Addicted to that rush
Yesterday I went to Riolo Terme (RA) to see my 5th Deep Purple concert. I’m a little bit addicted to DP I guess, but I don’t smoke, I don’t like coffee and I don’t drink too much, so…
Anyway, me and four other friends drove to the place, the sky was getting darker and darker. It seemed like we would get into a storm and one of my friends said: "If they take a look at the sky, they should play "Stormbringer"." Once we got there, we went through separate ways as I wanted to go next to the stage, while another one brought his videocamera and wanted to film a little bit… During the support group I was trying to get as close as I could to the stage and then some 30 minutes of gap between the setting of the stage and the beginning of the show made people nervous… but finally… there they were!!! They all looked in fine form and I was really curious to see how Don Airey fitted in… The tracklist is exactly the same on this tour… but it brings out some rarely played songs, so it’s OK!
They start with "Woman From Tokyo" and Gillan seems to have some voice problems, but he’ll be right from "Ted The Mechanic" on… "Mary Long" is amazing… I’ve always wanted to hear this one live! Then Gillan introduces Don Airey, telling us that Jon Lord has some problems with his knee… and Don takes a little solo before getting into "Lazy"… some nice interplay on this one as ever…
Then a couple of extracts from "Fireball": "No One Came" and "Fools". The first one with power bass parts from Roger, the second one is great… the middle section has a nice Don solo and some incredible Steve Morse’s licks… After those Gillan introduces "Well Dressed Guitar" as "a song that Steve recently wrote for us." It seems like a song from one of his solo albums as it has just Roger and Paicey on it… no keyboards and no vocals. [Surely Don played the string parts on keyboards... Rasmus]
Then Don Airey has his solo spot… he plays some classical extracts on the piano, before launching into "Perfect Street Rangers" (as Gillan introduces this…). On this one Gillan makes some confusion with the lyrics… but he’s on fine form tonight and he’s smilin’ and gigglin’ around like I’ve never seen him before…
It’s time for a slow one… "When A Blindman Cries"… here Steve and Gillan have a lot of fun together… at one point Ian couldn’t sing as he was laughing for Steve’s riffing… funny moment…
Then the famous "Guitar Parade". Steve’s starts with "You Really Got Me" and everyone else follow him… even Gillan sings the first line! Then Steve goes into some AC/DC stuff, "Crossroads" (Cream), "The Wind Cries Mary" (Jimi Hendrix), "Roundabout" (Yes), "Day Tripper" (Beatles) and the complete "Stairway To Heaven" solo!!! Obviously now the immortal riff comes out from his guitar… powerful as ever… and people go crazy!!!
"Speed King" is introduced by Gillan as "a special ballad"… on this one everyone gets a solo… Roger is great on his spot… as is Paicey with his one drumstick trick… then the interplay between Steve and Don is fantastic… and Gillan sings some lines from "’O Sole Mio"… very funny…
They leave the stage and people starts screaming for "Black Night"… and they get served as Purple get back on stage. Then it’s time for "Hush" which Gillan introduces as "the first single Deep Purple ever played 33 years ago…"
The closing one can only be "Highway Star"… Don plays a nice solo and Steve is perfect as always… They all come on stage to say "Goodbye"… Roger’s the last to leave the stage… it’s been great as ever…
I tried to get to the backstage as I wanted to show Paicey the photos of when we played together in Fano (PU) nine months ago, but they left the place after the show… there were too many people and it could be dangerous… well, "Maybe Next Time"…
Tracklist:
Woman From Tokyo
Ted The Mechanic
Mary Long
Lazy
No One Came
Fools
Well-Dressed Guitar
Don Airey solo/Perfect Strangers
When A Blind Man Cries
You Really Got Me > Crossroads > The Wind Cries Mary > Roundabout > Day Tripper > Stairway To Heaven > Smoke On The Water
Speed King (incl. ‘O Sole Mio)
Encores:
Black Night
Hush
Highway Star
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