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Town Hall Auditorium, Christchurch, New Zealand
April 28, 2004

Silver Tongue
Woman From Tokyo
I Got Your Number
Strange Kind Of Woman
Bananas
Knocking At Your Back Door
Contact Lost (very touching moment)
Steve Morse's solo
Well Dressed Guitar
Don Airey's solo (incl Star Wars theme and Waltzing Matilda)
Perfect Strangers
Highway Star
Lazy (incl drum solo)
Space Truckin'
Smoke On The Water

Hush
Hit the Road Jack
Black Night
Speed King (incl rock'n'roll medley)

What a night!
From the opening number Silver Tongue, Deep Purple rode on a wave of audience adoration that pushed the band to great heights.
The set list was pretty much the same as the earlier Australian tour dates, although we did not get When A Blind Man Cries. However, we did get Speed King as a second encore.
For me personally it was a dream fulfilled, to see the first band I ever really loved, playing at the Christchurch Town Hall.
Ian Gillan was dressed all in white and blew me away with his vocals, so much power still (from a bloke aged 59 years Wow!) and I especially enjoyed hearing him singing Hush, he really made it his own. Steve Morse blinded us with some dazzling solos and is Contact Lost not one of the most heart wrenching pieces of music written.
New member Don Airey gelled well with the band and his solo included a nice touch of kiwiana in Pokarekare Ana, and the rhythm section Ian Paice (the man is a machine!) and Roger Glover (Mr Cool Dude!) keeping the beat and driving the band on. Just awesome.
I would like to say more but I was swept away with the rest of the audience for two hours of mindblowing music. Sometimes you go to a gig and you have great expectations and you leave going yeah not bad. Not this night. I cannot imagine anyone leaving disappointed, it was one of those special nights, where everything just seemed to fit right and the energy flowed both ways from band to audience. A bonus was being within a metre of the stage and gaining Don's towel!
Another classic moment was the look on the face of my mate's 15-year-old son when he got one of Paicey's drum sticks, just priceless.
As if seeing such a fantastic gig was not enough, after the gig getting my copy of Bananas signed by Ian Paice, Steve Morse and Roger Glover was the icing on the cake, a CD to treasure forever.
A very very special night from a very very special band. It just doesn't get any better than this.
Brendon Norrie

How did it go? Well it was a standard Deep Purple concert which of course means ultra professional performance by virtuoso musicians enjoying themselves. Roger Glover had problems with his rig periodically through the evening but these were not enough to detract from the performance.
Steve 'smiling' Morse was a little low in the mix though I was up in the gods on the other side of the stage. His playing was still breathtaking and he makes it all look so easy. Both Steve and Don Airey retain enough of the original feel of their predecessors to remain true to the spirit of the songs, but manage to inject their own ideas too. Messrs Glover and Paice were solid as and Ian Gillan was sounding superb - much better I felt than on the Abandon DVD.
The Bananas material was well received and why not? The best new album I have heard in years, spawning some absolute classics.
Final comment - I remember part of looking forward to a gig was wondering what songs they would play, what's coming next and taking the bands' rapport with the audience at face value. The internet and DVD has changed all that. I knew before the gig what the set list would be, the order and the comments Ian Gillan would make. This is no refection on the band, just an observation that we can get too much of a good thing these days!
All in all, a fantastic night, all pretenders watch and learn!
Stuart Wakerley

I have always been a fan of Deep Purple but never seen them live before. The ChCh Town Hall was sold out , with all seats removed downstairs to enable full on rageing.
The band were excellent and the Glover /Paice rhythmn section outstanding.
With a track list of Bananas tracks and old favorites, the concert was brilliant and the rendition of Smoke on the Water (complete with crowd singing ) was outstanding and a deserved standing ovation from those upstairs followed .
Two encores and two more standing ovations - what a night , what a band , what a concert
Rates up there with the best I have been to.
Mark Byers

Finally getting to see your favourite band play your home town after despairing that they would ever return. Having been barely out of nappies when MK IV played here in 1975 and then having the joy of the reunion shattered by the cancellation of the scheduled gig in 1985, I thought time and Purple had passed this town by.
I had travelled to see them in Sydney 2001, and as great as that was, this was even better.
Gillan's voice is as good as it's been for a long time, maybe not hitting the high notes of old but the power is still there.
Roger had a bit of trouble with his bass, switching from remote to a cord then back again, but this did not stop him getting round the stage like a teenager.
Don is the perfect replacement for Jon, a great keyboardist in his own right who manages to retain just the right amount of reverence to the classic Hammond sound. His solo was one of the highlights.
Good to see the drum solo from Little Ian back in, the one handed drum roll continues to amaze.
Smiling Steve was in great form, his work on Contact Lost and Well Dressed Guitar was more than enough to put any doubters in the audience out of their misery.
A good sized crowd, given this venue was a late addition to the tour. I'd guess around 2000, about 3/4 full.
Now I can die happy (in another 40-50 years, and hopefully another Purple concert or two!).
Geoff Cotton