Review of Deep Purple in Canandaigua, NY
The triple bill of Dream Theater, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Deep Purple was a bit of a disappointment.
I was not impressed with Dream Theater at all.
ELP on the other hand was excellent. You could hardly tell that Keith Emerson was showing any problems with the Carpal Tunnel problems that he had been experiencing. Carl Palmer is still proving that he can go the distance as his drum solo was part of the encore.
Now to Deep Purple. Once billed as the loudest band in rock and roll, they started tonight as the loudest weeze in rock and roll. Ian Gillan's voice was shot. He constantly was coughing and going behind the speakers. A few times he missed cues and the band went into longer solos.
About halfway through the show, someone must have given him some epinephrine. His voice became stronger, and he started belting out the classics like Lazy and the encore of Highway Star with almost the same vigor of Purple in the 70's. If Gillan's voice was that strong at the beginning of their set, it would have been a much better concert. I hope it's just a summer cold and not signs of his age or even possible problems. I'd hate to think that someone with that type of voice will have to permanently retire.
The band's overall performance was flawless. I am not too familiar with their newer stuff, but their classics sounded just like I remember in their 70's era.
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