Deep Purple and Orchestra in Stuttgart, 17 October 2000
Hi,
I was at the Deep Purple and Orchestra concert in Stuttgart last night and I simply have to say that I have never seen or heard anything like it before. For more than 2,5 hours all the musicians (including the Romanian Philharmonic Orchestra) seemed to be in the best of moods and they played the finest of music. I'm afraid this review will be full of superlatives, but - for me - this is the only way to express what was going on in the Schleyerhalle last night.
The performance started dead on time at 8 o'clock and went on until 10.45 with hardly a chance for the musicians (or the audience) to get their breath back. It didn't matter which song they played or who performed on stage (Gillan, Dio, ....) - each song was an absolute highlight and the audience was thrilled and hardly stopped applauding from beginning to end.
After more than one hour I thought that it was too late by then for Lord's "Concerto", but, there it was at 9.25, and it was yet another perfect act! The Romanian Philharmonic Orchestra showed a splendid performance, and Steve Morse, Jon Lord, Ian Paice and all the others showed that they are still the best hard rock band in the world! Everybody was listening intently, and after each movement the crowd couldn't do anything else but start clapping their hands frenetically. After the final chords of the "Third Movement", nobody in front of the stage remained in their seat, but they moved to the stage and celebrated Deep Purple and the orchestra!
After a superb "Smoke On The Water", the orchestra and Deep Purple said good night, but the crowd continued to scream and shout for them to come back, which they did after a few minutes! "Black Night" and "Highway Star" marked the end of this memorable night, which was worth every penny! We left the Schleyerhalle with sore throats, aching palms and ringing ears... :-)
Only one thing could have been better: No chairs are necessary for this kind of concert! Even "The Concerto" can be fully appreciated while standing!
A hearty thank you to Deep Purple (and the orchestra) for this fantastic performance!
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