Ritchie Who?
Playlist:
"Woman From Tokyo"
"Ted The Mechanic"
"No One Came"
"Fools"
"Lazy"
"Pictures of Home"
"Perfect Strangers"
"When A Blind Man Cries"
Morse Medley-"Smoke On The Water"
Encore:
"Hush"
"Highway Star"
Being one who remembers the Deep Purple first double album (I have it somewhere) it didn't take much for me to accept the offer to go to the Nugent-DP-Skynyrd concert (actually it was my idea). I knew how old I was when the speakers were blaring out "Wring That Neck" some 20 minutes before Nugent and people were saying, "Who's that, they sound great!" Hey I've been saying that for 30 plus years......and even though my original DP shirt has long since faded and trashed (it was purple by the way)....I remain one of the staunchest of fans.....still say Deep Purple when people ask me my fave rock band.
Enough reminiscing.....we were filled with trepidation after the Nugent set...as the crowd was fired up and we didn't want DP to disappoint. Some of the Blackmore stuff was mentioned....but not for long. DP was awesome.
Ian remains the greatest "screamer" in rock...and Lord and the boys keep that drivin' force goin'. Morse was beyond all our expectations. After the concert, the people that I was with kept sayin', "Wow....didn't expect DP to be that good! Morse may have been the best guitarist up there for all 3 sets!"
As everyone has mentioned....the set was too short. The only addition to rev up the crowd may be "Space Truckin'"....it gets mucho play time on Ohio classic rock radio.
The crowd responded OK.....especially to "Perfect Strangers"....after that DP had the crowd in their pocket. They had me way before that. I stood through the entire set and "Pictures Of Home" has always been my fave DP song. The highlight of the night for me was "When A Blind Man Cries"....wow.....unbelievably great!!!
I think the highlight for the crowd was the rock medley by Morse.....you know I was screaming and into it so much I'm not even sure all that I heard.....but I heard bits of "LaGrange", Zeppelin, Hendrix, "Sweet Home Alabama"...and a few others. I always liked Ritchie Blackmore......but since he's with DP I love Morse.
For those of you that skip Nugent and leave after DP....if you have the slightest liking of any of Ted's or Skynyrd's songs you'll find it a treat. Ted is hilarious but profane....I think he calls everyone m'fers. Skynyrd sounds crisp and tight (as did DP). Rickey Medlocke of Blackfoot fame is a great addition. Billy Powell on piano seems to be better and Van Zant sounds just like his brother.
All in all a fabulous night for some old fart rockers like ourselves (people kept asking us how old we were).
Let's do it again.
DEEP PURPLE ROCKS!!!
[ reviews | the highway star ]