SF, CA review
Being a fan of Deep Purple for many years, and a fan of prog rock in general, I was more than excited about the show, bouncing off the walls of my apartment. I had general admission seats on the floor, and the Warfield in San Francisco is a theater, probably one of the smallest venues they are playing on the entire tour. I really don't like seeing shows in stadiums, and let me tell you, this is the way to see a show!!! Up close and personal. During the entire show I was in the front section, center stage, but a few rows back. This enabled me to grab a nice cold beer every now and then. :)
I can now die a happy man, seeing some of my heroes up close was definitely a thrill. The whole crowd was really into the entire show. After each band finished a song, the people in the audience went absolutely nuts, which I think the bands really fed on.
I missed the first few songs Dream Theater played, but I had just seen them headlining a few months back in San Francisco. They are a great band to see live, always very tight. The singer gets a little too operatic at times, but they are just phenomenal musicians, and I really enjoyed their set. Apparently they ran out of time, because the didn't finish the last song they played, but they seemed to get a great reaction from the crowd, especially for an opening act.
I have seen some bad things said about ELP in these reviews, and I don't quite understand why. I figure that the people that are into "guitar rock" might not be able to appreciate the keyboard wizardry of Keith Emerson. Well, being a keyboard player myself, it was an honor to be able to see Keith Emerson play, especially when I was so close to the stage. ELP came out a little mellow at first, but the crowd was going absolutely ballistic, and I think it really sparked the band. In no time at all Keith was slamming his keyboards and waving his arms around.
They entire band sounded incredible. Greg Lake's voice was crystal clear, Carl Palmer was totally locked in. I thought they played a PERFECT set - I really prefer their material from the 70's over the music they are releasing now, and they played all of my favorites. They played the ENTIRE Tarkus, which was the best rendition of this song I have EVER heard, including all of their live records. They broke it down in the middle, and Keith Emerson started playing a really bluesy solo. Greg Lake even ripped a little guitar solo in the middle of Tarkus :)
They played a good deal of instrumental stuff including Hoedown, Rondo, and Keith played some of his piano concerto. In case you were wondering, that is a midi grand piano he is touring with, so he can get a live piano sound, but also use it as a midi controller. It's too bad if some of the Deep Purple fans can't appreciate the music of ELP, they were incredible!!!!
I was worried that Ian Gillan would have trouble singing that night, after reading the reports on the web. Well folks, Ian was feeling fine that night. He was really singing well, sounding like the records DP released in the 70's. They played a great set (listed here in other reviews), mixing up some of the new material with the best of the Mk II songs. The entire band really locked in together, and seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Steve Morse has settled in nicely, although I still miss RB. I would have liked to have heard Jon Lord's keyboards a little more in the mix. I was suprised when they played Pictures of Home - have they been playing this song with Morse in the past? Any Fule Kno That is a great track off their new album and really grooved. Bludsucker was killer. During the show, I was getting goosebumps, the band was so good. They really haven't lost much after all these years. Deep Purple still rock! My only regret is that they didn't play longer.
Every rock and roll fan should see this show, PERIOD.
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