A craving for mud

Despite my misgivings about the Morse lineup I was just as excited as the rest of the 6-7000 crowd. DP in my homeland! The last time the band came here was in the early 1990s with the ill-fated JLT-lineup. I heard from my uncle that JLT was terrible and he stopped midway thru the concert as his voice was shot, and the fans ended up disappointed. Tonight though everyone enjoyed a great show but with hindsight it could have been better.

The mistakes were:
1. Didn't play Child In Time.
2. Lots of other true classics were missing as well. Too many second raters like No One Came, The Aviator (that's a folk song), Mary Long, Hush.
3. Never played Soldier Of Fortune unlike in Malaysia. They should have known that SOF is a greater hit here than Smoke. Everyone knows it.
4. Morse ruined WABMC (everyone knew the lyrics!) and Smoke.
5. Too little time for the audience to sing Smoke' together. They should have let us sing longer before continuing back to the riff like in the Blackmore years.
6. Gillan's bad fashion sense. What's with his attire? Barefoot and all... He looks like he's going for a yoga rather than a frontman of a hardrock band. The rest looks really respectable rockers, except Gillan.
7. Smoke should end the show as simple as that. Highway Star is bad for an encore.

The highlights were 1. Gillan's voice was OK (thank God). He couldn't scream that well but his singing was legendary.
2. Morse doing Well-Dressed Guitar. A little bit of classical Malmsteen influence there. Highly impressive. Likewise when Gillan asked the audience whether the band should include it on the next album - they shouted in unison 'Yeahh!!
3. Bass and drum solo. Thank you Ian Paice. Bass solo by Roger included a bit of Rat Bat Blue.
4. Speed King - Don and Morse shining.
5. The crowd - truly amazing.

As this was an open air event I was secretly wishing for rain. But it didn't come. It would make it all even memorable wouldn't it? I guess those who went to Knebworth in 1985 should know. [But would they agree the rain enhanced the experience?! Rasmus]

Thank you Deep Purple for making my day. Blackmore's absence was truly felt, but only nostalgically. Musically Blackmore wasn't missed due to Morse's great show. But whenever a riff is being played like the Perfect Strangers intro or Smoke On The Water, you really wish Blackmore was there instead of Morse.

All in all a truly enjoyable show.....

Khalid Jamlus

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