Music and magic
The musical party on Montage Mountain was an unforgettable night! Deep Purple proved again that they are at the top of their game.
The set list:
"Woman From Tokyo"
"Ted The Mechanic"
"Lazy"
"No One Came"
"Fools"
"Pictures Of Home"
"Perfect Strangers"
"When A Blind Man Cries"
"Smoke On The Water"
Encores:
"Hush"
"Highway Star"
I'm in complete agreement with the other reviewers that the 75-minute set is way too short. It has forced the boys to cut short those extended solos that We The Fans have come to appreciate: Paicey's prowess; Morse's mastery; Lord's lightning-fast keyboard domination. It has also cramped the style (IMHO) of The Barefoot Singer who loves to talk about the songs in between. Some fans may appreciate less talk. Me? I like more of Ian's wit and song background AND more music!! Well - we Purple fans will consider this time constraint and its effects only temporary.
Since this is a review for The Highway Star (I cannot wait to get the new THS t-shirt!) I will not bore you with Ted Nugent or Lynyrd Skynyrd. Let me just say that Ted opened, LS closed the show and the bands were - in this order - good, Fantastic, and good. Am I biased? Of course. But the reason that Deep Purple are fantastic is their love and commitment to their music. They have only gotten better at what they do. Many bands after many years lose the spark of excitement in recording and playing live. Deep Purple, it is obvious, absolutely love playing together and appear to be good friends both on/off stage. It shows by the interaction and the smiles. It appeared to me as though the band was feeding off the energy and love of the audience, and vice versa.
The set? I refuse to complain about a favorite song not being played because I know of the limitations of time on this tour, plus - they played my favorite song from "Fireball" - "Fools". What a treat! I really do like the 2001 version of the song.
Let me also say that I am very happy that the band brought back into the set Tuesday night "Pictures Of Home", a great song. Despite the shortness, I got to hear several songs that I did not get to hear at Harvey's Lake in '98.
Deep Purple: Guys - you're the Best. You looked great and sounded awesome! It was worth Jimmy and me driving 450 miles from Yorktown, Virginia to hear the Best Live Show in the world! We had a great time. Roger - you looked like you were having almost too much fun out there. I hope that doesn't change.
I'm very much looking forward to seeing you guys in southeast Virginia after the release of the next Deep Purple masterpiece.
[ reviews | the highway star ]