Concert Review - Bud Light Amphitheater at Harvey's Lake (Wilkes-Barre)
WHAT A SHOW!
Hush
Bludsucker
Strange Kind of Woman
Pictures of Home
Almost Human
Woman From Tokyo
Watching The Sky
Steve Morse Solo/Jam
Smoke On The Water
Jon Lord solo/Lazy
Perfect Strangers
Speed King
Highway Star(Encore)
Harvey's Lake is a terrific setting for a concert. The lake is about 8 miles across at the longest and a road goes around the perimeter with houses right on the waterfront. Ronnie and I misjudged our trip from Virginia a little and were running later than we would have liked. The show was to start at 7 and we got there at quarter till. As we were walking up, the first band came on. I looked at my watch - it was 10 till 7! Two excellent warmers kicked things off: Dream Theater and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. The weather was great for an evening concert and it was an interesting crowd - some old-timers who probably are long time DP or ELP fans and some young - 20s who were obviously ready for some serious head banging by Dream Theater, and one guy with purple hair. When everyone had arrived, I would estimate there were between 5 and 6 thousand fans. Our seats were on the sixth row, right of center. Not Bad!
This was my first DP concert, so you can imagine this was exciting for me, a fan for 16 years. I had tickets for a 1987 concert in my hometown, but they cancelled. Before we knew it, the lights went down and a hush fell over the crowd (the DP kind of Hush) at about 9:20. Tonight, Jon was lord over the keyboards; Big Ian was belting out the vocals, Little Ian was keeping pace, SM had smoking fingers and Roger was rock solid. The main thing I noticed was how much they were all smiling and having fun, especially Big Ian! I loved the fact that they dusted off a couple of the oldies, giving them new life - especially Bludsucker - which sounded very good, like the track from Abandon (/-\). SKOW brought things down to a mid-tempo melody, that which DP are famous for. IG was sounding great! I think he was genuinely pleased to be hitting those high notes. The Machine Head theme continued with Pictures of Home. Everyone was grooving very tightly on this one, like a band on, who have played together for 30 years! Good bass solo - true to the original - by Roger. Finally, a new song! Fantastic solos from JL and SM. Deep Purple were hitting their stride. Next, a hit from the album that the band released 25 years ago, Woman From Tokyo. Roger and Steve even contributed some background vocals.
Watching the Sky is probably my favorite off of the new album /-\. They played it with a vengance and Big Ian was really having a good time. I was very close to the stage, so this was a real treat. When I held up my poster with `7th H' Roger acknowledged it (but the band never obliged me). My other poster for '69 went unheeded, too. Where was the band going? Everyone was leaving except for SM - Oh Yeah - guitar mania! Everyone was standing, mesmerized as Steve took us on a roller coaster ride up and down the frets. When it all was over, the band launched into Smoke On The Water. I unfurled a small Union Jack from my pocket and thrust it over my head up and down to the riff. Big Ian saw and mimicked the motion with his hands. After the smoke cleared, Jon went to work on his organ, sounding beautiful. I knew what was next - a little bit of Lazy blues! On any given day, my favorite album is either Fireball, Perfect Strangers or /-\. The song Perfect Strangers was definitely a highlight of the show - a slow head banger with a superb guitar solo. Finishing the set, DP kicked into high gear with the song that opened `DP In Rock' 28 years ago - Speed King. A guy appeared behind me with his six or seven year old boy on his shoulders. With a little coaxing, I pushed my way toward the front with him behind me. Not close enough to get the departing handshake from IG, but close enough. Little Ian cut loose with a tremendous 5+ minute drum solo - I forget during which song this was. The night ended with a tire-burning encore - Highway Star.
Everyone was sounding great except for two things. Near the end, SM's guitar sound was overpowering everyone else (during Speed King), as if someone was asleep at the controls or screwed up, and Ian's voice was beginning to lose a bit of strength. I guess I expected DP to play a little longer than 1:45 for my first show (selfish)! My biggest complaint, if I have one, is the song selection. Not enough new songs - despite my posters - too many songs from one album (Machine Head) and not any or only one from other great albums. Most notably, not one song from Purpendicular, nor the new one on the radio, Any Fule Kno That. But after a night like this, who's feeling bad? I just saw one of the greatest concerts of my life! As we were yelling for one more, they turned up the lights and then started playing Pat Boone's horrendous version of Smoke On The Water. That really cleared us out fast.
[ reviews | the highway star ]