Such authenticity

A popular venue for rock fans, with seats taken out, the audience sizzled to the blast of Woman From Tokyo. For people such as me, who had been fans for years, but did not get the opportunity to see Purple live before, it was great to hear them play with such authenticity of the original recordings.

Steve Morse got the chance to stride out with his own solos as the show went on. He later showed his talents with a blaze of guitar riffs of other artists, that was both a history of great tunes and the ease in which he adapted to each style. Starting with, you would think inappropriately, Byrd's version of Mr Tamborine Man, he later Morsed (morphed) into the likes of Honkey Tonk Woman, but best of all was Hendrix's Voodoo Chile. The end of this highlight was the blast into Smoke On The Water.

Inbetween there were many classics, surprising me with the quality of scream that Ian Gillan can still produce such as in Child In Time. The new tracks obviously need to be worked into the fans' psyche, but overall it was two hours of rocking enjoyment, finishing with everyone's favourite, Highway Star.

Incidentally, a good tour programme too.

Colin Grant

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