Still rockin'
I arrived at the theatre at noon with 10 friends of mine and we could see about 15 people around including us... But we were sure we were at the right place - (almost) at the right time!
Finally our 7-hour wait was worth it because we managed to get to the front line and take lots of pictures from of show.
Everyone was completely crazy for two hours before the gig started and things got even worse when Paice started playing the rhythm of "Woman From Tokyo"! I haven't seen a better audience in my life - thousands of fans out of their minds.
Getting to the point I would like to mention tha Ian's voice was in unexpectedly good shape (nothing to compare with last year's concert) - the best that I've ever heard for the last five years!
Paice -as always- was so perfect and so certain for every single thing he played that everyone understood who is the boss on the drums! His left hand solo made the crowd sceam and say: "Oh yeah, it's true - he does it with only one hand."
Roger was in my opinion the one who did the best performance of all five. He took the band in his arms and raised it very high - with some amazing improvisations (especially in his solo) and the whole theatre out of control! Simply the best alive...
Steve seems as if he's learned to play his guitar as well as a mortal person knows how to walk on the street... Truly very very good (as Steve Vai has said - a guitar monster) and also great solos. He is the main reason why many guitar-learners abandon their instrument for a long time after they watch him! We must not forget that he's got a huge phantom chasing him... but I think he has nothing to prove to anyone. ("Well-Dressed Guitar" - excellent)
All the band seemed to enjoy so much the reactions and the participation of the crowd in the gig that you could see their faces full of happiness but also surprise (is this really happening???)! Ian kept saying: "It reminds me of the old times..." I'm not sure if this crowd can be found anywhere in the world. It's unique - the greek fans are (we are) the best!!! [If you say so... Rasmus]
As a matter of fact I saw Gillan crying/blearing when he performed "Blind Man..." What a scene! Why don't you give us a "Made In Greece"?
It would have been the best day of my life (it maybe was) if someone wasn't missing. And he was missing so much! JON - the first reason to see Deep Purple live! Don Airey is a great musician but I couldn't stand him in this concert. Although he tried a lot to do his job, he was confused between his own and Jon's style. He wasn't sure in which way to play - and the result was not good at all. I also didn't like his solos. He made us think (and scream) Oh, LORD where are you??? - (I hope your knee is OK now... We missed you.)
Anyway that was the only bad thing in my day... A fantastic show!!! Deep on rocking.
The setlist (the usual):
Woman From Tokyo
Ted The Mechanic
Mary Long
Lazy
No One Came
Fools
Well-Dressed Guitar
Perfect Strangers
When A Blind Man Cries
Smoke On the Water
Speed King
(encore)
Black Night
Hush
Highway Star
We are expecting you guys (with Jon of course) next year with the new album! We promise we will be all there - your fans from Greece (you know what that means)...
[ reviews | the highway star ]