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Chevrolet Amphitheatre, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
June 11, 2005

1. Silver Tongue
2. Woman From Tokyo
3. Strange Kind Of Woman
4. I've Got Your Number
5. Demon's Eye
6. Contact Lost
7. Don Airey keyboard solo
8. Perfect Strangers
9. Highway Star
10. Space Truckin'
11. Smoke On The Water

12. Lazy (encore # 1)
13. Hush (encore # 2)

Deep Purple's performance at the Rib America Food and Music Festival did not disappoint. Playing at a “ribfest” is sometimes a sign that a veteran act is in the waning stages of its existence, but Deep Purple played like a band with something to prove. The audience was convinced.
The problem with shows by many so-called “classic rock” groups is that the casual audience member is unfamiliar with anything recorded in the past twenty years. A few people seemed to be caught off guard by the songs from Bananas but were won over rather quickly. Silver Tongue worked well as an opening number, grabbing everyone's attention, even those who did not realize that Purple stills writes and records good music. Let's hope this inspired them to go out and purchase a copy of Bananas.
The audience was also receptive to less well-known (to American audiences) songs like Strange Kind of Woman and Demon's Eye (one of my personal favorites). I looked around and noticed that no one other than myself was singing – well, mouthing the words, really – during these tunes.
Steve Morse slowed things down a bit with Contact Lost. Again, many of the attendees seemed as though they had lost contact with the band at this point, but it might help if they understood the meaning behind the song. Steve moved on to The Well-Dressed Guitar and the audience was likewise moving again.
The Don Airey solo just before Perfect Strangers was, as usual, full of interesting bits. The Star Wars theme has been part of his routine for a few years now, but the inclusion of the Simpsons theme caught me by surprise. I had to stop for a moment and ask myself: Did I actually hear that? Funny guy.
The set ended with the obligatory “selection of FM radios hits that every drunk in the amphitheatre should know”. One DP fancier enthusiastically waved his Machine Head album cover in the air during the four selections from that LP. The rest of us were with him in spirit. And at this point I did not need to concern myself with being the only one who knew the words to the songs.
Overall, the band performed exceptionally well. The guys have managed to stay fresh during their time apart. [Apart? Where have they been? Rasmus] The music was well-rehearsed; there was nothing erratic about their performances. Ian Gillan sounded quite well for a man of whom it was said by a former bandmate over ten years ago that he couldn't sing anymore. Whatever happened to that guy?
David Ohliger

It was a hot muggy night in Pittsburgh with occasional thunderstorms. The place was packed as Deep Purple took the stage at approx. 9:30 PM. They ripped into their first song "Silver Tongue" but Ian's microphone was dead and it was not corrected for approx. 15 seconds. Ian's voice was in fine form, although at his age, he can no longer hit the high notes as well as in younger years.
As the band went into the second song, "Woman From Tokyo", Ian took off his shoes and socks. (Maybe his feet were sore...or hot) and he rolled up his pant legs. This song brought the crowd to their feet and they never again sat down.
Between songs, Steve and Roger seemed to enjoy throwing guitar picks into the audience and the shaking hands of people near the stage. All the band members seemed to be in a incredibly good mood!
One poignant moment came when Ian sat crossed legged on the stage and explained to the audience how Steve and the band came up with the space shuttle Columbia tribute song, "Contact Lost". Apparently the band was exchanging e-mail with the shuttle crew shortly before the disaster. This beautiful song, highlighted by Steve hypnotic guitar chords, moved many in the audience.
The Don Airey keyboard solo was fantastic! The sound effects were stunning, and Don even did a little bit of the "Simpsons" TV theme song and music from "Star Wars". He literally blew the audience away!
They played many of my favorites, but I was a little disappointed that they didn't play "Fireball" and "Pictures of Home". But all in all, it was a fantastic show, and I urge all Deep Purple fans to go and see them if they will be playing in your area.
Lawrence Gasior

What amazed me so much was that the band was so tight and no distortion what a great sound and they really mixed up the new songs with the no so old songs to the real old songs..Very well.
They did not play nothing from Purpendiclar though and the show was very short like about 75 min. But it was a great 75 minutes. All the songs they did were excellent.
If they come close to Pittsburgh again I will see them again.
Pete Jenson