What a show!
Of course I was missing Jon, but Don Airey did a great job in his place, although the solos were more Jon than Don. I know itīs a hard job to take and as far as I know this was his first gig with the band, but there has always been room for personality and improvisation in a Purple show.
Ian Gillan has got another haircut, now it's really short (and grey), but he also lost some weight I think, and he was running around the stage with an energy I have only seen in 30-year-old videos. He was really having fun, although some idiots threw beer, water, fruit and other rubbish at him, he just kept on singing and laughing. And to those fools who did that: Enjoy the show or fuck off!!!!
Somewhere in the show Ian started singing "Itīs Now Or Never" and then "High School Hop" and after that he started doing some falcetto singing to Steve who then answered with the guitar. I didnīt get the words, but it sounded so funny that Roger, who where standing in the background, got to laugh so the tears where running down his face and he had to wipe it off before he could play again.
The set was mostly the old songs, except for "Ted The Mechanic" and "The Well Stressed Guitar", (but then again, "Ted" is not exactly a new song anymore), with various solos from Steve and Don, but also a great solo from Roger who passed it over to Ian Paice who then did one of those drum solos where you can tap the rhythm all the way through. Not very long, but quite tricky.
Well, Iīll now look forward to Saturday in Helsingborg, Sweden and Sunday on 5-Øren in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is the first time Iīve got the opportunity to see more that one show, (and some of my friends think Iīm crazy), and I might write again. [If liking Deep Purple equals crazy then we're all certifiable here - welcome! Rasmus]
The setlist (not in the right order I think):
Woman From Tokyo
Ted The Mechanic
Mary Long
Lazy
No One Came
Fools
The Well Stressed Guitar
Perfect Strangers
When A Blind Man Cries
Smoke On The Water
Speed King
Hush
Black Night
Highway Star"
And to Jon: I hope your knee will soon be alright again.
With love from,
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