Still got it going...
As my cousins and I pulled into the parking lot, we could hear in the distance Ted Nugent playing. I was so excited. Finally the day had come, I had been waiting months for this and here it was. We took our seats and proceeded to watch Ted Nugent do the last bit of his show by doing that weird buffalo sacrifice arrow thing with his guitar. I was able to view this oddity through the binoculars I had brought with me. Finally when TN pranced off the stage I was thrilled for I knew it was Deep Purple's time to get started. After about a 20-30 minute wait which involved their setting up of equipment, the show began. Out they came! Not flashy, not trying to be the ones they were before, and like other people mentioned, there were no leather pants tonight, just five guys with real talent out on stage. Ian Gillan came out in regular guy clothes but he was barefoot which I found charming. The crowd started to cheer and welcome them warmly. IG proceeded to talk and say stuff which right now I can't remember but must've been along the lines of "Thanks for that big welcome." Anyway, they went straight into "Woman From Tokyo". Everyone got up, applauded and cheered and sang along. Everyone was having a great time just listening.
I can't remember the order of the songs but when they played "When A Blind Man Cries", everyone got restless. Mind you, it's a great song but, for a concert where people wanted to hear hyped-up classics, it was really out of place I think. "Perfect Strangers" and "Lazy" were very well received. I noticed that IG was trying to hit those high notes he once could reach in the years of his youth. It would've been better had he kept in mind his limits and worked around those notes, but hell he sang great still. Jon Lord had a great solo in which everyone stood up to clap, it was great, a lot of emotion. I do remember the last song they played was of course the one everyone was dying to hear, "Smoke On The Water", which is the song my cousin hoped they would play. And sure enough, as soon as the first note was played, the crowd was on their feet. Everyone was dancing and cheering, singing along. It was fantastic. The energy that came from the crowd, it seemed as though DP was soaking it up and using it to deliver a great concert. Then they said thank you and left.
Everyone begged for them to come back, and they did. For their encore they played "Hush" and "Highway Star". Holy shit, I'm surprised that the roof didn't cave in. Everyone was shouting, whistling etc... It was definitely a DP crowd when they were on. After, they had to leave and they were ushered off the stage to the sound of happy and fulfilled fans. I'll never forget that. They still got it. They always will...
Deep Purple Lives On... Forever!!!!
[ reviews | the highway star ]