Deep Purple live at Makuhari Messe (Chiba, Japan 2018-10-14)

So DP started their Japanese tour yesterday at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba. I went to the meet&greet including a stage tour. I’m not a review writer, but I can tell you the set list and my impression of their first show:

1. Highway Star
2. Pictures of Home
3. Bloodsucker
4. Strange Kind of Woman
5. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
6. Uncommon Man
7. Lazy
8. Birds of Prey
9. Time for Bedlam
(keyboard solo)
10. Perfect Strangers
11. Space Trucking
12. Smoke on the Water
13. Hush
14. Black Night

The last 2 tunes were supposed to be for encore, but they actually did not go off the stage, and played the set throughout.

I must say that the audience, which included a lot of young people, were thoroughly enthusiastic for the new songs as well as the old ones. Each tune received a huge applause and the audience was up on their feet throughout the show. This is their only show in the Tokyo area, Chiba being right next to Tokyo. I cannot help but wish they will come back to do a concert in the Budokan.

I attached some pics but unfortunately not so great, as we did not have good seats. The closeup shots are from the screen. I also included some pics of their equipment from the stage tour. We have better seats in the other shows, so if my husband takes better pictures, I will send them later.

In the meantime, I noted kind of late that the [promoter’s] Udo site had some pre-concert messages from Ian Gillan.

Akemi Ono
Photo: Kei Ono

Several items of interest have either been published or are about to be.

September 2018 issue of the Uncut magazine is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the band under the Ultimate Music Guide moniker. Albeit we’re told that the inside content is ridden with errors. For those still interested, the issue can be ordered online.

Paicey and his Mercedes-Benz 500SEL AMG are profiled in November 2018 issue of the Classic Cars magazine.

Back in January Chris Charlesworth mentioned in his blog that he is “at present engaged in revising my 1983 biography of Deep Purple for publication in a different format later this year”. As a taste teaser, the post has an expanded anecdote circa 1970 of him sneaking a girl for Ritchie into a Paris hotel past an overly diligent night porter. Also, check out his another Purple detour from a couple of years ago, which contains a slightly different version of the aforementioned Paris anecdote.

Purveyors of very expensive books Rufus Stone are exercising another foray into the realm artificial scarcity with a 3 volume collection sold via Pledge Music. Deep Purple at 50 includes:

1. Jon Lord All Those Years Ago with a mounted inside the cover postcard personally signed by Jon Lord;
2. Whitesnake The Purple Tour signed by David Coverdale and the whole band;
3. Deep Purple The California Jam signed by Ian Paice.

The set is said to be limited to 50 copies and comes with a princely price tag of £795 (approx $1053/€902) and a promise to ship in the first week of December 2018. 28 copies are left unclaimed as of the time of this writing.

Thanks to Jim Collins, Nigel Young, Doug A, and BraveWords for the info.

The slightly disorganized Deep Purple’s Mexican tour in November has undergone a few changes. Several shows have been moved to other venues in the same cities, compared to what we reported earlier. Swedish metal band In Flames will be supporting the whole tour, while US radio personality Eddie Trunk is announced as a host for all dates but Tijuana. Both In Flames and Eddie Trunk sites list Cancun venue as Moon Palace Arena, albeit we have not been able to trace any tickets for these two shows yet.

Full details in our calendar.

We have no further tour dates for the band, neither confirmed nor leaked, so this Mexican leg of The Long Goodbye Tour could as well be the last one.

According to the Uncut magazine, Rhino will be re-releasing purple vinyl editions of In Rock and Fireball on November 23. Both albums are said to have been newly remastered by Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham from the original analogue tapes, and have been cut at half-speed by Barry Grint at Alchemy Mastering.

Thanks to Uncut and BraveWords for the info.

EU General Court made a ruling yesterday, October 4, 2018, in the legal dispute between Blackmore and Paice over the ‘Deep Purple’ trademark. In April 2013 Blackmore applied to register the trademark in EU to cover musical recordings, clothing, and entertainment services. Apparently the name of the band was (and still is) unregistered. Should the trademark was granted, he would be in control of the ability of the band to record and perform under the name, as well as sell the merchandise.

Naturally, the band didn’t like that, and a notice of opposition was filed in the name of Paice (probably as the founding and the most long standing member). After years and years of hearings, rulings, appeals, and counter-appeals, the court for the most part sided with the band, and ordered both parties to pay the costs of their own appeals. This decision can still be further appealed (only on a point of law) to the European Court of Justice, which serves as the supreme court for the EU.

Thanks to BraveWords and WIPR for the info.

Deep Purple live at Fivepoint Amphitheater (Irvine, USA 2018-09-27)

When I wrote my 60th birthday / US Thanksgiving / first overseas Purple O2 London concert review for 11/23/17, I thought it might be the last time I’d see the Boys. But lo and behold, here they are back in the States. So for the 5th decade, the same four of us trucked out to Five Points Amphitheater Irvine to see the Five Guys. Personally, expectations were low considering what the US shows have been in recent years compared to what I saw at in London last November. US double bills, time curfews, greatest hits set list with very little Ian Gillan crowd interaction.

Last SoCal trip in, August ’17 at the Greek Theater, Alice Cooper played a spirited set, but many of his fans left and the Purple set seemed anticlimactic for the evening. None of that last night with the Judas Priest billing. After the Priest set, someone asked me, “How will Purple follow THAT?” To the Priest fans credit, they stuck it out and are probably very glad they did. (Aside from the three Priest folks in front of me who seriously yelled for “Burn” all night long)…

Spirited set from the Guys, crowd was into it all the way to the magical 11:00 curfew time when “Hush” ended. Both the band and the crowd were lively, Ian G looked in better shape than the UK tour and Ian Paice even jumped out behind the drum set to make his own call for the encore. I’m still checking the tape as Don started the lead in to “Perfect Strangers” but then changed it around to get back to “Lazy”. Intentional? I made sure I videoed “Smoke” and “Hush” as they *could* be the last live offerings I’ll attend.

“We love you, take it easy, bye bye!”

Irvine 2018? The Surprising, a good one, for sure.

Martin Paretti
w Kerry Frohling, Bob Grabar and Dave Krutcik

review by Martin Paretti

Deep Purple live at Starlight Theatre (Kansas City, USA 2018-09-18)

Wonderful show in Kansas City on a beautiful Tuesday night! First group The Temperance Movement was energetic and sounded quite good, then Judas Priest hit the stage…LOUD LOUD LOUDER.. the first half of their set was newer stuff but went over well with their base fans but the second portion including the big US hits and the Harley making an appearance on stage really rocked the house!! As with previous double bill gigs I didn’t notice anyone leaving before DP hit the stage and for good reason! They came out with a scorching Highway Star and never slowed down..the setlist remains the same as in previous shows. Sometimes the energy level falls off drastically after the opening song but Pictures of Home is the perfect tune to keep it rolling and SIFLS fits in just right later in the set. The newer backdrop was a nice added touch over last years tour, the band seemed much more relaxed than last year with Alice Cooper, not rushing thru the setlist, performing every tune with true perfection!! Lots of gray hairs in the crowd but many younger fans too, just a few comments heard after the gig..”they were awesome I didn’t think they could top JP but WOW…they never stopped playing they just kept on with no breaks between songs…best show I’ve seen in years…they are all really good but that keyboard guy was so good…(and my favorite) so much more depth and texture to their music”. The motel lobby was still buzzing about the gig at breakfast in the morning..haha..we met lots of fans from all over the Midwest. All in all another great show, my 10th and my wife’s 6th. If you ever get a chance to see a concert at the Starlight Theater try to make it, what a clean and friendly environment and not a bad seat in the house! Thank you Deep Purple and I hope to see you again at least once! As Gillan says ..Take it easy, we love ya, bye bye!!!!

review by stoffer

British tabloid Daily Mail reports that the mansion once owned by Ian Gillan (before being sold, converted to a hotel, which closed down in 2014) is now standing abandoned and in quite a derelict shape. This is the same mansion that Gillan put a guitar shaped pool in, as covered in his autobiography. This would essentially be a non story for a national newspaper if the property wasn’t once owned by a rock star. Probably still a non story, but hey, we’re dealing with tabloids here.

Read and see more pictures in Daily Mail.

Thanks to Jim Collins for the info.

The private rock’n’roll memorabilia collection of one Noel Monk is now up for sale at Backstage Auctions. Back in the 70s he was the tour manager for Trapeze, and then briefly managed Hughes’ solo career in the 80s. There are a number of Trapeze and Glenn related items among the 800 lots, including his bass from the Hughes / Thrall era (which apparently was in lieu of money that Glenn owed).

The bidding will start on October 13, 2018, and end on Sunday, October 21.

Hush (or, rather the glorious thirty seconds of it) is being used in the promo trailer soundtrack for a new Hollywood flick Bad Times at the El Royale.
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