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One Second Before Awakening from a Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee
I have written before about the hidden treasure of reviews in the Music Street Journal. Their excellent recent review of Montreux’2006 DVD got me thinking. (Thinking is a difficult thing to do. Good thing that from now on, computers will do all the thinking for us.)
For my money, I could have lived without “Smoke on the Water,” but to expect DP to do a show without that one is naïve. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I dislike the song, but my god, it’s been played to death. I’m sure it’s the band’s least favorite part of the set, feeling like drudgery.
This is quite a popular sentiment among us die hard Purple fans (and not so die hard, as it turns out). I myself could live without hearing a yet another Smoke on the Water for the rest of my life (I can still close my eyes, click the remains of the brain and mentally play the Made in Japan version, warts and all). So why the band keeps churning out Smoke night after night for the gazillionth time? The cynics among us say it’s surely just to please the crowd. I would disagree. They do it because it feels good.
Imagine yourself on stage in front of several thousand people. Imagine you have a magic button. The button works like this — you press the button and in a split second, no matter what you’ve played or how you’ve played before, the whole place goes absolutely completely bonkers apeshit. It works at any time of day, in any country, in front of any audience. No matter what. The audience goes nuts in three… two… one… NOW!
Imagine you had such magic button. Would you get tired of pressing it?
I rest my case.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Well put…. Now where is MY magic button?
August 7th, 2007 at 22:31Smoke on the water rocks!!!!They can play it till the cows come home and I will love it.
August 7th, 2007 at 23:22They have to play it !! I have seen them 6 times now ( 7 in N.H. tomorrow ) . I personally don’t need to hear them do it again , but think about the person who has never seen them live . Or think about the casual fan , it is their biggist hit !!!
August 7th, 2007 at 23:31I am a diehard DP fan and would like to hear more new material but I would push the button every night if I could, no questions asked.
August 8th, 2007 at 00:10I’ll never get tired of Smoke On The Water. To take it out of Deep Purple’s set is Nuts. It would be like cutting off a Limb.
August 8th, 2007 at 00:29Magic button, I like that! Great observation. Regarding Smoke, I am divided. I love the version on MIJ, but turning it into a sing-along just kills it. Play the song, play it raunchy, play it loud and play it hard, but skip the audience participation bit: “Wh-oh, Oh-oh” Great for some I guess, but I could skip that and survive! 🙂
August 8th, 2007 at 01:10IG has said in the past he loves doing SOTW live he never gets tired of it also Paicey has said he likes the challege of playing SOTW live differently every time.Keep it in the set list its a legend and tells the story of one of the greatest albums ever.
August 8th, 2007 at 02:44I HAVE A THOUGHT. THIS BAND HAS BEEN TOGETHER IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS [EXCLUDING THE LOST YEARS BEFORE THE REUNION]. PUT “SMOKE” IN A LENGTHY MEDLY OF SONGS. THERE IS SUCH A WEALTH OF REDICULOUSLY GREAT MATERIAL FOR THEM TO PULL FROM THAT I PERSONALLY WOULD LOVE THAT. NOT LIKE WHEN STEVE DOES HIS IMPROMPTO MEDLY OF OTHER STUFF. [ALTHOUGH THAT WORKS WELL ALSO], DO ALL OLD NEVER BEFORE PLAYED LIVE STUFF THAT WOULD BLOW THE REAL PURPLE FAN’S MIND. I WOULD ALSO LOVE TO SEE SOME CLASSIC ALBUMS DONE IN THEIR ENTIRETY WITH AN INTERMISSION THEN DO A SET OF MOSTLY NEWER STUFF. WOULD YOU NOT ALL LIKE TO HEAR “IN ROCK” WITH TODAY’S EQUIPMENT AND STEVE’S EMBELLISHMENTS? I’M REALLY GOING OUT ON A LIMB HERE, HOW ABOUT A LIVE VERSION OF “APRIL” FROM THE THIRD ALBUM? THINK DON AIRY WOULDN’T LIKE TO GET HIS CHOPS INTO THAT?
August 8th, 2007 at 03:18Yes, I agree.
August 8th, 2007 at 07:44I have said “oh aren’t they bored with it” in the past, but I don’t see it that way now. I should think that to play music this familiar (and it must go for a lot of the setlist) is a very different experience from playing something one of us has played, say 30 times. It must feel more like a sort of output of energy, that just happens to be in the form of that song, like a train on tracks. If you imagine say a crowd chant: the crowd isn’t thinking of the notes, it’s the experience that dominates. If you’ve ever been in a play, you notice how after a while the words get almost surreal – a communication quite separate from the superficial meaning. (Boy do I talk b******s at times!)
About the idea of an album done whole then new stuff – it would make it too long. I think it’s fair enough that the price we pay for having the band still touring and keeping standards so high is fairly short concerts, however much I would love them to be longer.
August 8th, 2007 at 07:47Hell (o) there!
August 8th, 2007 at 08:00I agree with you, the band was in a great shape that day. I’ve seen them in Beauvais / france a couple of weeks ago and they were killers. You can find a boot audio and video of this show somewhere over the net ( …hub, sorry..)
‘smoke’ got me into DP when i was 12… when i got into DP, my guitar playing and musicianship realy started to take off. and i owe them that. so taking smoke from the set is not an option for me.
but like BILL says, wouldn’t it be great to hear today’s purple play stuff from IN ROCK, i bet steve would do some awesome stuff there, FLIGHT OF THE RAT or HARD LOVING MAN – amazing!
and i’d love to see them pulling stuff from the MK7 albums on stage as well…. i’ve got some great bootlegs from the abandon tour, some of that stuff really was good live.. as well as purpendicular…
LEZ AVIT!!!
August 8th, 2007 at 08:47SOTW is a classic song . . . I don’t think that the band gets tired of playing it, at least when I asked RG a couple years back, he said no . . . they just put new musical wrinkles iin it. That said, if DP MK8 were to play nothing but songs from Purpendicular forward, then I would be in heaven with or without the classics. This is an awesome rock group . . . period.
August 8th, 2007 at 12:36SOTW belongs to DP, and DP belongs to SOTW
That song is probably responsible for the legend that the band are. Fans of all generations probably heard that track first, and it has inspired countless musicans and bands.
If it inspires potential fans to go out and buy DP records, then why shouldnt the band continue to play it. Afterall they have a pension plan to consider!!
August 8th, 2007 at 13:14I just bought the Montreux 2006 DVD (they all came down to Montreux…)
On this DVD I really like the jazzy twist that’s given to Smoke on the Water.
This version got me into Smoke on the Water again.
The song describes the city, the lake, the experience… that is also what is making it a classic. This new intro is so funny and good that the song deserves a new version, but I have to agree with some of the people that have replied here… I’m sometimes getting fed up with it too.
I would love to hear a set with songs from Purpendicular, Abandon, Bananas and Rapture of the Deep. Nothing else. That would be something special.
But it would also be nice if the guys took a spare moment and did some more rerecordings of old stuff, like a jazzy Smoke on the water or a BigBand version of Wring that Neck WITH Steve on guitar.
Just like they reissued Bludsucker…. I think it would take them only a month or so, and some great fun too.
However, everytime someone calls me on my cellphone, I hear Smoke on the Water’s riff… and my colleagues hum along happily.
August 8th, 2007 at 16:21A Purple show WITHOUT SOTW. NO way. But they still have to learn the amazing Mr. Morse to play it the way it should. Just give him a Fender and he can do it I’m sure.
August 8th, 2007 at 18:27I read somewhere that Flight of the rat will never be played live because it doesn’t translate well live.I think IG or RG said this.
August 8th, 2007 at 19:12Morse with a Fender!!!!!!!!!!!! please don’t…another RB fan who can’t get over it….
August 8th, 2007 at 21:36My wife’s cell rings on Highway Star. I can attend concert without SOTW. But, not without Lazy and Highway Star.
August 9th, 2007 at 03:55Let’s look at it from slightly different perspective: Being a pro musician is a job, like any other (well, I guess not really like any other :). Think about a pilot who flies the same route every week. Or a teacher, who teaches the same stuff sometimes several times a day. Why noone is bothered if they’re bored or not? Because this is a job and sometimes pro’s have to do things they don’t really enjoy.
And if you think that playing SOTW is boring think about poor classical musicians who are obliged to play same pieces exactly the same way, otherwise they would be accused of herecy and crucified by the audience. Rock bands have the luxury of playing pretty much as they please and still the audience will be happy.
And by the way, I don’t understand why everyone focuses on Sotw? Considering that DP is touring longer then lifetime of many of fans, I suspect that they should really be fed up with ANY song from the set except, maybe, songs from current latest album. Perfect Strangers was written 12 years after SOTW, but still it is a mandatory part of the set for already 20+ years…
August 9th, 2007 at 06:22To Jim
August 9th, 2007 at 09:39I have no problems with Steve Morsen. He is first off all a GREAT guitar player, he has given DP the smile back. So I’m happy to se him in DP.
BUT still he has never got even close to that specila sound SOTH must have as see it.
And a question:
If 1000 DP fans could chose between a MRK II or a MRKVIII concert, how many would chose the Mrk VIII line up concert? Like or not but the magic is not like it was. They are still fantastisk and by far my favorit band. Morse or not.
After you have heard SOTW live, and see the crowds reaction, whether it be from 30 years ago or the present. The atmosphere, the excitement, the untiy this song brings to the audience simply can not be described in words.
You live it! You breath it! OH! YES! You know it. Word for word, note for note.
I can not think of anyone song that brings a crowd to its feet like SOTW.
If one loves music, whether playing or listening you can not deny the adrenaline rush one gets when those first riffs are heard and the band and crowd become one.
If you want to get a crowd on its feet, play Smoke on the Water with the energy that it is meant to have. Raw and Loud!
In 1991 in Tochigi Japan in a nightclub I had the opportunity to sing SOTW with a local band. Not knowing the lanuage, feeling alone and lost in a country that was so different to my own I performed it with all the energy I could muster. I shall forever remember the crowd going absolutely ballistic and enjoying every moment. I felt privelleged to have sung the song.
I don’t think it mattered my singing was not up to scratch, what mattered was we were all in this song together, even if for just a few moments in time.
People speak of getting bored. How can one get bored when one sees the reaction of the crowd night after night. Now that would have to be job satisfaction.
August 9th, 2007 at 13:16Maybe when they do SOTW they all dream of all those dollars that song has, and still does generate. Would you get fed up of owning a golden goose??
August 9th, 2007 at 15:05Hey Bo, Morse is a great guitar player you are right, RB also a great guitar player. You can’t make Morse into RB and should not try to. MK II is not going to happen ever again so the 1000+ fans will have to enjoy MK8 in concert and listen to Made In Japan at home. From one DP fan to another this is the best compromise I can come up with.
August 10th, 2007 at 00:47Imagine the bruha if Purple DIDN’T play “Smoke on the Water”. A lot of fans go home disappointed, and the press will slag DP for “refusing” to play their signature tune.
I agree with Carl. Play it hard like they used to.
Save it for the last encore, and let the audience go home with it ringing in their ears.
August 11th, 2007 at 19:24Like this version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og8QudLCR9g
August 13th, 2007 at 00:59I MADE THE SUGGESTION ABOUT SMOKE IN A MEDLY PURELY AS A RESPONSE TO FANS GROWING TIRED OF IT. I REALLY NEVER DO, BUT THERE IS SO MUCH UNTAPPED GOLD THAT I THINK THEY COULD DO ALMOST ANYTING AS A SET LIST AND IT WOULD WORK. ROBERT MENTIONED WRING THAT NECK. GREAT EXAMPLE. HAVE YOU HEARD THE 22 MIN VERSION OF THAT FROM “LIVE 70 TO 72”. IT MIGHT BE RITCHIE BLACKMORE’S ABSOLUTE PINNACLE. [EVEN THOUGH IT WAS OVER 35 YEARS AGO]. THERE IS NO WRONG WAY WITH THESE GUYS. I’VE SEEN THEM OVER AND OVER AND THE ONLY PROBLEMS OUTSIDE OF VENUE ISSUES AND THE SHOW IN THE OMNI IN ATLANTA IN EARLY ’73 WHEN IAN REPORTEDLY QUIT IS EGO BATTLES. STEVE APPARENTLY PUT ALL THAT TO REST. IAN BY HIS OWN ADMISSION WAS ALSO TO BLAME AND THAT IS ALSO TO HIS CREDIT. LET’S JUST SIT BACK AND BE GLAD THESE GUYS ARE NOT ONLY STILL AROUND BUT STRONGER AND BETTER THAN EVER AND REMEMBER WHAT IAN PAICE SAID IN HELL OR HIGH WATER WHEN HE REFERS TO PURPLE BEING BETTER THAN 99.9999999999 PERCENT BETTER THAN ALL THE OTHER CRAP OUT THERE. THAT FIGURE MIGHT BE A LTLLE LOW.
August 13th, 2007 at 03:29Well said, Bill.
August 13th, 2007 at 12:38Bill is so right!!!
August 13th, 2007 at 23:05THANKS, T AND THANKS, JIM. AND TO EMILY. REMEMBER BACK IN THE EARLY 70’S WHEN THEY DID MANDRAKE ROOT AND WRING THAT NECK AND SPACE TRUCKIN’ AND THEY WERE ALL 20 TO 25 MINUTE JAMS AND PEOPLE WERE LOVING THAT! CAN YOU IMAGINE ANY OF THESE CLASSIC ALBUMS BEING DONE IN THEIR ENTIRETY AS IS FROM THE STUDIO? ONE SONG TO THE NEXT AND EVERY ONE IS GETTING MORE AND MORE GEARED UP FOR THEIR FAVORITE PIECE OF PURPLE HISTORY BECAUSE THEY OBVIOUSLY KNOW WHAT’S NEXT? KEEP IN MIND THE AVERAGE ALBUM LENGTH BACK IN THOSE DAYS WAS LESS THAN 40 MIN. THAT IS THE REASON WE HAVE THINGS LIKE BLIND MAN. DEMON”S EYE, FREEDOM, I’M ALONE, BLACK NIGHT, EVEN THE LONG VERSION OF SPEED KING. [AND A FEW MORE] THEY HAD TO CHOOSE WHAT WENT AND WHAT STAYED BECAUSE OF THE RECORD COMPANIES. NONE OF THOSE CLASSICS WERE ON ANY ALBUM. HELL, I’M OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER GETTING PISSED OFF AT THE SHORT VERSION OF SMOKE WHEN I WAS STUPID ENOUGH TO ACTUALLY LISTEN TO MUSIC RADIO. [PLEASE LISTEN TO “MTV”, ONE OF MY FAVORITE NEW PURPLE SONGS] CAN YOU IMAGINE A PROJECT IN WHICH THEY ANNOUNCED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO FILM AND RECORD A SHOW WITH A COMPLETE ALBUM AND THEN SONGS AFTERWARDS WHICH THEY HAVE NEVER DONE LIVE? ALL FIRST TIMERS. I’M FLYING ANYWHERE FOR THAT ONE. I BET YOU I WOULD SEE EMILY THERE.
August 15th, 2007 at 23:41Arnold Layne any time, bro………
August 23rd, 2007 at 19:35The more you play it , the better it gets . The jazz version on the 2007 Montreax DVD was a surprise –
MC
August 26th, 2007 at 07:40