Non-stop enjoyment

Set list:
Woman From Tokyo
Ted The Mechanic
Mary Long
Lazy
No One Came
Black Night
The Aviator
Fools
The Well Dressed Guitar
Up The Wall
Riff raff (including Peter Gunn Theme, Sweet Home Alabama, Here Comes The Sun, Won't Get Fooled Again, Stairway to Heaven, Back In Black, House Of The
Rising Sun and more!)
Smoke On The Water
Perfect Strangers
When A Blind Man Cries
Speed King

Hush
Highway Star

This was certainly the best Deep Purple show I've seen on an instrumental level. Jon was mixed at the right level and in fine form throughout - the rumours I'd heard were that he was thinking of calling it a day as far as live performances went, but there was no sign of a lack of enthusiasm last night.

Steve has to be the best guitarist playing today - the only guy who might come close is Jeff Beck. Roger was as good as ever, and how does Ian Paice manage to play just as fast with one hand as with two? The only downside was that Ian Gillan was clearly suffering from a cold/sore throat, and couldn't sing at his full power, although he improved as the show went on. The introduction to Black Night was drawn out for at least two minutes (a la Live In Japan), presumably to give him more time to recover.

Highlights for me were Mary Long, The Aviator (which featured backing vocals from Roger and Steve) and a superb rendition of Fools. Also nice to see a band that were clearly enjoying themselves on stage and out to provide as good a show as possible for a decent crowd (must have been around 3.000 - 4.000).

Roll on Hammersmith! [Indeed! See you there. Rasmus]

Richard Mackey

Back to reviews