DEEP PURPLE AHOY ROTTERDAM 12-10-98
This was a damn fine show, it was 11 years since I saw my last Purple show and I had been looking forward to this for a long time. The Ahoy is a pretty good venue with good sound and a nice atmosphere and by the time DP hit the stage it was pretty much full. Having met some of the amdp guys, Fedor and Martin, before we got to a pretty good vantage point about 4 rows back just between Rog en IG. Unfourtunatley we then had to endure Saxon, suprisingly they went down very well with a few people, all very boring I'm afraid.
Purple on the other hand blew away the memories of the '87 gig, they were fresh, in good humour and playing at such a high level. The set list was the same as it has been for the rest of the Euro tour, but no Seventh Heaven tonight, instead we got Black Night as an encore. I have been critical of the setlist throughout the whole tour and I still missed material from _|_. Ted was a good opener and then for me the low point of the show, SKOW and Bludsucker were performed well (nice little call/answer between Steve and Paicey!) but I really do think that they could be a bit more adventorous with different songs. By the time they hit WFT the energy level on stage was awesome, this was a great show. Gillan was singing so well tonight the years just rolled away, Rog was well... Rog he was prominent in the mix tonight and having a really good time. Steve was superb, at everything he did, his inclusion in DP is seemless and superb. Paice played well, I was informed that in Essen he was incredible, his solo was full of energy and at the end even Gillan said to him 'that was good'. Who have I forgot? Jon, why the hell is Jon excluded from the mix unless he is playing a solo? He was very busy at the keys but it was all lost on me. Towards the end I observed he was standing around a bit during songs watching the band, did he know no one could hear him? When he could be heard he more than made up for this, brilliant tonight; his solo is too short but was extremely good, more Jon please! Gillan's infamous banter was in evidence tonight making fun and joking around, must have been tired though since he did the whole show in his pyjamas! The new songs finally worked for me live, espesially WTS and FTTB which was incredible. AH just did nothing for me, just as on the CD, personally I would drop it. The only negative thing for me was the setlist, I really would like two things, more emphasis on the Morse era, and more variety in the classics that are played.
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