Review: Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway 04.10.98
I went on this show to see Deep Purple live for the first time in my life. And it was great.
DP is probably one of the best live bands in the world. They started with Ted The Mechanic, and ended with Highway Star. I really enjoyed the versions of Strange Kind Of Woman, Woman From Tokyo with a perfect piano solo by Jon Lord, Speed King with the drum solo, Perfect Strangers with a cool light show, and Highway Star as a perfect ending of a great concert.
Ian Gillan was great that night, I didn't hear him miss a tone. Steve's solo before Smoke On The Water was absolutely perfect. Me and my friends went to the concert and hoped that he would be not far away from Ritchie Blackmore, and he wasn't. I think Steve is the only good replacer for Ritchie. He is a maestro. The solo was first accompanied by Jon as a slow kind of classical bit, then it became more and more pure hard rock before the others joined it and made a great finish, then Steve started on again and played himself into Smoke On The Water.
Jon's solo after Smoke On The Water as a intro to Lazy, was also a perfect solo, he played from the deepest tones on the piano to the brightest tones on his hammond, beatiful. He also mixed in some Grieg. Jon Lord is the best keyboard player in the world. No doubt.
I had never heard Roger Glover play solo on a concert before, so I was surprised when he did it twice, and it was not bad.
My final words are:
Deep Purple is the best live band in the world, nobody is even close.
[ reviews | the highway star ]