Deep Purple at Pine Knob Clarkston, Michigan August 15, 1998
I'm still reeling from a great show held at Pine Knob Music Theater by Deep Purple and ELP (I missed Dream Theater).
I couldn't believe that both of my favorite bands would be playing on the same show when I went browsing on the web in search of what bands would be touring during the summer. My only regret was that the tour had no southern states dates to it (I live in Birmingham, Alabama). My wife was willing to make the drive up north with me however and it also gave us a great excuse to visit my cuz Debra in Ann Arbor.
The only bad part of the evening was the drive from Ann Arbor to Clarkston. Road construction made it impossible for us to arrive on time but fortunately we took our seats just as ELP hit the stage. ELP was the first concert I ever attended back in the early seventies. Since then I have seen them on three previous ocassions. I've always enjoyed their skill as musicians and their slant on classical compositions. They were in good form on this night. Greg Lake's voice has a harsher sound to it but he still did a nice job on vocals. Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer are just amazing musicians, my favorite keyboard player and percussionist (the word "drummer" just doesn't seem to do Palmer justice). Emerson seems to play effortlessly and Palmer's stamina on the drums is incredible for a middle-aged man (or ANY age for that matter). It was great to hear such songs as "Hoedown", "Knife-Edge" and "Tarkus". I especially liked part of "21st Century Schizoid Man" mixed in with "Fanfare for the Common Man" for their encore. They played I guess a little over an hour which for me was too short but on a bill with three acts that's about what I would expect.
I had been pretty psyched about seeing Deep Purple because for some reason I never had the chance to catch them on tour. I purchased the new CD "Abandon" a few weeks before the show and thought it was great. I was looking forward to hearing both the new stuff, and the oldies as well, and was not dissappointed with the song selection.
I was on the web a lot prior to the concert reading about the tour and performances the band had given up to the show I was about to see. It concerned me that some people felt Ian Gillan's voice was a problem at some shows (coming to find out now that one show was cancelled because of health problems). And as soon as "Hush" started, the mix seemed to have Ian's voice rather low which made me somewhat skeptical about how he would perform on this evening. Much to my great surprise his voice was in top form. And it continued to be for the entire evening. How he hits those high notes and screams is just incredible. With the band in a tight, funky groove on "Hush" and Ian at full power, I had a smile on my face that stayed till the last song was played. The set list seemed to be consistent with most of the other North American shows. Highlights for me were "Bludsucker" which just ROCKED, "Woman From Tokyo" which sounded great live, "Lazy" with that great intro by Jon Lord on the keyboards, "Perfect Strangers" and "Speed King". It was great to watch the band smiling and having fun on stage. Steve Morse really fits in well with this group. His interplay with Jon Lord and Ian Gillan were highlights as well. The only bad part of the show was when the drunk in the front row got up on stage and was a jerk about leaving, also cutting off the last part of the vocals on "Any Fule Kno That". Fortunately Ian kept his cool (just when I thought he might lose it) and said afterwards that "there's always one in every crowd". The band ended it's show appropriately with "Highway Star". I was hoping for another encore but it was not meant to be. The show was a little over an hour and a half in length and couldn't have been better (a bit longer perhaps but not better). Probably one of the best concerts I've seen in the last five years. It made me feel like a teenager again. Thanks Deep Purple for the memories.
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