ThunderWeb V2.2
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Stuff
    • Interesting Stuff >
      • Americana >
        • The Sierra Nevadas
        • The Brooklyn Bridge
        • The Empire State Building
        • Lost Angeles
        • Hollywood Boulevard
        • Jim Thorpe
        • The Alamo
        • The Basketball Museum
        • Sunset
        • Boston Skyline
      • Europeana >
        • Brimham Rocks
        • Liverpool - L7 4LB
        • Liverpool - Tobacco Warehouse
        • Kirkstall Abbey
        • Ilkley Moor
        • Classic Cars and Beartown Radio
        • Bjorn the Polar Bear
        • Dachau
        • Munich Olympiapark - Olympiaturm
        • Munich - BMW Welt
        • Neuschwanstein
        • Munich - Oktoberfest >
          • Shlocktoberfest
          • Fear and Loathing in München
          • When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
        • Munich - Christkindlmarkt 2009
        • Dali
        • Tutanchamun - Munich
        • Tutanchamun - Manchester
    • Walkabouts >
      • Nude Dudes In The Sand
      • Harrogate Walkabout
      • Liverpool Walkabout Sefton Park
      • Leeds Walkabout
      • Blackpool Deco
      • Fenton Town Hall
      • Stoke Minster
      • Beauty and Bursley >
        • The Wedgwood Institute
        • The School of Art
        • Town Hall Tales
        • The Leopard
        • Desolation Boulevard
      • Asbury Park
      • New York Rideabout >
        • New York Rideabout I
        • New York Rideabout II
        • New York Rideabout III
      • Reno
      • San Francisco
      • Atlantic City
      • The OC
      • Philadelphia
      • First Boston Walkabout >
        • First Boston Walkabout - Copley Plaza
        • First Boston Walkabout - Boylston and Boston Common
        • First Boston Walkabout - Downtown Boston
        • First Boston Walkabout - Charlestown Naval Yard >
          • USS Constitution
          • USS Cassin Young
        • First Boston Walkabout - Beacon Hill
      • Final Boston Walkabout
      • Blackpool (Post Apocalypse)
      • Liverpool
      • Manchester - Brief Walkabout
      • Glasgow
      • First Munich Walkabout
      • Munich Faschingsdienstag Walkabout
      • Second Munich Walkabout
      • Munich Walkabout with Firstborn & Lizzie I
      • Munich Walkabout with Firstborn & Lizzie II
      • Munich Walkabout with Pan 'n' Chris
      • Copenhagen
      • Passau
      • Oss
      • First Basel Walkabout
      • Second Basel Walkabout
    • Old Stuff
    • Random Stuff >
      • The Garden of Unearthly Delights I
      • The Garden of Unearthly Delights II
      • The Garden of Unearthly Delights III: Christmas Special
    • Weird Stuff >
      • Top Ten Plagues
      • Top Ten Gangsters
      • Top Ten Ways To Kill Someone
      • Top Ten Hairstyles For The Follicly-Challenged
      • Top Ten Stars on Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame
  • Gigs
    • 2017 Gigs >
      • Iron Maiden - Leeds
      • Norman Beaker Band - Blackpool
      • Ian Hunter - Liverpool
      • Cheap Trick - Manchester
    • 2016 Gigs >
      • Congleton Unplugged 2016 >
        • Congleton Unplugged 2016 - Saturday
        • Congleton Unplugged 2016 - Sunday
    • 2014 Gigs >
      • Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2014 >
        • Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2014 - Saturday
        • Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2014 - Sunday
      • Dirty Dozen - Congleton
      • Chantel McGregor - Wolverhampton
      • Chris Bevington & Friends - Wolverhampton
      • Sweet Winn Dixie - Congleton
      • Congleton Unplugged 2014 >
        • Congleton Unplugged 2014 - Friday
        • Congleton Unplugged 2014 - Saturday
        • Congleton Unplugged 2014 - Sunday
      • The Fire Beneath The Sea - Blackpool
    • 2013 Gigs >
      • BearTown Radio 1st Birthday Bash 2013
      • Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2013 >
        • Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2013 - Friday
        • Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2013 - Saturday
        • Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2013 - Sunday
      • Parklive 2013 >
        • Parklive 2013 - Friday Marquee
        • Parklive 2013 - Saturday Park
        • Parklive 2013 - Saturday Marquee
      • No Strings Attached - Congleton >
        • NSA: Adam French
      • The Dirty Dozen - Congleton >
        • TDD: The Fire Beneath The Sea - Congleton
      • Maschine - Congleton
      • Congleton Unplugged 2013 >
        • CU 2013: Sweet Winn Dixie
        • CU 2013: John Ainsworth
        • CU 2013: Jim Kirkpatrick
        • CU 2013: Phil Maddocks
        • CU 2013: The Robin Pierce Band
    • 2012 Gigs >
      • The Post Apocalypse Party 2012
      • Congleton Jazz and Blues Festival 2012 >
        • CJ&BF: Steve Hayes and Les Hunt
        • CJ&BF: The Beartown Stompers
        • CJ&BF: The Robin Pierce Band
        • CJ&BF: Phil Maddocks
        • CJ&BF: The Hexmen
      • The Rittz and Friends Festival - Congleton >
        • TRAFF: Thomas Twemlow
        • TRAFF: Amy Condrey
        • TRAFF: Phil Maddocks & Nick Bayes
        • TRAFF: Faux Feet
        • TRAFF: John Ainsworth
        • TRAFF: Dirty Green Vinyl
        • TRAFF: Luke Gray & Danny Wilde
        • TRAFF: Hoodie Ledbetter
        • TRAFF: Kill The Young
        • TRAFF: The Rittz
      • The Dirty Dozen - Congleton >
        • TDD: Thought Glands
        • TDD: Fieldhouse
    • 2011 Gigs >
      • Fun House (November) - Congleton
      • Demon - Kingsley Holt
      • Fun House (August) - Congleton
      • Fun House (July) - Congleton
      • Johnnie Walker - Bradford
      • Fieldhouse - Liverpool
      • Kush - Liverpool
    • 2010 Gigs >
      • Wolfmother - Munich
      • Dave Matthews Band - Munich
      • Chris Rea - Munich
      • Dave Matthews Band - Manchester
      • Joe Perry Project - Sheffield
      • Bad Company - Sheffield
      • The Mayhem Effect - Congleton
      • Demon - Leek Arts Festival
      • Mark Knopfler - Munich
    • 2009 Gigs >
      • Sweden Rock Festival >
        • About SRF 2009
        • SRF: The Tubes
        • SRF: ZZ Top
        • SRF: Over the Rainbow
        • SRF: Marillion
        • SRF: Demon
        • SRF: Johnny Winter
        • SRF: Motörhead
        • SRF: Riot
        • SRF: Blackfoot
        • SRF: Journey
        • SRF: Goda Grannar
      • Keep It True
      • Y&T - Munich
      • Foreigner - Munich
      • Bruce Springsteen - Munich
      • Eric Burdon - Munich
      • Gary Moore - Munich
      • Demon - Dudley
      • Hamburg Blues Band - Munich
      • Mott the Hoople - Hammersmith
      • Night at the Flamingo - Blackpool
      • Magnum - Munich
      • Pavlov's Dog - Munich
      • Uriah Heep - Munich
      • Ace Frehley - Munich
    • 2007 Gigs >
      • Little Barrie - Manchester II
      • Demon - Wolverhampton III
      • Diamond Head - Wolverhampton V
      • Demon - Antwerp
      • Demon - Nottingham
    • 2006 Gigs >
      • Helloween - Bradford
      • Yellowcard - Manchester
      • Robin Trower - Manchester
      • Dave Matthews - Manchester
      • Mountain - Manchester
      • Danko Jones - Manchester
      • Monsters of Rock 2006 >
        • About Monsters of Rock 2006
        • Monsters of Rock 2006: Roadstar
        • Monsters of Rock 2006: Ted Nugent
        • Monsters of Rock 2006: Queensryche
        • Monsters of Rock 2006: Thunder
        • Monsters of Rock 2006: Journey
        • Monsters of Rock 2006: Alice Cooper
        • Monsters of Rock 2006: Deep Purple
      • Journey - Manchester
      • Demon - Sheffield
      • Bob Catley - Sheffield
      • Demon - Cheltenham
      • Bob Catley - Leek WM
      • Demon - Leek WM
      • Little Barrie - Manchester I
      • Wolfmother - Manchester
      • UFO - Manchester
      • Demon - Crewe III
      • Demon - Nuneaton
      • Iron Maiden - Sheffield
    • 2005 Gigs >
      • Velvet Revolver - Manchester
      • Megadeth - Manchester
      • Diamond Head - Manchester
      • Fozzy - Manchester
      • Wishbone Ash - Blawnox PA
      • The Midnight Creeps - Providence RI
      • Danko Jones - Cambridge MA
      • Demon - Leek II B
      • Demon - Birkenhead
      • Donington 2005 >
        • About Donington 2005
        • Donington 2005: Fozzy
        • Donington 2005: Megadeth
        • Donington 2005: Billy Idol
        • Donington 2005: HIM
        • Donington 2005: Velvet Revolver
        • Donington 2005: Black Sabbath
        • Donington 2005: Slipknot
        • Donington 2005: The MC5
        • Donington 2005: Motorhead
      • Kings of Leon - Manchester
      • Danko Jones - Philadelphia
      • Sonny Landreth - Ocean City NJ
      • Derek Trucks Band - Ocean City NJ
      • Leeds Festival 2005 >
        • About Leeds Festival 2005
        • Leeds Festival 2005: Funeral For A Friend
        • Leeds Festival 2005: Iggy Pop
        • Leeds Festival 2005: Marilyn Manson
        • Leeds Festival 2005: Iron Maiden
      • Iron Maiden - Hammersmith
      • Diamond Head - Stourbridge
    • 2004 Gigs >
      • Hughes-Turner Project - Dudley II
      • Wishbone Ash - Crewe
      • Donington 2004 - Hoobastank
      • Donington 2004 - Danko Jones
      • Donington 2004 - Metallica
      • UFO - Wolverhampton
      • Marillion - Wolverhampton
      • Marillion - Leeds
      • Nazareth - Manchester
      • Bill Nelson - Manchester
      • Nils Lofgren - Wolverhampton
      • Living Colour - Manchester
      • Rush - Birmingham
    • 2003 Gigs >
      • HITS UK - Bradford
      • Demon - Leek I-A
      • Iron Maiden - Donington
      • HITS UK - Morecambe
      • Blue Öyster Cult - Wolverhampton
      • Alice Cooper - Wolverhampton
      • Rat Dog - Wolverhampton
      • Budgie - Crewe
      • Thunder - Wolverhampton
      • Iron Maiden - Sheffield & Birmingham
    • 2002 Gigs >
      • Chris Farlowe - Crewe
      • Diamond Head - Wrexham
      • Budgie - Wrexham
      • The Blues Brother's Band - Manchester
      • Man - Crewe
      • Mountain - Dudley
      • Stray - Dudley
      • Iron Maiden - Brixton >
        • Iron Maiden - Brixton Academy: Getting there
        • Iron Maiden - Brixton Academy: Getting home
      • Diamond Head - Crewe III
      • Rick Derringer - Crewe
      • Pat Travers - Crewe
      • Ian Hunter - Crewe
      • HITS Blackpool 2002
      • HITS USA 2002 - Saturday
      • HITS USA 2002 - Sunday
      • Diamond Head - Hanley
      • 21st Century Schizoid Band - Crewe
      • Diamond Head - Crewe IV
      • Diamond Head - Ashton
      • Hughes-Turner Project - Dudley I
      • Jefferson Starship - Wolverhampton
      • Budgie - Crewe
      • Monsters of Rock - Manchester >
        • Monsters of Rock - Alice Cooper
        • Monsters of Rock - Thunder
        • Monsters of Rock - The Quireboys
        • Monsters of Rock -Dogs D'Amour
    • 2001 Gigs >
      • Demon - Crewe I
      • Demon - Leek Moorlands
      • Diamond Head - Crewe I
      • Black Crowes - Brixton Academy
      • Demon - Newcastle Oxford
      • Rockshield Festival >
        • Rockshield - Wishbone Ash
        • Rockshield - Girlschool
        • Rockshield - Demon
        • Rockshield - Diamond Head
      • Demon - Crewe II
      • Demon - Leek FC II
      • Pat Travers - Wolverhampton
      • Demon - Macclesfield
      • Diamond Head - Crewe II
      • Demon - Camden I
    • 2000 Gigs >
      • Demon - Wolverhampton I
      • Demon - Telford
      • Demon - Newcastle (Rigger)
      • Demon - Leicester
      • Demon - Leek FC I
      • Demon - Stoke
      • Demon - Wolverhampton II
      • Demon - SOM Rehearsal
    • 20th Century Gigs >
      • 1990s >
        • Man - Swansea 1999
        • Man - London 1999
        • Man - Croydon 1999
        • Man - Stoke 1998
        • Man - Blackpool 1993
      • 1980s >
        • Man - Reading 1983
        • Reading Festival 1983
        • RockPop 1982
        • Rockpalast 1982
        • Alice Cooper - London 1982
        • Reading Festival 1981
        • Diamond Head - Leeds 1981
        • Whitesnake - Bradford 1980
        • Iron Maiden - Leeds 1980
        • Monsters of Rock 1980
      • 1970s >
        • Buzzcocks - Manchester 1978
  • Travels
    • 2015 Travels >
      • Toxteth Walkabout
      • Eclipsage - Toxteth Cemetery
      • Crosby - Another Place
      • Crosby - Sunset
    • 2014 Travels >
      • Brimham Rocks
      • Harrogate
      • Liverpool - Divergence I >
        • Liverpool - Sefton Park
        • Liverpool - L7 4LB
        • Liverpool - Tobacco Warehouse
      • Leeds Walkabout 2014 >
        • Leeds 2014 - Kirkstall Abbey
        • Leeds 2014 - Ilkley Moor
    • 2013 Travels >
      • Fenton Town Hall
      • Stoke Minster
      • Beauty and Bursley >
        • The Wedgwood Institute
        • The School of Art
        • Town Hall Tales
        • The Leopard
        • Desolation Boulevard
      • Blackpool - An Alternative View
    • 2011 Travels >
      • Blackpool (Post Apocalypse)
      • Manchester >
        • Manchester - The Trafford Centre
        • Manchester - Tutanchamun
      • Liverpool
    • 2010 Travels >
      • Faschingsdienstag
      • Manchester - Brief Walkabout
      • Manchester/Glasgow
    • 2009 Travels >
      • What Marky did in The Fatherland >
        • Arrival
        • First Munich Walkabout
        • Faschingsdienstag
        • Second Munich Walkabout
        • Dachau
        • Hannover
        • Olympiapark Sealife Centre
        • Olympiapark Olympiaturm
        • BMW Welt
        • Home from Home
        • Würzburg a Mad Manager and a Demon
        • Tutanchamun
        • Back in the UK
        • Neuschwanstein
        • Copenhagen
        • Passau
        • TiPi Fest
        • Potts and The 'Zard Camera 1
        • Potts and The 'Zard Camera 2
        • Pan 'n' Chris
        • Oktoberfest >
          • Shlocktoberfest
          • Fear and Loathing in München
          • When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
        • Blackpool
        • The Flaming Gummi Bär Incident
        • Oberammergau
        • Garmisch
        • Christmas 2009: Christkindlmarkt
        • Christmas 2009: Snow
        • Christmas 2009: Absinthe, Drunkenness and Fireworks
    • 2006 Travels
    • 2005 Travels >
      • Basel
      • Philadelphia >
        • The Krispy Kreme Fiasco
        • King of Prussia
        • Snow
        • Atlantic City
        • Sunset
        • Lancaster County
        • The Philadelphia Cheese Steak Debate
        • Food For Thought
        • More Food for Thought
        • Gideons
        • Dali
        • Culture
        • The Basketball Museum
        • Ocean City NJ
      • Boston >
        • The Cheesecake Factory
        • Copley Plaza
        • Boylston and Boston Common
        • Downtown Boston
        • Charlestown Naval Yard >
          • USS Constitution
          • USS Cassin Young
        • Beacon Hill
        • Call Me Spiderman
        • Providence RI
        • Boston Skyline
        • Final Boston Walkabout
        • The Third Time I Nearly Got arrested
      • Oss
    • 2004 Travels >
      • Basel
      • Philadelphia >
        • First Philadelphia Walkabout Pt I >
          • The Franklin Institute
        • First Philadelphia Walkabout Pt II >
          • The Liberty Bell
          • Monopoly
          • USS Olympia & USS Becuna
    • 2003 Travels >
      • US Tour 2003 - Fri 25th Flying In
      • US Tour 2003 - Sat 26th Brooklyn >
        • The Brooklyn Bridge
      • US Tour 2003 - Sat 26th Baltimore
      • US Tour 2003 - Sun 27th New York
      • US Tour 2003 - Mon 28th Oakland
      • US Tour 2003 - Tues 29th Sacramento
      • US Tour 2003 - Wed 30th The Sierra Nevada
      • US Tour 2003 - Wed 30th Reno
      • US Tour 2003 - Wed 30th Reno (Later)
      • US Tour 2003 - Thurs 31st San Francisco >
        • US Tour 2003 - Thurs 31st SF Walkabout
        • US Tour 2003 - Thurs 31st San Francisco (Later)
      • US Tour 2003 - Fri 1st San Francisco to Lost Angeles >
        • US Tour 2003 - Fri 1st Hollywood Blvd
        • US Tour 2003 - Fri 1st Hollywood Blvd - Walk of Fame
      • US Tour 2003 - Fri 1st Lost Angeles (South Gate)
      • US Tour 2003 - Sat 2nd Costa Mesa & The Beach
      • US Tour 2003 - Sat 2nd LA (Corona)
      • US Tour 2003 - Sun 3rd San Diego
      • US Tour 2003 - Mon 4th Phoenix
      • US Tour 2003 - Tues 5th Phoenix to San Antonio
      • US Tour 2003 - Wed 6th San Antonio
      • US Tour 2003 - Thurs 7th Austin
      • US Tour 2003 - Fri 8th Dallas
      • US Tour 2003 - Sat 9th Oklahoma City
      • US Tour 2003 - Sun 10th Flying Back
      • US Tour 2003 - Epilogue
    • 2002 Travels >
      • US Tour 2002 - Fri 30th
      • US Tour 2002 - Thurs 5th >
        • US Tour 2002 - Thurs 5th Union & Clifton
      • US Tour 2002 - Fri 6th Providence RI
      • US Tour 2002 - Sat 7th Union NJ >
        • US Tour 2002 Sat 7th Asbury Park NJ
        • US Tour 2002 - Sat 7th Asbury Park NJ (Later)
      • US Tour 2002 - Sun 8th Asbury Park NJ
      • US Tour 2002 - Mon 9th Union NJ >
        • US Tour 2002 - Mon 9th Long Island NY
      • US Tour 2002 - Tues 10th >
        • US Tour 2002 - Tues 10th NYC
        • US Tour 2002 - Tuesday 10th ESB
        • US Tour 2002 - Tues 10th NYC II
        • US Tour 2002 - Tues 10th- Manhattan and beyond
      • US Tour 2002 - Wed 11th
  • Music
    • Phuxubtelty Review
  • Movies
    • Skyfall Review
  • Books
    • Ted Simon
    • Charley Boorman & Ewan McGregor
    • Mike Carter
    • Robert Fulton Jr
    • Zoltan Sulkowsky
    • Simon Gandolfi
  • Artworks
    • Diamond Head - Acoustic Cuts
    • The Skeptix - Hate and Fear
    • Demon - Child of the Dark Sky
    • Demon . Better The Devil You Know
    • Demon - Time Has Come
    • Demon - Live at Tiffany's
    • Demon - Live in Germany
    • Demon T-Shirts
    • Mjollnir
  • The 39 Steps
  • New Page

Monsters of Rock 2006: Deep Purple 3rd June 2006 

Picture
Setlist: Pictures Of Home / Things I Never Said / Hush / Rapture Of The Deep / Strange Kind of Woman / SM Solo / Fireball / When A Blind Man Cries / Lazy / DA Solo / Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin’ / Highway Star / Smoke On The Water // Black Night

Deep Purple is, without doubt, one of the greatest rock bands of all time and, even though its members have changed over time, it can still pull in the fans and help make a roaring success of an event, such as Monsters of Rock. Following Alice Cooper onto the stage is a feat that few bands on the planet could pull off, because Alice is a headliner in his own right, with a stage show that none can better.

As I mentioned in my review of one of the earlier bands, the organisation at MKB was outstanding for an event of this size. Changeover between bands was around 15 minutes, barely enough time to go to the toilets (which, ridiculously, are all situated at the back of the Bowl, at the top of a steep incline – but that is not the fault of the event organisers!) Even taking all of Alice’s gear off stage only took twenty minutes. Phenomenal stuff. Big cheer for the Live Nation people. Great band line-up, excellent organisation, and only £38.50. Well done!


 

Picture
As for the Purps, well, they are back with their:
  • new CD
  • only drummer
  • second (& fourth) bass player
  • second keyboard player
  • third guitarist
  • second (fourth & sixth) singer.
A little too anoraky you think? Hmm, probably.

When I’ve mentioned this gig to friends, so many of them have said to me, ‘Yeah, but it’s not the classic line-up, is it?’ No, but it’s hardly Fat Axl and a bunch of blokes, either, and Morse has been in Deep Purple longer than any other guitar player...

I guess you have to decide for yourself if you would rather see the classic line-up of people who are at each others’ throats, and whose hearts are no longer in it, or a great assemblage of like-minded souls, having a good time individually and collectively, playing for you because they want to, not just because the money is too good to refuse. You pays your money and takes your choice.


 

Picture
First on the agenda is the new CD.

Rapture Of The Deep is the best thing that Purple has released since Perfect Strangers. Purpendicular and Abandon were both fantastic recordings, and even Bananas is growing on me, slowly, but ROTD is outstanding. Like the Perfect St Rangers, Rapture sounds as if it comes from the same era of creativity that produced In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head and Who Do We Think We Are, but without the Twat in the Hat.


 

Picture
OK. Drummers. Not many people ever take photos of drummers. That is usually because they are at the back, unlit, unnoticed and, perhaps, unloved. I’m not like that, I always try to get a shot of the guy half-hidden behind a hundredweight of spangly hardware. Oh, and did I snap a cracker of a shot of Mr Paice? You bet your sweet bippy, I did!

Now, there are some musicians who are musicians’ musicians.^^ I’m pretty sure that 95% of all drummers are good and do their job faultlessly. Another 4% couldn’t hit a barn door with an anti-aircraft gun, and about 1% are just out of this world. The list of the latter is not that long, and you will have your own ideas, but here are a few to get you started:
  • Neil Peart
  • Jon Hiseman
  • Simon Phillips
  • Buddy Rich
  • Carl Palmer
  • Bill Bruford
  • Corky Laing
  • Carter Beauford
  • Terry Bozzio
  • Oh, and… Ian Paice
Unless you’ve seen Senor Paice, you cannot appreciate just how fantastic he is behind the kit. I know that you can tell he is a bit good listening to, say, Made In Japan (the greatest live album ever recorded), but the precision and timing live is jaw-droppingly awesome. And even though he is playing rock, he somehow manages to ‘swing it’, giving songs a sort of jazzy feel at times. The only other drummer I’ve ever seen with a similar style is Jon Hiseman (Colosseum) and he did the most amazing drum solo I’ve ever seen.  


 

Picture
For many years, I never really rated Roger Glover. I lumped him in the same boat as Pete Agnew of Nazareth; plodding, dependable, pedestrian, not very exciting. A bit invisible. Then again, I thought Megadeth and Helloween were bags of shite too. I was a moron. I realise that now. I was young and stupid. I was wrong. I saw Nazareth live a couple of years ago up close and stood right in front of Pete Agnew. I realised something very important: making it sound so easy is actually very difficult. All those years I had listened with cauliflower ears. Same with Megadeth. Lose your preconceived notions and prejudices and listen with clean ears and an open mind and you suddenly hear a whole load of stuff you never heard before. Same with Helloween. It happened too with the production side of what Rog does. I wondered for years what all the fuss was about the production on Machine Head, any of the Nazareth stuff Glover produced, or Perfect Strangers. Now, in my newly-enlightened state, I hear the richness and quality of the sound. I find it hard to believe that I couldn’t hear it before. If you add a bass player like Roger Glover to a drummer like Ian Paice, you have one hell of a rhythm section.

 

Picture

Then, you add a singer like Ian Gillan. 

I don’t think I need to say any more about the greatest of all rock vocalists.


And before any of you email me to complain that so-and-so is better, let me just say this. Yes, I love Glenn Hughes, Bruce Dickinson, and many other singists. But, Ian Gillan wrote the Standard Operating Procedure for the job 'Singer in a heavy rock band'. He defines the role. There can be no argument, or discussion.

 

Picture
One of the greatest keyboard players ever to mistreat a Hammond B3, Jon Lord, retired a couple of years back. Whilst it was a great shame, who can say that he didn’t deserve to retire from the arduous routine of recording and touring? He earned the right to call it a day and I, for one, salute him for the years of great playing that he gave us, as well as for having the courage to quit whilst he could still enjoy his well-earned r ‘n’ r. 

Personally, I can think of no one more suited to taking over the much vaunted keyboard slot, that Lord’s departure opened up, than the great Don Airey. Somehow, Don has always seemed to walk in Lord’s shadow and has never really been accorded the respect that his stature deserves. He is as much a master of the ivories as anyone else in the business and, to become a member of the band that he could have, and maybe should have, been in all along, is a fitting reward for all his years of service to music.

 

Picture
Finally, then, we come to the guitarist. Steve Morse is, and I defy anyone to argue this point, a truly awesome guitarist. His technical proficiency is without question, yet he is also a very gifted at the art of imbuing his playing with emotion and feeling. To take on the mantle of previous residents, the boy from Weston-super-Mare and Tommy Bolin, was, and possibly still is, a poisoned chalice. Joe Satriani turned the job down, remember; he probably just didn’t want the baggage. Some blinkered individuals still chant the mantra that Purple will only ever be Purple when the stage left position is occupied by the man in black who wears the silly hat. I do not subscribe to that viewpoint. Ol’ Baldy may not have stomped off the Purple stage for the last time until 1993, but let’s face it; it was only a matter of time before he threw the wobbly that broke the camel’s back. It had been on the cards for so long and, even as a devout Purple fan of many years standing, it was a blessed relief when it finally happened. Slaves And Masters had its moments, but the whole Joe Lynn Turner replacing Gillan, replacing Turner, was just dreadful. And, does The Battle Rages On enter anyone’s list of Purple highlights? The guitar player may have been great once, but those halcyon days are long gone, as is the respect of many of his once loyal fan base. He may have once shone like the brightest star in the heavens, but like that other temperamental prima donna, Michael Schenker, there comes a point when the genius becomes a liability and the moods and tantrums no longer make up for the increasingly brief flashes of excellence. For me, lutes just don’t do it and every time I think about his latest excuse for music, I just want to vomit and I reach for the copy of Green Bullfrog to stop the shakes. There is no comparison.

 

Picture
I appreciate that I have rattled on at quite some length about everything but the performance so far, and for those of you who are still awake, I’m getting to it now.

I last saw Deep Purple on the Abandon tour (well, actually I last saw them at the RAH at the 30 th anniversary bash, but that can’t really be counted) and it was a great gig, even if it was at Manchester’s hateful Evening Nazi Arena, the most odious of vile venues. As good as the show was overall, Ian Gillan’s voice, although still great in the bottom and mid range, seemed to have lost a little of its top end and he had changed his singing style a little to accommodate that. He also looked as though he hadn’t missed many desserts too, and the shirt-outside-the-pants-years were much in evidence. That said, I would still take Gillan on his worst day, with laryngitis, a head cold, sore eyes and a club foot, over pretty much anyone this side of Chris Farlowe. In fact, I have seen Gillan put in an outstanding performance with a streaming cold before now and he could still have wiped the floor with most singers. But, I digress.

As soon as the stage lights signalled the imminent arrival of Airey, Gillan, Glover Morse and Paice, I felt a frisson of excitement ripple through my body and I almost exploded as they launched into one of my favourite songs, Pictures Of Home. From the word go it was clear that this band was pumped and The Big G had been sacrificing the puds in favour of five portions of fruit and veg a day, his shirt firmly tucked into his jeans. Although now, like Alice, into his 60s, Gillan looked amazingly fit and well, his voice showed no signs of strain or loss of power. I read on a message board somewhere insignificant, a comment that the writer thought Ian was well soused because he forgot the words to Pictures (I think). Well, I don’t think he was. Yeah, he did get a line wrong, but would anyone who was smashed actually have the presence of mind to sing a line actually telling 60,000 people that he had just forgotten the words? I thought it was hilarious. Besides, I was at Reading Festival in 1983 when he was singing Sabbath songs. ‘Nuff said!

 

Picture
The setlist requires no comment. I love the new material in the set and they could have played Butterfly Ball for all I cared and I would have loved it. Actually, I would have rather enjoyed that… Like all bands that have a back catalogue extending over thirty or more years, there is always a whole load of songs that it would have been nice to hear, but that would mean they play every night for a couple of hours, for several weeks, minimum. No, I was happy with what they did. Hearing Fireball live was a blast for me, as was When A Blind Man Cries, neither of which I was really expecting. For a bunch of almost-pensioners they sure kicked some ass and gave us the finest Purple performance I have seen to date. Gillan was in excellent voice and Don Airey appeared so comfortable and at home behind his barrage of electronic wizardry. Glover was as solid as a rock and roaming the stage like a man on a mission, whilst Morse looked as though he’d always been in the band. Paice, of course, always has. As a band, this unit is as good as any Purple line-up to date and, in my not so humble opinion, is as ‘classic’ as a ‘65 Mustang.

A truly immense day of great bands, superb performances and some of the best music ever recorded, finished in fitting style with an unexpected rendition one of the best-loved rock songs ever, Black Night. It seemed somehow appropriate that we should all leave Milton Keynes Bowl with that song ringing in our ears. Let’s hope that this event returns for many years to come. Us fortysomethings remember when Deep Purple LPs bore the legend ‘File under Popular - Pop Music’. Wolfmother alone cannot save us from modern popular music.

Mark L. Potts 
The God of Thunder


10th June 2006

^^ Can you write ‘musician’ that many times in one sentence? Ed
I can... GoT


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.