Concert review for 1/29/98

I went to the Deep Purple show at the House of Blues in LA the other night, and I gotta say, they fucking jammed!! It was my first Deep Purple show, as they always seem to skip LA. I'm glad they treated us with a club gig, Iwas really impressed. (I had already seen the Steve Morse Band and the Dixie Dregs, and they were awesome!)

LA’s House Of Blues holds about 1400, and it was packed big time. The time on the ticket was 9:30, but it wasn’t until about 10:15 that the curtains opened. However to our dismay it but it wasn’t Deep Purple, but rather some goofy ass rap-metal band. Definitely the wrong crowd (especially because I was in it). Someone remarked that they were the worst he had seen, I commented that he must not have gone to OzzFest 97, because Marilyn Manson definitely holds that dubious distinction.

So at about 11:20 Deep Purple finally starts. Of course we got real close. This was not that easy because it was mobbed. Ian G. can still scream like a motherfucker - he was on. Glover despite the graying beard still looked like a young guy up there. He was fun to watch, kind of like Chris Squire except not quite as goofy. Jon Lord looked pretty old, probably because he is, but his keys were on. Steve - The only guy who could replace Ritchie. Steve was great, he was all smiles, did alot of improv stuff, also alot of ditties with Jon and with Ian. Lastly, Ian P. was on as well - he played the double bass with the single bass drum. Good use of space on a small stage.

The sound was top notch! Perfect mix of all instruments and very clean. Not much of a light show, but so what.

The set list was great, a lot of old gems!! My friends and I were extremely pleased with the song selection. Here is the list, it may be out of order.

Hush (Not Highway Star, how about that!!)
Fireball (one of my favs!)
Into The Fire (I couldn't believe they did this!)
Pictures of Home (Another gem!)
Black Night
Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
Bloodsucker (Definitely not a "Made In Japan" show!!)
Rosa's Cantina
Ted The Mechanic
Woman From Tokyo
Smoke On The Water
Song from Purpendicular, (Forget the name)
7th Heaven - Song from upcoming album, really good!!
No One Came (yet another Gem)
Speed King
encore:
Perfect Strangers (Another of my favorites)
Highway Star

About 2 hours with no intermission. There also some jams, mostly from Steve! Jon also had some incredible contributions, but I was a bit disappointed in Ian not doing a full drum solo.

All in all really great!! New songs were good. Band was tight. Steve still sounded like Steve. I wish I could have gone again the next night, but it was also sold out.

Eric
Torrance, CA

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