[ d e e p P u r . p l e ) The Highway Star

For God's sake, go see them, folks!!!

Hello All!
Thursday night's show at the CenturyTel Center was splendid! Nugent was Nugent, cliched and hackneyed, but fun nonetheless, and Skynyrd was underwhelming to say the least. Purple was right on the mark, though!

The set list was as follows:
"Woman From Tokyo"
"Ted The Mechanic"
"Lazy"
"Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming"
"Fools"
"Hey Cisco"
"Perfect Strangers"
"When A Blind Man Cries"
"Smoke On The Water"
(encore) "Hush"
"Highway Star"

Gillan took the stage in bright red leather pants that were so loose that he was constantly jumping up and hiking them back up to his waist. He also wore a loose blue work shirt... Fashion conscious as ever, our Ian!

The band took the stage with a power and energy that just crackled. Despite excellent, excellent performances from everyone, it is fair to say that the evening belonged to Jon. He was all over his Hammond, with vital, energetic solos everywhere, and he attacked the organ with a ferocity and animation that was astounding. I'm not sure what was up with Jon that night, but he was sure feeling his Wheaties. Big Ian was also in superb form. Indeed, his voice was incredible.

I've seen Purple five times and this was musically probably the best performance I've seen, marred only by the fact that they only played a half set. If they were anywhere near this hot for the Fort Lauderdale show, that DVD will be a must-have!

Go see them, folks! For God's sake, go see them!!!

Brent Soileau


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