A great night of rock 'n' roll
It was great to welcome Deep Purple to San Antonio. I'd been waiting for over 25 years to see them and this was not a chance to be missed. Ted Nugent got the crowd thoroughly warmed up as they were waiting with great anticipation the arrival of Deep Purple to the Alamo City. Ian Paice entered first and the crowd went off. Once it got started, it never slowed down much.
I found Ian Gillan's vocals to be absolutely superb. I didn't figure he'd be able to carry the notes like he used to, but he sounded magnificent throughout the show. His barefoot antics clearly showed he was enjoying himself and was having a great time giving San Antonio a dose of Purple fever. While the crowd settled down during "Fools" and and "No One Came", they were alive for the rest of it. Steve's opening for "Smoke On The Water" had the crowd on its feet. He launched into a lengthy solo before hitting the first notes of their classic, which got the crowd going crazy. And Jon Lord's opening to "Perfect Strangers" brought huge roars of approval as he opened that great song. These guys may be a bit older, but they haven't lost anything. Roger and Ian Paice were awesome as well. I've always felt Ian was never given the respect he deserved for being the drummer for this world class band.
It was a true pleasure seeing this superb rock and roll band playing here in San Antonio, but it was truly amazing to see that this group was really enjoying themselves and were having fun playing together. The only thing that would have made it any better would have been if they had play "Child In Time", but then again, a great band like them can't fit everything into one show.
I certainly hope these kings of rock come back soon and often to San Antonio. Long live Deep Purple!!! And thanks for giving us a great night of rock 'n' roll!!!!
[ reviews | the highway star ]