Chicago 12/15/97
I flew in from New Jersey to the greatest city in America for this show, and I
can honestly say that of the eight Deep Purple shows I have seen over the last
twenty or so years, this rates right near the top.
This was a much better show than the Beacon Theater, New York shows for
basically three reasons.
1)This venue featured beer and cigars
2) Ian Gillan. Understandably, there is apparently a HUGE difference between
hearing him one week into a tour as opposed to six months into it. I have
never heard him sound better. With all due respect to the greatest rock
vocalist of all time, I am not sure he could have hit Bloodsucker at the
Beacon the way he did at the HOB. He was simply in great form.
3) They kept the volume down to a reasonable and enjoyable level. This was the
first indoor Purple show I attended where my ears were still not ringing the
next morning. The sound was clear as day and balanced and every instrument
could be heard perfectly.
Overall, the band once again impressed with their energy and obvious
enthusiam. I attended with two friends who until that night were marginal
Purple fans. Not any more! They were blown away.
Personal highlights for this fan were BLOODSUCKER, the COMPLETE INTO THE
FIRE,NO ONE CAME, and ofcourse, Steve and Jon trading licks SPEEDKING.
SEVENTH HEAVEN was very well recieved.
For those who missed it, the set list was as follows:
Hush
Fireball
Into The Fire
Ted
Pictures of Home (Morse solo)
Black Night
Bloodsucker
Rosas Cantina
Woman from Tokyo
Seventh Heaven
No One Came
Smoke (Jon solo)
When a Blind Man Cries
Speed King
Encore
Perfect Strangers
Highway Star
Thank you, once again, Ian, Ian, Jon, Roger, and Steve for another night of great memories
[ reviews | the highway star ]