I love this band
My girlfriend and I drove over 300 miles from Nashville, TN to the Noblesville show (just outside of Indianapolis) last night. When we got there we realized that our seats were horrible. I got them online after selecting "best available" and according to the venue seating chart they looked way better than they were. They were all the way to the very left and the view of the stage was pitiful. We spent most of Ted Nugent's set devising a plan to sneak up near the front. We found an almost empty row 7-8 rows back and waited till Ted finished, then sneaked up there and waited 20 minutes till showtime.
Deep Purple was absolutely incredible!!! I've only been a fan since 1997 but since then have bought all their albums, the bootleg box, Ian Gillan's biography, etc. Before recently I had only bought the "Perfect Strangers" album back in '84 while I was in high school. They are now absolutely one of my favorite bands of all time. A couple of weeks before last night's show I noticed they had taken "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming" out of the set so I sent an e-mail to Steve Morse's webmaster asking him to pass along a request for "Sometimes" from me for this particular show. It's my girlfriend's favorite DP song and we were coming all that way so we really wanted to hear that one live. Apparently he got the message because they played it!!! When Steve started the song he was looking around trying to see if he could spot who requested it. We were ecstatic so we were pretty easy to spot. He just gave us a big smile and kept on jammin'. The crowd reaction after the song was amazing. You could tell most of the people hadn't heard it before but the playing and the energy was undeniable. Does this band rule or what?!!!
At the end of the show I ran up to the front of the stage and Ian Paice threw a drumstick. It landed in my hand but some drunk guy reached for it and knocked it to the floor. A security guy picked it up and held it out. I grabbed it and the drunk guy spilled some beer on me while he fumbled for it. I had a firm grip on it but the security guy asked me to let go and then gave it to the drunk. I couldn't believe it. What was up with that? I then walked around looking for picks and couldn't find any but a guy came up to me and handed me a Steve Morse pick. He said if I liked them enough to wear a t-shirt they weren't even selling at the show then I was a big enough fan to deserve a pick.
I'm sorry about this big long editorial. I know this is supposed to be a review. I could go on here for pages and pages but you probably get the picture by now. I love this band and they are definitely at the top of their game. Go see Deep Purple if you ever get the chance!!!
They should get a longer set but it was absolutely one of the most incredible, energetic performances I've ever seen. Thanks for a great night, guys.
Setlist:
"Woman From Tokyo"
"Ted The Mechanic"
"Lazy"
"Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming"
"No One Came"
"Fools"
"Perfect Strangers"
"When A Blind Man Cries"
(Riff Raff included:
"I Can't Explain"
"Ain't Talkin Bout Love"
"Whole Lotta Love"
"Purple Haze"
"Sweet Home Alabama"
"La Grange"
"You Really Got Me" and maybe a couple of others)
"Smoke On The Water"
Encores:
"Hush"
"Highway Star"
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