Ode to Beatles

Hey, I enjoyed the Planets set - very talented group in more ways than one - you fellows will know what I mean... One row from the front and here we go. Opening with Woman From Tokyo but Ian's vocals were not too clear. Poor guy suffered all the set with an awful cough. Bravely struggled on and sadly turned to Jon and said (I was lip reading!) I can't do it! - meaning he was not going to sing Child In Time. I was really looking forward to that one! Still, the rest of the set, even with a throaty Ian was still magnificent.

Steve Morse played with such fluency on every number and never stopped smiling - he really is the focus of the band now in my opinion. Poor Ian tried to make the best of his predicament and strangely seemed to get vocally stronger towards the end of the set - the sweat was pouring from him.

It was obvious all the band were really enjoying themselves playing to a packed theatre. Great to hear Fools and No One Came from Ian's favourite album and a real treat to hear Mary Long as well. What I did appreciate was the shorter solos so that more songs could be played - thanks lads.

The changes to the previous set lists were Child In Time (as already mentioned) and When A Blind Man Cries being replaced with Black Night. Steve's medley before Smoke included (not in order) Back In Black, Stairway To Heaven, Honky Tonk Women, a Beatles riff (well, they were in Liverpool),Voodoo Chile, The Seeker, Sweet Home Alabama - I found it rather strange watching The Purps play AC/DC.

The encore gave us Hush and Highway Star which finished the night off nicely.

I must admit I was worried about Ian for the rest of the tour in his state (at the time of writing the NEC gig has been postponed) - hope you recover soon mate, and thanks for soldiering on.

Keep rocking Deep Purple - here's to the next tour and CD (I loved the new song Up The Wall.)

Mike Jevons

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