[ d e e p P u r . p l e ) The Highway Star

Deep Purple, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Dream Theater
Jones Beach, NY August 9, 1998

My friend Lesley and I went down to Jones Beach early on in the day to beat the killer CT to NY Sunday traffic. We had an enjoyable day at the beach and went to the venue again early enough to catch Dream Theater. DT put on an energetic show, being from Long Island originally anyway. ELP followed and played a good show. Keith, who tried to get his fire-breathing Moog thing going during Hoedown threw it down in disgust when it wasn't working. Only thing was hitting the stage set it off all over the front row in front of him. Good going, Keith!

And Purple? Well, actually, I've seen a lot better. Ian's voice was shot from the last three nights, and it seemed to affect his overall attitude as well. Though the crowds' reaction certainly didn't help matters. Sensing his roughness, the crowd sat down halfway through Hush, and remained that was for most of the set. What is everyone's problem?! Purple still put in a good performance though, Steve and Jon played beautifully, and they had a lot of fun between them.

Ian still had a few fun moments, but other times, he let his sickness show, like when he introduced Almost Human as how he felt at the moment. Purple left the stage to a warm ovation, and went on to a well deserved day off.

Brendan Johnston


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