![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/gillan9.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/mcbride5.jpg)
An exhibition of living heritage
Georgia Today reviews in most transcendental terms the recent Deep Purple gig in the country:
The evening of 16 November in Tbilisi transformed the Sports Palace into an environment that resembled a vast anthropological chamber. Deep Purple appeared onstage as the custodians of a fifty-year cultural archive, and the audience moved through the space as visitors inside a living museum. The hall filled with people long before the lights dimmed, and the delayed start charged the air with a slow ritualistic tension. The venue’s acoustic brightness carried the sound with an immediacy that framed the performance as an intimate encounter between legends and listeners.
Continue reading in Georgia Today.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
“An urban cathedral of sound …”
Oh man, I’m all devout now! That is what they should call their next album, “Cathedral of Sound”.
https://youtu.be/etAIpkdhU9Q
November 21st, 2025 at 01:28Can’t wait to see them in 11 months and 4 days 😍
November 21st, 2025 at 02:37I have been thinking about Karin and her having to wait as others will, for that long. The longest I ever had to wait following a postponement of a Yes concert in 2003 was about eight months and that dragged on. Still, it gives her something to do each day, twiddling her thumbs (or twirling that drumstick), looking out the window, checking the calendar each day and crossing the days off as they end. Plenty of time to take Anton for ‘extra’ walks too. The time will fly by, as it does these days. Cheers.
November 21st, 2025 at 07:16@3
Aww thank you so much MacGregor 😃🤗
I am a very patient woman! And when I know such greatness awaits me, I’m patient no end!
“twiddling her thumbs” – 😂 I’m not there yet! But yes, indeed I twirl the stick I’ve got.
November 21st, 2025 at 08:39Still Uwe hasn’t taken pity on me and let me have the coveted Ian Paice drumstick, but a girl can dream, can’t she? 😁
You know what’s better than going to a DP show in 2026?
Attending 2 of them.
Really looking forward to those shows. Fingers crossed.
November 21st, 2025 at 12:27MacGregor, Karin… what can you know about waiting… I’ve been waiting fot MK2 concert for 21 years – from 1972 when I learned about DP till 1993 – first and last MK2 concert in Poland.
November 21st, 2025 at 13:55That does not mean I saw them 2 times…
Yes, living behind Iron Curtain had its drawbacks…
@5
Two (2!) shows?
Max, maybe you don’t know this, but in Denmark we have this saying:
“If a woman has waited all her life to see Purple in action, and her southern neighbour has seen them several times, and he is going to see them more than once, and that woman only have one chance to see them, then he is obligated to invite her to attend a concert in his home country”
– Well, it’s not something I’m making up, it’s an old proverb we hold very dearly in Denmark…
And honestly I don’t think you would like to annoy my gypsy and Viking ancestors 🫣 (just saying ☺️😉)
November 21st, 2025 at 14:15Karin, Hamburg is only something like 360 kms from you – that is closer to you than to where I am, just sayin’!
Your ancestors crossed the wild seas to North America …
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTEzPnhVxHLOjJPAM8lVx7rC8Am_LCLCFYWd7nKa77YdrPvY0DcATi9Bko&s=10
… Holy Odin, where did your explorer spirit go?! Anton could always pull your sled and you could eat him if rations become scarce, Scandinavians have a reputation of doing so I’ve heard …
November 21st, 2025 at 15:46@7 There is hardly something more frightning than the thought of annoying your ancestors, Karin. But then again … to piss off LIVING relatives could be even worse! There is an old German saying too: “Do whatever you like, buddy, but don’t mess with raging Viking husbands.”
I learn that the Danes don’t let everybody in …but I didn’t know they don’t let their people out just the same! Otherwise you could travel to a german city close to Denmark to see DP. They come to Germany quite often. It’s pretty easy in fact. As a Danish woman you won’t have troubles to cross the border … just bring your passport so they believe you’re 18+.
Psssst: I hope nobody else did read your posting. You might get banned from the site. I mean: What kind of fan is this? Waiting a lifetime to see DP? They tour on a regular basis since reunion days. Don’t you have any cars, trains or planes up north? I even travelled to London to see them – you could get there by one of those long boats your ancestors are famous for.
November 21st, 2025 at 17:04@6
Stawik, I am so sorry.
I know I now and then sound like a spoiled brat.
However, I have never been to a Purple concert before.
Last year I joined Facebook, mainly because of my work. But soon I found Ian’s page, and there I talked with Nick, who told me about this lovely place.
So before FaceBook and HighwayStar, I never knew when Purple were giving concerts, only afterwards….
So I am looking very much forward to finally see the BEST band ever! Live!!
And as I told a dear friend of mine, even if Ian can’t sing next October, I will still be so thrilled because it still is Purple 😍
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate ironcurtains?
November 21st, 2025 at 17:44@8
Uwe, 368,4 km!
I will seriously consider it!
November 21st, 2025 at 18:55Thank you 😊🤗
@8
Uwe, I am going to Hamburg d.1.11.26!
🤩🥳
November 21st, 2025 at 19:24@ 6 – I understand those situations stawik, glad for you that you witnessed them in concert. My wait for MKII was from around the same time 1972/3 until 1984 here in Australia. In regard to my post to Karin, I was talking about once someone purchased a ticket, that length of time. Cheers
November 21st, 2025 at 21:12@9
Well Max, you’re in luck! Sadly I don’t have any surviving relatives…(and no, don’t speculate about it’s because of me😈)
As a matter of fact I am going to Hamburg!
25th of October in Copenhagen and 1st of November in Hamburg 😃
Can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to this 😍
And the reason I never been to a Purple concert is because of this:
When I was young (yes Max, once upon a time in the far far north, even I was young…) I was very busy educating myself.
When facebook happened, I wasn’t joining. It was actually last year, because of my work as a homeopath, I joined Facebook, and soon I found Ian page. At that page I met you, and also Nick, and Nick invited me to HighwayStar where I have been living since, much to the regret of most of you, but you must discuss it with Admin!
November 22nd, 2025 at 10:07So before FB and this wonderful place of everything Purple related, I simply didn’t know about the concerts before they were over.
In Denmark we have a critique named Thomas Treo, and he always has a harsh comment about all bands, including Purple, but I always read with great musical hunger about the concerts….
But now, where I find myself in a more enlightened status, indeed I will cheer on my heroes 😍😍
Pull up the bridges, the Nordic hordes are coming!
November 22nd, 2025 at 12:18The longest I have been waiting for a concert from buying tickets to concert is:
February 8, 2020 bought tickets for September 29, 2020 –
June 12, 2020 concert moved to September 29, 2021 –
June 1, 2021 concert moved to October 7, 2022
October 7, 2022 fantastic concert.
Janbl
November 22nd, 2025 at 18:48It sounds like Karin has been lamenting the lack of Oasis in her life for the last 20 years or so. So you have only been a Deep Purple geek for a year or so Karin, am I mistaken with your comment? Oh well, if so better late than never. And talking distances to travel to much beloved international artists concerts, don’t start me up. The amount of travel in Australian from the ‘outback’ to the big smoke, I will not go there. A rock ‘n roll tragic would be the best way to describe me, perhaps. From 2003 to 2015 was much better when living within a one hour drive to Brisbane, I made up for it there big time. Now where in the name of hell are Oasis, oh shit, I just missed them, bummer. I was hoping to meet Liam. Cheers.
November 22nd, 2025 at 20:23@ 16 -There are some pretty long postponement dates there janbl. At least they were not cancellations, however it does create a little bit of anxiety as we move on and on through the months to finally getting there. Well for me it does, especially if they are not prone to touring a lot in your country. It is a huge relief when the artist(s) walk on stage and begin performing after a long wait. Cheers.
November 23rd, 2025 at 02:17If a teenage girl like Karin discovers DP a little later in her adolescence all by herself then that is a cause for celebration, Herr MacGregor, not reprimands!
Way to go, Karin, a few more years and we’ll be discussing our respective favorite IGB tracks. Get on down, I’ll meet you down the road …
https://youtu.be/VmjQoBUq_E8
November 23rd, 2025 at 03:11@17
MacGregor, I have loved and cherished Purple since I was very young 😊
To my sweet mum’s great regret 😄
But then again, she liked Elvis so what was to expect….
November 23rd, 2025 at 06:02@19
“a few more years and we’ll be discussing our respective favorite IGB tracks.”
– 🤣🤣
Indeed Uwe! It’s as likely as we soon will be discussing my favourite Elvis songs 😄 it’s a discussion quickly over and done with! 😃
But I will always drink a cup of coffee with you, and discussing what a brilliant voice our Ian has 😃
But I do need to stress that it isn’t Ian’s formidable voice I’m complaining about…. It the jazz fusion thingy I have a very hard time digesting in my poor head: awful colours galore…
Our dear Francis Rossi is touring Denmark next year, and yours truly is going to see the great man 😍 really looking forward to that too!
November 23rd, 2025 at 11:30But the Jazz/Fusion thing didn‘t really become a decisive trait of IGB before their second album CAT – the debut was if anything Pink Floydy and even reminiscent of WDWTWA in places or sophisticated pop like 10cc. Especially the beautiful ballad Down The Road is 100% fusion-free and again something that wouldn‘t have been out of place on Dark Side of the Moon.
Lisssten to me, Karin, unleash your dark side …
https://media.tenor.com/JTcHZJPUwV8AAAAM/bradd-pitt-angry.gif
November 23rd, 2025 at 15:40@ 14 Now that is interesting… havn’t you got papers, posters, radio stations that announced concerts?
Back in the day even in our small town we had concert posters at the bus station or whereever to announce bands playing within a region of say 100 kms. Unless someone had nicked them as a souvenir that is. (Last time I saw it when sons of mine helped themselves to a couple of Deep Purple posters right off the Schleyerhalle – but don’t tell anyone!)
Since the internet the logarhytmns of course do the job and there is no escaping getting advertisment for the bands you like (and even some you don’t like since the dump computers think I’m into Uriah Heep just because I love Deep Purple which is obviously silly!)
November 23rd, 2025 at 16:14@ 20 – sorry Karin I had your story mixed up regarding the timeline. It was you commenting about the recent years connecting to here etc that had me thinking along the wrong path. And the fact you hadn’t yet been to a Deep Purple gig. Hope you enjoy your concerts next year, and when you are in Hamburg, stay away from that Reeperbahn area in St Pauli. You just never know who Uwe may bump into there, especially at night. Cheers.
November 23rd, 2025 at 21:15Karin simply couldn’t go to DP gig in the last few decades because she was still underage and her parents wouldn’t let her. How cruel.
November 24th, 2025 at 04:38@22
Ohh Max, now I am blushing seriously….
Please don’t think bad about me and my very little almost undeveloped yet very cute country 🫣
Ok, I will explain: (and again: I am embarrassed..)
When I was a kid, we could see Danish television, but we had only one channel, DR (Denmark’s Radio, named like that because it started out as a radio station with, come on: guess! Yeah! 1 channel.)
But we lived at Sjælland, in the south so I had pissibolities (Ian is a bad man 😁) to watch Sesam Straße, und so weiter (sadly also some horrible thrillers, NOT suited for kids! I remember a woman was hang on a meat hook, and for years I had difficulties entering a butcher’s shop) then we moved to Jylland, and no more exciting German television, only 1 channel of boring news, weather reports and some quite enjoyable movies (Fred Astaire’s Tophat among others) (and please remember I had 4 older brothers who wanted to protect me from the ‘dangerous’ world – too late, I already had the meat hook implanted forever in my innocent mind..)
And to finally answer your question: no announcement of my beloved Purple…
It may have been in the papers but I always dug in for the comics (I guess you’re right: I ought to be thrown out of here….) ( please don’t, you’re so much my tribe ❣️)
When I matured ( 👀) I was busy, educating + working + etc, listened to Purple with Ian (as you may remember just recently I understood what a great singer David Coverdale is) at my home, but I must have lived in a cheese bell, because I honestly never heard about any concerts, and the later years: only after they had been held in my country, and Thomas Treo ( a harsh but quite funny critique) had told us all that this concert had to be the last because the people in Purple were so old ( I guess they will live longer than him!☺️)
I didn’t even see any posters 😞🥺
(And of course your secret is safe with me! I admire people who help themselves to beautiful art 😃)
Actually all I had, growing up, outside my home, re Purple, was Henrik, my friend at school who taught me to play the riff to Smoke on the Water ☺️
Uriah Heep? Well, there you have it! When even you, in the country so well equipped with all kinds of material goods, enlightenment and education can be mistaken for a UH-fan, then it isn’t so far fetched that I almost lived in the medieval times in Denmark.
I often wonder how I managed before Google and other search machines, and I guess I didn’t very well.
Well, to end this way too long post, I wanna let your ears feast at a Danish band, Sort Sol! Steen Jürgensen is a brilliant vocalist (no not Ian Gillan brilliant!) and the band started out as punks.
https://youtu.be/_6hXpnLxSuY
Oh they also did covers:
November 24th, 2025 at 04:39https://youtu.be/7l9P2I-5Y9Y
@23
It’s alright MacGregor 😊
In Rock was my first record with Purple, and I was really just a kid ☺️
I will enjoy both concerts! No doubt about that 😃
November 24th, 2025 at 04:42And I promise I will look out for dubious people 😄
* dumb…computers of course.
November 24th, 2025 at 05:22Dr. Freud
Max @22 you have obviously never been to Jylland. 😂
https://investin.kystognaturturisme.dk/media/2120/dsc01830_sondervig-feriepark_jylland_920x1080.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=1920&height=1080&rnd=131921931690000000
(Picture of an open air Jylland rock concert with high audience attendance – it didn’t rain that day.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAg9I7huqHc&t=284s
(You tell me if you see a concert poster anywhere!)
This isn’t Schwabenland you know. Plus we must surmise that Karin lived a very sheltered and secluded life. I’m personally guessing
– either serving a long prison sentence in fængsel i Sdr. Omme:
https://images.jfmedier.dk/images/f/fa/fa2/fa206e88-c28b-4551-9ece-c19d9531c6d3_183_90_943_0_1656_933_600_338_a229d2c5.jpg
– or maybe Sister Karin devoted great parts of her life to devotional service to, no, not Ian Gillan,
https://www.thehighwaystar.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/D7N058-small.jpg
but as a member of the Benedictine Convent in Kloster Børglum:
https://www.boerglumkloster.dk/media/9137/dsc_0019-2.jpg
Either way, she can’t really be blamed for her withdrawal from the material world, so don’t give the poor girl a hard time. Mind you, you’re still in the “mature woman”-probation period!
I cannot bear injustice when I see it.
November 24th, 2025 at 06:13@28
Max, to me it made sense with the dump computer 😊
But of course dumb is even better!
My iPad was dangerously close to being thrown out of the window in my clinic, because even though it’s fairly new, suddenly the screen was black!
November 24th, 2025 at 15:28And I have all my data and mails, fb, messenger, photos etc in there, well all my life really. But after I had turned it off, told it that I wasn’t fond of it anymore and it was on the verge of total annihilation, it started working again!
So feel free to use my advice to yell a bit next time your computer misbehaves 😃
@29
“Plus we must surmise that Karin lived a very sheltered and secluded life.”
– yes I did! 😃
But no Uwe, not in prison and certainly not in a convent 😄
“Mind you, you’re still in the “mature woman”-probation period!”
– no no, it’s over long time ago!
Actually Max wrote:”As a Danish woman you won’t have troubles to cross the border … just bring your passport so they believe you’re 18+.” (@9)
November 24th, 2025 at 15:36As far as I’m concerned his probation period is over! Indeed flattering shamelessly like that buys him off for several insults in the future 😅
Karin, I know a guy who stabbed his computer with a knife, no kidding.
November 24th, 2025 at 20:50I guess blow had to do with it – but he was hot tempered even when he was sober..
We would sincerely hope Karin that you have an external backup of ‘all your life’ somewhere safe and sound. Max @ 32, are you sure that wasn’t Keith Emerson, plunging that knife into his ‘keyboard’. Sorry, it was bad I know, but I just couldn’t resist. Cheers.
November 24th, 2025 at 21:41I thought the Keith Emerson howler was funny!
Mind you, Max otoh doesn’t like or understand Prog Rock so Keith’s nuanced approach to his instrument is probably lost on him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xggFzkyd288&list=RDxggFzkyd288&start_radio=1
November 25th, 2025 at 02:43@32
Woah! What did the poor computer do I wonder? 😃
Normally I just yell a bit 😄
November 25th, 2025 at 04:33@33
I ought to have a backup!
November 25th, 2025 at 04:34The most important photos in my life is in here…
As well as a lot of music and all my mails!
@ 36- all your males are in there, sorry, typo. Or was your’s a typo Karin? Cheers.
November 25th, 2025 at 09:02@ 34 – I thought progressive rock was quite popular in Germany, it is in Holland. Regarding Keith and that knife, didn’t Lemmy give him that as he was a collector of German war paraphernalia. So there is a German connection to Keith. I hope Karin doesn’t watch that clip Uwe, she may begin to wonder why Keith is humping and riding his organ like that. Jon Lord was a saint in comparison to Keith, with his treatment of the Hammond. Cheers.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154516375850961&id=121269690960&set=a.454948245960
November 25th, 2025 at 09:22@37
Ohh MacGregor 😄 besides Anton I only have one male in my life 😁
Have to admit I needed to read your post a couple of times before I understood what you meant 😃
November 25th, 2025 at 09:56@34 & 38
Gentlemen, if Max doesn’t like this weird band, I am completely agreeing with him 😄
I was a bit surprised….thought it was some IGB confusion 😂
And YES Jon Lord was wonderful and a a musical genius 🤩
November 25th, 2025 at 10:04Guys, c’mon… All this talk about humping and organs and such… Poor Karin, I’m sure she’s blushing now. Probably irreversibly traumatized too.
Uwe, after watching your ELP video I have to wonder, Kieth’s organ seems kinda small, I’m pretty sure that Jon had a bigger one. But I suppose it doesn’t really matter one way or the other.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk9Qd8–tM8
November 25th, 2025 at 10:17Of course I knew about that knife incident. And as a youngster I dutyful spent hours on listening to Yes, Genesis or ELP. That’s why I know how desperatly boring that stuff is.
November 25th, 2025 at 14:11@36/37 Wasn’t it Mae West that stated ‘it’s not the men in my life that count…it’s the life in my men!’?
November 25th, 2025 at 14:15@41
“Poor Karin, I’m sure she’s blushing now.”
– I was actually! But your concern surpasses me Russ, I remember in another thread you mentioned: she is a big girl 😄
“Probably irreversibly traumatized too.“
November 25th, 2025 at 15:54– on a daily basis!
#42
“That’s why I know how desperatly boring that stuff is.“
– alright Max! 🤣🤣🤣
And if you then add EP to the list I will be your friend..
@43
November 25th, 2025 at 15:58“Wasn’t it Mae West that stated ‘it’s not the men in my life that count…it’s the life in my men!’?”
– wasn’t it also her who stated:
“When I’m good, I’m very good. But when I’m bad I’m better.“ well, what do I know, who is Mae West by the way??
@ 41- oh Russ 775, that song, first thing in the morning too. Jon Lord appeared to not go as far as Keith Emerson did with his organ. Keith looked like he was the boss, so to speak, Jon seemed to be a little more tamer and gentler with his caressing of his organ while Emerson obviously liked a little more risqué, more rough and tumble etc. Anyway we are leading Uwe astray here, we know what he is like and he does NOT need any encouraging. As for Karin, well we better leave her out of this, perhaps. A pity she doesn’t like The Nice, although she may enjoy ELP, well at least if she was to listen to Greg Lake’s sweet melodies and lyrics, after all Uwe called his songs ‘saccharine’. Cheers.
November 25th, 2025 at 20:58@45 ELP…yes… EP… never. That’s why Ian Gillan only recorded cover versions of the latter. He wouldn’t choose boring stuff, would he.
Mae West was an american philosopher.
November 25th, 2025 at 21:13@45
“…who is Mae West by the way??”
As Max said, she was an American philosopher, among other things. She was quite popular. You can learn more about her here:
https://www.biography.com/actors/mae-west
Some of her more memorable quotes:
https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/author-quotes/65-witty-bawdy-mae-west-quotes/
November 25th, 2025 at 22:11The reference to King Kong in Russ’ little country song spurns me to unequivocally clarify: The size of gorilla genitials has been unduly mythologized over time.
https://gorillafan.nl/pics/Komale/Komalevoorenna.jpg
Not much to see, is there?
*******************************************************************************
And as a youngster I dutyful spent hours on listening to Yes, Genesis or ELP …
That was when exactly, Maxi? Between your Smokie phase
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou4ke5cpp8c
and the Rainbow one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6DgLUj2dFQ
PROG doesn’t even start before you like UK!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czj3_5VI7YE
November 26th, 2025 at 01:21The day I heard Made in Japan was the day tah Smokie went off in smoke so to say. After spending some years of exploring the back catalogue of DP while at the same time trying to keep up with new releases by the band members … quite a lot of gems, we’re talking 1977 to 1980 here … I dug deeper into anything else.
Going down the blues road (one side of DP so to say) I discovered BB King as well as FREE and ABB, stuff that stuck with me to this day. The various roots of DP … Classic Rock’n’Roll, Soul, Swing, Bach, Singer/Songwriter stuff – I took it all in with great pleasure. On the other hand, given that DP had a proggish side too, people recommended the likes of YES, Genesis, ELP and King Crimson – and wanting to be able to keep up with the self titled intellectuals here – I listened to it all. In most case not much more than once. I cannot sit through a single Genesis album to this day. And thank you for that link, Uwe. Goes to show some things never change – though in this case I could not even stand the 3+ minutes. Gimme Smokie back anytime!
November 26th, 2025 at 07:56@49
“Not much to see, is there?”
Poor fella, no wonder he looks so melancholy. Probably wishes he had been born a chimpanzee.
How and why do I know about these sort of things?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4CrCTndkKc
November 26th, 2025 at 09:17😂
I’m fine with either, Smokie or UK.
November 26th, 2025 at 10:45@50
As the Chief, aka Noel Gallagher said: selling a lot of records doesn’t mean you’re any good, just look at Phil Collins 😄
( and yes, Noel is ‘the Chief’ and Liam is ‘our kid’ – don’t ask why!)
November 26th, 2025 at 15:04“How and why do I know about these sort of things?”
I wouldn’t dare speculate, Russ, especially as it is still against the law in most US States.
Personally, I find sex with members of different species overrated, but that is just my conservative side coming to the fore. No offense meant, Herr MacGregor, on secluded islands a man must do what a man must do.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRqTn_miEgTn6RjMhiyBeHdO8JATAl-lhhuRQ&s
November 26th, 2025 at 18:41@ 54 – yes I will admit that it does make it a little difficult at times when walking in nature. Something I do quite often, the walking in nature I mean. Sheesh, I have to be careful here, it is a fine line. Karin will be appalled at what us southerners are waffling on about Uwe. Mind you, she is of Viking descent, surely she isn’t that oblivious to their past activities way back in the dim and distant past. The third verse of Tull’s “Seal Driver” song. Cheers.
Could you fancy me as a pirate bold,
November 27th, 2025 at 00:00Or a longship Viking warrior with the old gods on his side?
Well I’m an inshore man and I’m nobody’s hero,
But I’ll make you tight for a windy night and a dark ride.
Let me take you in hand and bring you alive.
Going to make you my seal driver.
@54
“…especially as it is still against the law in most US States.”
Well, I have been entertaining the idea of moving out of Nevada…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU-Iod_a57Q
November 27th, 2025 at 02:24With years of experience, the Midlanders would develop a multifaceted approach to playing that riff!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRllz6W8K8E
November 27th, 2025 at 08:44@55
“Karin will be appalled”
– Nono! Not at all 😃
When I think about all the marvellous things I’ve learned in here re Purple and kindness, and all the laughs I have on a daily basis, I’m very broad minded towards whatever I read here 😄
Ohh haven’t told you but I received Stuttgart ‘93 concert with our heroes yesterday 😃 haven’t unpacked it yet.
“she is of Viking descent”
– indeed I am!
“Let me take you in hand and bring you alive.”
November 27th, 2025 at 10:42– thank you very much! I am so alive 😃
“Gentlemen, if Max doesn’t like this weird band (= UK, Uwe’s edit), I am completely agreeing with him 😄”
Well, Herr MacGregor, now writhe in your utter and bottomless defeat,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKZbYre2kxk
but that proves it: Wimmin (whether they are called Karin or Maxine) and PROG ROCK just don’t work! They prefer Ronan Keating or Smokie any day.
November 27th, 2025 at 20:56@ 57- I cannot believe how many females are in that Judas Priest audience Uwe. Obviously before Rob broke all their hearts me thinks. Cheers.
November 27th, 2025 at 21:05Naw, that’s not really a JP audience that is a VH1 Awards audience. At a Priest gig (and I have been to enough), I wouldn’t assume the female share to be not more than 15% if that. It actually used to be less, his coming out hasn’t hurt female attendance. I guess nowadays they all think: “Well, at least after the gig the ugly bald guy singing won’t be drugging my drink to be after MY ass!” 😇
Glenn Tipton in hs youth was the guy with Priest who pulled all the chicks.
https://i.makeagif.com/media/6-01-2016/krdOBZ.gif
November 28th, 2025 at 01:49@ 59- ha ha ha, you know I never give in Uwe. There is always hope. Especially with Karin. Remember her stance on David Coverdale in the beginning. With Ian Gillan at the helm of the IGB, I still feel rather confident that one day, in the near future, we very well could hear Karin proclaiming ‘I think the IGB are amazing’. Cheers.
November 28th, 2025 at 05:37@59
“Wimmin (whether they are called Karin or Maxine) and PROG ROCK just don’t work”
– so very much wrong Uwe! 😄
“They prefer Ronan Keating”
– I love one (1!) song with RK:
https://youtu.be/JGcMn8RVZGc
Sadly he doesn’t have dark hair, but you must admit he is a cutie Uwe 😄
“or Smokie any day.”
– I really like Smokie, like I really like Sweet and some of Slade’s songs!
https://youtu.be/sfDpcstWC0w
(The vocalist is so cute so don’t knock him!)
(And the acoustic guitars are GREAT!)
https://youtu.be/7yYifj6IsUQ
(And I happen to appreciate their makeup!)
(And Mick’s twirling!)
(The very smiling young man behind Mick is completely adorable 😃)(the one with the glasses and the white t-shirt with the sun beams I think it is)(and claps a little out of tune 🤩)
https://youtu.be/eEv6jy_7PQQ
November 28th, 2025 at 07:19(And I blame you Uwe for making me listen to Slade 😄)
(And Noddy certainly isn’t any kind of Ian, but somehow he makes it work 😃)
(I love to hear your opinion on Noddy’s outfit Uwe…)
@ 59
Women tend to have more taste when it comes to the interior as well. And some of them prefer maskuline males … the kind that can hardly be found at a Genesis show. You’re confusing male with nerdy here.
November 28th, 2025 at 07:58@62
This will never happen:
“I still feel rather confident that one day, in the near future, we very well could hear Karin proclaiming ‘I think the IGB are amazing’”
November 28th, 2025 at 20:35– should I change my mind about it, I will never reveal it in here 😄😄
@64
– and if I may add Max: with masculine voices, which Phil C sadly doesn’t have ☺️
I mean, listen to this:
https://youtu.be/lKwqJGyEye0
Ok the lyrics is fantastic, but his voice is…. Well, I won’t say more ☺️
November 28th, 2025 at 20:49Phil Collins… the man that ruined Clapton albums big time. I never saw what anyone could see or hear in him…apart from being a good drummer. But tastes differ of course. The only thing worse than Phil Collins with early Genesis for me was Phil Collins with later Genesis. Let alone his solo output that comes out of every freakin’ radio to this day! A real dread.
I guess progrock just unites the worst of all worlds. It’s mostly as sexy as wet cardboard but to make up for it also boring as watching the paint dry.
November 29th, 2025 at 17:52@67
“I guess progrock just unites the worst of all worlds. It’s mostly as sexy as wet cardboard but to make up for it also boring as watching the paint dry.”
– 🤣🤣🤣
Alright then! A tongue lashing from the Max Papa!
You might even think this guy is better than Phil Collins?
November 30th, 2025 at 14:19https://youtu.be/8cAs2RmKf5s
😄😄
@ 67- “The only thing worse than Phil Collins with early Genesis for me was Phil Collins with later Genesis.” I assume you are referring to early to mid 1970’s Genesis Max, with that ‘early Genesis’ comment. Or are you talking about the ‘then there were three’ era, the late 70’s or even the two albums before that era, after Peter Gabriel had jumped ship. Yes there was definitely too much Phil Collins in the 80’s and the 90’s too and that did ‘affect’ Genesis in many ways, not to my liking either. I knocked back a ticket to their 1986 Invisible Touch tour in Sydney. All the travelling was what really did that, however I was over Collins by then too. And I also witnessed him trying to be funny with in-between song banter on that live video from the album before (Mama) tour, which had me thinking, oh no! My only small regret I have in hindsight is not seeing those two drummers in action (Chester Thompson) and of course Tony Banks on the keyboards. It is isn’t a big regret though and as we often say, each to their own. Cheers. I only listen to 1972 to 1977 Genesis.
November 30th, 2025 at 21:45I never thought I would one day need to defend Phil Collins of all people, whose ubiquity drove me nuts in the 80s and 90s, but here I am:
He had a great tenor voice. Carpet Crawlers would be nothing without his high second lead vocal in the chorus which a lot of people attributed at the time to Peter Gabriel having double tracked himself, yet it was Phil and Pete singing together:
https://youtu.be/44b_Xr0fNwQ
https://youtu.be/q4yHUVPV4eQ
Ultimately, Collins oversaturated the pop and rock market, but let’s give the man credit for not only his drumming skills but also his vocal talent:
https://youtu.be/eMNO3gjOVHM
And hate me for it, but I always liked this vid and his tribute to Motown was sincere:
https://youtu.be/C9IwBJYTwQ0
I thought that he often showed self-deprecating humor.
Ian Gillan was a fan of his voice btw. He was thoroughly impressed by the eponymously named 1983 Genesis album (“This is music I immediately like!”) and thought the lead track Mama brilliant.
https://youtu.be/Ccs2rt0oSzQ
https://youtu.be/khg2sloLzTI
Yes, that music was – a bit like Dire Straits – at one point played to death, but I still can’t fault the compositions and the instrumental execution.
November 30th, 2025 at 23:08@ 68 …now that is a tuff one… But I’d say yes. Less annoying to my ears. But each to their own as Mr. MacGregor usually says.
December 1st, 2025 at 20:37Max, do NOT read these following comments. Warning, ‘Phil Collin’s and Genesis abound’. There is no doubt as to Phil Collin’s vocal and melody ability as a songwriter, however I have never felt inclined to buy his solo music. I heard enough of it on the radio and at parties etc. I did eventually purchase the Genesis ‘Mama’ album and Invisible Touch on cd back in the late 80’s. There are some rather good songs on both, although I have not played the albums probably since those days. I couldn’t get into Abacab and Duke. I have tried repeatedly, even a month or so ago I had a listen to a few songs here and there. I use to own on vinyl ‘And Then There Were Three’ and have a distant memory of enjoying some of that album. I loathed what I heard of the dreadful We Can’t Dance album from the early 90’s, however I enjoyed listening to the Ray Wilson fronted Genesis album. It was different in many ways. Maybe it was that sticker on the front of the album, There is no Phil Collins on this album’. Ouch, that is a tad unfair of course. I do occasionally listen to a few songs live in concert, that 2007 Italian concert. In The Cage and that wonderful song off Wind and Wuthering ‘Afterglow’ are superb and a couple off Invisible Touch are very good. Cheers.
December 1st, 2025 at 23:57@67
“as sexy as wet cardboard…”
What if you’re a cardboardphile? Yes, cardboardphilia is a real thing…
Probably shouldn’t post any links about that one.
December 2nd, 2025 at 00:22@70
“Ian Gillan was a fan of his voice btw.”
– really? But Ian’s voice is so much more…. (And here ends the day’s admiration for the best rock singer ever!) (at least in this post 😄)
I like you always find pros and cons for every band and singer.
What do you btw think of Ronan Keating? ☺️
December 2nd, 2025 at 06:37@71
Woah! Max I am happy I was placed in my sofa, sitting down with Anton on my side, when I read your post 😳😳
That’ll be the day….
As a homeopath I advise you to drink some good coffee, maybe get a little rest, talk to very nice persons and think positive thoughts the rest of the day 😃
There are two tunes I like with Genesis: (reminds me of the time where I was less mature 😆) (and ohh man I danced to them 🤩)
https://youtu.be/r0qBaBb1Y-U
Mostly because of the refreshing self-irony! And his voice is not bad either.
And this:
https://youtu.be/epOBenUjIHw
Because it oozes happiness 😃 which the first song also does of course!
Let progrock live forever 😁 and apparently also Ronan Keating…
December 2nd, 2025 at 06:54@ 70 – is that a bit of a nod to Phil Collin’s as a 13 year old playing the Artful Dodger, in that video ‘That’s All. I have not watched those two videos since the 1980’s, thanks for the reminder Uwe. That Mama song is a dark moody piece indeed. Haunting even in a certain way. Superb vocal from Collins and Tony Bank’s keyboards are sublime. Been a long time since I have heard that song, I remember it well too. @ 75 – “Let progrock live forever” Karin, can I frame that. There are no truer words to be said and that is from someone (myself) who still has trouble enjoying certain songs of the IGB. There is hope Uwe, for myself and more importantly for the lady of the north, who is slowly being spellbound from within the halls of THS site. We have ways of making you listen Karin………….Cheers.
December 2nd, 2025 at 09:41But Mr. MacGregor …thank you for caring about my health … I am way beyond mature and come from a distant time where we didn’t need a trigger warning on everything. I can sit through reading about Phil Collins like it’s a walk in the park.
In fact I remember one song that even I like a bit…well…somewhat … No son of mine.
Karin, Karin … Invisible Touch! One of those songs I feel they should invent a kind of reverse royality for. Everytime it’s played on the radio Phil Collings has to put down a dollar for some non government organisation helping the hearing impaired or supporting national mental sanity …
December 2nd, 2025 at 10:13That Max is so viscerally anti-PROG warms my contrarian heart even though I have always seen the appeal of some PROG without being a trued dyed-in-the-strange-meter Proggie. Still, what is wrong with music for Incels? 😂
Karin, Ronan Keating has a pleasant pop voice, nothing more, nothing less. But I can see him having an appeal for a more mature, musically conservative audience. 😈
December 2nd, 2025 at 13:11@76
“Karin, can I frame that”
– the more the better 🤣
“myself) who still has trouble enjoying certain songs of the IGB.“
– what? I mean WHAT!? MacGregor I have been taunted, ridiculed, mistreated, misunderstood and beaten up (with words that is) because I have GREAT difficulties understanding and interpreting this band!
And MacGregor, not once have I seen any form of consolation from the Tasmanian gentleman here 😱
If these beautiful halls of sanity and appreciation of everything Ian Gillan aren’t meant to take care of people with a healthy sense of understanding great music, what are we really here for 😂
Well, ok, I’m alright again!
“the lady of the north, who is slowly being spellbound from within the halls of THS site. We have ways of making you listen Karin“
– to quote Frasier*: I’m listening 😄
But liking IGB – and the buttertenor, that will never happen!
* Frasier is a very funny sitcom, where two brothers, Niles and Frasier are psychiatrists and have a very snooty but funny approach to life in general!
December 2nd, 2025 at 15:27@77
“Invisible Touch! One of those songs I feel they should invent a kind of reverse royality for.”
– 🤣🤣🤣 ohhh man, that made my day! THANK YOU 🙏🏼
“helping the hearing impaired or supporting national mental sanity …”
– I know of some other, and very popular, way to support mental sanity, but that’s something we can discuss another day! 😄
I have a very healthy interest in all good rock! And this band is amazing….
Have linked to them before, but that will not stop me doing it again, so enjoy ☺️
https://youtu.be/rrISpBSWN30
And this is pure joy and happiness:
December 2nd, 2025 at 15:34https://youtu.be/AZ31DQyuWv4
Swing, Uwe … you remember the debate. That’s what it’s about. And while you’re a much better English speaker than poor ald me please translate for our fellow readers the wonderful german word “Bedeutungshuberei”.
Of course there is nothing wrong with music that draws the IT guys. Just not my cup of camilla tea.
Oh and know what? That Dark Side of the Moon album that Pink Floyd sold – that was me! And I got Wish You Were Here as well.
December 2nd, 2025 at 15:40@78
Uwe, who do you call an Incel? 😂 (except those playing in Rush and those listening to it?) – ( and for those humor impaired amongst us: I was merely making a little joke, sorry in advance 😂)
“Ronan Keating has a pleasant pop voice, nothing more, nothing less.”
– alright then!
“But I can see him having an appeal for a more mature, musically conservative audience. 😈“
– thanks to your next door neighbour Max, and his unruly mentioning of my advanced age, of course I know whom you’re hitting at! 😆
But it is ok, because as it happens I am in a very good mood today, drinking lovely coffee, talking to very nice people and listening to adorable music like this one:
https://youtu.be/LNHE4N3Tjpk
And btw: I like one song with Ronan Keating! 😁
December 2nd, 2025 at 15:50Reverse royalty! 🤣 “Pay to play”, but the other way around. Love it.
IGB was likely more Fusion/Latin American tinged Jazz Rock than it was PROG, but it’s a fine line sometimes. I do remember though that the first UK line-up split up due to a schism between the Proggies (Jobson and Wetton) and the Fusionistas (Bruford and Holdsworth). That UK album was a compromise between the two, IMHO opinion an interesting one, but neither side was completely satisfied, I think Jobson wanted full control too, he had been a sideman for too long, his Roxy Music days hadn’t been all that happy.
Thinking about it, what gave IGB a PROG touch the most were likely Ian’s vocals because he totally eschewed how a typical singer in a Fusion/Jazz Rock band would sing to such music. Even with DP Mk II I often found that his vocals were the proggiest ingredient because of his penchant for slightly leftfield vocal melodies. With Steve and Don in Ml VII and VIII he would of course find kindred spirits for that.
December 2nd, 2025 at 16:13Yeah, I get it, a lot of English PROG doesn’t swing, Max. Jazz Rock does so more often because of its pronounced Jazz roots. BTW, that set Genesis apart for me, I thought that their music had a more natural swing – thanks largely to Phil’s drumming – than, say, ELP or Jethro Tull.
Bedeutungshuberei, that’s pretty close to pretentiousness, isn’t it? And it does apply to quite a few Prog bands, true.
December 2nd, 2025 at 16:24Yep, Thunder … that is MUCH more like it! I have great memories of them playing the legendary Rockfabrik, they really raised the roof there. Went to see Rainbow in 1996 (I think it was) on the SIUA tour and Thunder were billed as special guest but could not make it for some reason. My buddy and me were really disappointed because they were a damn good live band. Very nice listening experience: Please Remain Seated, a kind of unpluggged album.
December 2nd, 2025 at 17:05@81
In my dictionary “Bedeutungshuberei” means “Unsubscribe”….
December 2nd, 2025 at 18:40Which is exactly the word I would use for Chamomile-tea 😜
The often misinterpreted notion that progressive music aficionados enjoy it for the ‘odd time signatures’ is a worn out and tired cliché. It has nothing to do with that at all. It is an expanded form of music, more than 3-4 minutes in one composition. Those little songs joined together perhaps to create a larger composition. Going out on limb, so to speak. No different to a painter artist, throwing in different colours, shapes and scenes. I personally don’t care for too much ‘difficult time signatures’, it can get a little tiresome, that is one reason why the fusion rock bands didn’t appeal to many. Melody is the key, it always should be shouldn’t it. Cheers
December 2nd, 2025 at 20:45@ 81 -talking of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here album, are you going to buy the blu-ray stand alone remixed set Max. Due to be released about the 12 December from my memory, I have one on order. The original quad mix is on that too apparently, along with the proverbial Atmos and surround mixes. Plus concert footage from their 1975 concerts, really keen to see and hear that. Four band members only I believe, before they expanded a little with Snowy White on support guitar for the Animals tour. Cheers.
December 2nd, 2025 at 21:58I have come here to eradicate rampaging misconceptions once and for all …
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RKP5M4fe_0M
Of course you can swing, be melodic AND play 5/4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT9Eh8wNMkw
Or do the same in 7/4, though being Jon Lord and having the ability to clap syncopatedly over a weird meter helps somewhat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VACwF7djomQ
Hell, you can even dance to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yExwkQYcp0
Not that Jon was a stranger to 7/4 songs provided by Yanks with multicolor hair:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV4gK7gu3pI
And didn’t one of Jon’s fans, the late Dave Greenfield, keyboard player of The Stranglers, bestow this lovely ditty on us, very melodic and swinging though it is three bars of 3/4 followed by one in 4/4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KIHvuMl4Kk
Which would have – we’re going full circle here – made a perfect Dave Brubeck song …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qs1J612nZs
… except that it never was, but the guy who created this fake vid did a brilliant job:
A little tribute to Dave Greenfield (keyboardist with The Stranglers who died with Covid-19 last week) and Paul Desmond (saxophonist with the Dave Brubeck quartet – the anniversary of his death is at the end of this month). Also because I’ve been enjoying editing videos and recording stuff over the last couple of months.
A couple of people have asked how I made this video so here we go –
I took a clip from a 1964 live version of Take Five ( • Dave Brubeck – Take Five ) and made the drum loop by chopping up the intro and turning it from 5/4 into the 3/4 – 4/4 groove that Golden Brown has. The upright bass sound is sequenced from Logic, and the piano part was played in using one of the piano sounds from a Nord Electro 5D. Then I played the sax part over the top (I play a King Zephyr alto and for this I used a hard rubber Yanigasawa mouthpiece rather than my usual bright Guardala).
The video was then edited using the clip I’d taken the drum loop from.
laurencemason@hotmail.co.uk
Laurence Mason, wherever and whoever you are, you are a genius, jawohl
December 3rd, 2025 at 03:49@85
Aww too bad they didn’t show up 😞
And sad they don’t exist anymore. But happy we have recordings and videos.
They have some energetic vibe similar to Purple! But of course Danny’s voice lack some depth compared to Ian! Or David Coverdale ☺️😉
Happy Wednesday everybody, and may your cups be filled with whatever beverage you prefer! 😄 (psst. Not chamomile tea! 😅)
December 3rd, 2025 at 06:36Brubeck … I guess noone ever doubted he did swing. But he wasn’t much of a progrocker in my book.
The more I think about it the more I realise that it is really Ian Paice that makes DP so special. Every single musician in their ranks was or is grrat. But Paice delievers that swing that sets the bandd miles apart from all other bands that play it a bit harder. Sabbath, Zeppelin, Heep and many others never had the swing little Ian provides. Along with Jon Lord who had a percussive way of playing the keys they really made the difference.
He ist the one in every line up and every line up has its merrits. (Maybe apart from the Turner one … where IP has consequently lost it and sounds weaker than ever befor or after that…) … But takee him away and what you get is in Blackmore’s case side 4 of Rainbow On Stage …leaden as can be … take him (and JL) out of Whitesnake and the mojo is gone… IGB had swing (Mark Nauseef) but Gillan not so much … whereas JL had swing even with his more classical solo works. And GH…he hath sse funk of course.
But most progrock bands don not have any swing at all. They sound as white and intellectual as you can be, no wit, no sexiness, no groove … where is the fun in that? Write books, guys.
December 3rd, 2025 at 15:01The more I think about it the more I realise that it is really Ian Paice that makes DP so special.
Amen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYHd0HKaVw4
It’s what I’ve always said. Paicey is irreplaceable. Some drummers just are.
Rainbow, post-Paice WS (Duck Dowle did swing, but he came from Brian Auger after all) and even GILLAN never swung like Purple. Though to my ears, Mick Underwood’s drumming style is not totally removed from Paicey’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFYl14fMAo4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkRfmDMKIl8
It was more the combination with John McCoy’s brilliant, but unforgiving bass playing that made the GILLAN rhythm section so rigid.
December 3rd, 2025 at 17:08@ 91- “But most progrock bands don not have any swing at all. They sound as white and intellectual as you can be, no wit, no sexiness, no groove … where is the fun in that? Write books, guys.”‘ oh Max, Max, Max, is there any hope for you? It appears not. Not to worry, next…….@ 92- but McCoy wasn’t like that before the band Gillan, was he? It is what it is. Ian Gillan was on a mission after the IGB, it was always going to be a lot harder, aggressive, raunchier and straight to the point. Don’t blame poor ole John, especially now, after all these years. Cheers.
December 3rd, 2025 at 21:30Very interesting indeed, those videos, Uwe, I get your point. Never bothered to really check them out.
December 3rd, 2025 at 21:38Even with Zzebra, John wasn’t really a jazz groove player, he played jazz lines, but with a rock feel. If Jaco Pastorious would have replaced Geezer Butler in Sabbath, he would have still retained his Weather Report groove and if he had aped Geezer’s lines note for note.
That’s not a knock, McCoy was a great bassist, he would have been ideal for Rainbow (had Blackmore overcome his stereotypes of how a rock musician has to look), especially alongside Cozy Powell, but then Rainbow didn’t swing.
Max, Strapps under the leadership of Herr MacGregor’s countryman Ross Stagg, are unsung cult heroes of the mid to late 70s. German Musik Joker once described them as “an incongruous mix of Roxy Music and Aerosmith, but against all odds it works and sounds fresh”. For nearly 50 years their releases were nearly impossible to get, even on CD, but that has all changed recently with the release of a comprehensive five CD boxed set called Bound For Glory. Treat yourself!
https://youtu.be/qTThArzOuDs
https://youtu.be/U2Hz-wKuT5w
https://youtu.be/rsCs-x5JxAE
Ross Stagg couldn’t really sing in a strict sense, but he had a hell of a voice.
December 4th, 2025 at 00:51