Rotterdam 30/10/2000 (louder than London)
Came home from a great gig (my 8th Purple gig and my friend's first).
First: highlights
Great sound!!! There were cameras (big ones) filming the gig. The audience was superb (almost a full house). Gillan was dressed much better than at the two Albert Hall gigs, his voice was in very good shape and he didn't forget any lyrics. :o)
"Love Is All" (Ronnie James Dio rules.)
"Fools" (No, it wasn't the orchestra in the middle section, it was Jon's synthesiser.)
"When A Blind Man Cries" (One of the best versions I have ever heard.)
"Sometimes I feel Like Screaming" (Breathless after this one.)
"Perfect Strangers" (..........wow.........Volledig uit mijn dak (that's
Dutch.))
Downers:
A couple of yellers at the beginning of the gig (why pay money and try to
ruin a gig?)
NO "Second Movement" (Why??? this audience was good, I expected that they
would play it.)
The new Ronnie James Dio song (I forgot the title but it didn't do a thing for me.) Last downer: it's over...
Set list (as far as I can remember, not the right order):
Jon Lord, "We have some quiet bits and pieces....later we'll send you home
deaf!"
1. "Pictured Within" (Miller Anderson. Good vocals, not as good as the
Albert Hall Gig.)
2. "Sitting In A Dream" (RJD - great song.)
3. "Love Is All"!! (RJD again, the crowd goes mad!!! Nice female singers!)
4. New Dio thing...no, not that good.
5. "Rainbow In The Dark" (Very well played.)
6. "Fools" (Amazing, it was the first time I've heard them play this one live, not
counting the bootlegs. Steve's solo wasn't as good as the one from the bootleg "Explosion Of Silence". Gillan's vocals were great.)
7. "When A Blind Man Cries" (B e a u t i f u l !!! "Adagio For Strings" as
an intro by Morse's guitar fitting in very well. Gillan was amazing.)
8. "Wring That Neck" (Very jazzy, great horn players, Little Ian was doing a
good job.)
9. "Well Dressed Guitar" (A new thing by Steve. A bit short. A bit of a
Beethoven feel to it.)
10. "Ted The Mechanic" (Slightly different to the Albert Hall gig. A little
battle between Steve and Jon.)
11. "Pictures Of Home" (A stunning intro. The good looking girls and the not so
good looking MA on backing vocals.)
12. "Sometimes I feel Like Screaming" (Gillan doing a good job again, his voice
is getting better the last 3 years or so, good backing vocals and the mix with the orchestra is good.)
13. "Movement 1" (Well played, more compact and a better mix than the two
Albert Hall gigs.)
14. "Movement 3" (No "Movement 2", but a very well performed "Movement 3". Great drum solo.)
15. "Perfect Strangers" (An absolute killer version with full orchestra!!!)
16. "Smoke On The Water" (... well...whatever...it was nice.)
17. "Black Night" (Good version.)
18. "Highway Star" (A very strange intro with strange noises from Mr Gillan. A very powerful version.)
The orchestra stuff was mixed better than at the two Albert Hall gigs (yep, I was there, both shows :-) ) You could mention that the band and orchestra played together for a while. Everything went very smoothly. The ambiance was of course not as beautiful as the Albert Hall. The sound, however, was much better than expected and louder than London (but not too loud as the gig in Ahoy 1998 was). This was one of the best Purple gigs I've been to (8 gigs in total). I hope to find some recordings of the gig very very soon. Let me know if you have it on tape...
So far, so good,
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