live. IG thanked the crowd for reacting to the new songs as enthusiastically as they did for the MH songs.

Review submitted by The Amazing Kramboney

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