Perfect Strangers of Finland will hold their Purple Night 2018 convention on Saturday, October 6, at the Kulttuuriareena Gloria in Helsinki. This year event celebrates both the 50th anniversary of the band and the 20th anniversary of PSOF. The list of performers will include Jukka Lewis, Rafael Castillo, Andrea Brosio, Peter James Goodman, Anssi Stenberg and Johan Mattjus on vocals, supported by the house band; as well as a cover band Rainbow Shakers from Oulu (they performed with JLT at Lankafest in 2016).

What: Purple Night 2018;
When: Saturday, October 6, 2018, 19:00-03:00; showtime approx. 19:45;
Where: Gloria, Pieni Roobertinkatu 12, 00120 Helsinki, Finland;
Tickets: €20 @ tikketi.fi;
More info: in English, På svenska, Suomeksi, facebook event.

Thanks to Jari Kaikkonen (that’s him in the picture above, posing with some blokes from down at the pub).

Several members of the Purple family paid tribute to the late Gary Moore by taking part in recording of Moore Blues for Gary – A Tribute To Gary Moore album due out on October 26 via Edel/earMUSIC. This tribute album is a brainchild of Bob Daisley, who had played bass with Gary since the early eighties and was the one who suggested Gary to do a blues album.

Don Airey, Steve Morse, Glenn Hughes, and Joe Lynn Turner are among the guests, as well as Doug Aldrich, Gary’s sons Jack and Gus, Tim Gaze and Rob Grosser from the Hooche Coochie Men, and many others.

Track listing and personnel:

1. That’s Why I Play The Blues

   Vocals – Jon C. Butler
   Guitars – Tim Gaze
   Bass Guitar – Bob Daisley
   Drums – Rob Grosser
   Keyboards – Clayton Doley

2. The Blues Just Got Sadder

   Vocals – Joe Lynn Turner
   Lead Guitar – Steve Lukather
   Rhythm Guitar And Slide Guitar – Tim Gaze
   Bass Guitar – Bob Daisley
   Drums – Rob Grosser
   Keyboards – Clayton Doley

3. Empty Rooms

   Lead Vocal, Keyboards – Neil Carter
   Bass Guitar, Harmonica, Backing Vocals – Bob Daisley
   Drums – Rob Grosser
   Guitars – Illya Szwec
   Backing Vocals – Rosanna Daisley

4. Still Got The Blues (For You)

   Vocals – Danny Bowes
   Guitars – John Sykes
   Keyboards – Don Airey
   Bass Guitar – Bob Daisley
   Drums – Rob Grosser

5. Texas Strut

   Vocals – Brush Shiels
   Bass Guitar – Bob Daisley
   Guitars – Tim Gaze
   Drums – Rob Grosser

6. Nothing’s The Same

   Vocals – Glenn Hughes
   Fretless Acoustic Bass – Bob Daisley
   Cello – Ana Lenchantin
   Guitars – Luis Maldonado

7. The Loner

   Guitars – Doug Aldrich
   Drums – Eric Singer
   Bass Guitar – Bob Daisley
   Keyboards – Don Airey

8. Torn Inside

   Vocals, Lead Guitar – Stan Webb
   Bass Guitar, Riff Guitar – Bob Daisley
   Drums – Darrin Mooney
   Keyboards – Lachlan Doley

9. Don’t Believe A Word

   Vocals, Lead Guitar – Damon Johnson
   Bass Guitar – Bob Daisley
   Drums – Rob Grosser
   Rhythm Guitar – Illya Szwec

10. Story Of The Blues

    Lead Vocal – Jon C. Butler
    Bass Guitar, Riff Guitar, Backing Vocals – Bob Daisley
    Lead And Rhythm Guitar – Tim Gaze
    Drums – Rob Grosser
    Keyboards – Lachlan Doley
    Backing Vocals – Rosanna Daisley

11. This One’s For You

    Vocals – Gus Moore
    Lead Guitar – Jack Moore
    Bass Guitar – Bob Daisley
    Drums – Rob Grosser
    Rhythm Guitar – Illya Szwec

12. Power Of The Blues

    Vocals – Joe Lynn Turner
    Lead Guitar – Jeff Watson
    Bass Guitar, Riff Guitar – Bob Daisley
    Drums – Darrin Mooney
    Rhythm Guitar – Illya Szwec

13. Parisienne Walkways

    Guitars – Steve Morse
    Vocals – Ricky Warwick
    Bass Guitar – Bob Daisley
    Drums – Rob Grosser
    Keyboards – Clayton Doley

The album can be preordered via this link (will offer you stores for your region).

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.

There is another book due out in Japan, and this volume aims to cover a comprehensive history of Deep Purple from Mark 1 to the present day. It is titled Deep Purple in Book and will be published on October 3 by Shinko Music Mook, ostensibly to tie in with the upcoming Japanese tour.

Besides the history of the band, the 376 pages include:

• previously unreleased photos from 1972 Japan tour and 1985 Oceania/Japan tour;
• an exclusive interview with Ian Paice, as the only original member;
• review of the most recent The Long Goodbye tour leg in Europe;
• biographies of all past and present members of the band;
• reviews of all band’s albums and videos, studio and live.

Thanks to Alex Kononow and Akemi Ono for the info.

Deep Purple live at Bell Centre (Montreal, Canada 2018-08-29)

At 3pm in Montreal, a vicious storm flew in. Something I can only interpret as the spirit of late Deep Purple founding member and organist Jon Lord, coming to conduct from the heavens the music he made with this legendary group.
Purple, comprised of 5 key members: Ian Gillan on Vocals Roger Glover on Bass Ian Paice on Drums Steve Morse on Guitar and Don Airey on Keys delivered a blistering hour and a half master-class set kicking off in classic Made In Japan fashion, Highway Star leading into another Machine Head classic Pictures Of Home. School was only beginning when the massive riff of Bloodsucker rang through the venue. A thought occurred to me during Strange Kind Of Woman, only this band could make 6000 people sing in unison about falling in love with a hooker! One after another, Deep Purple unleashed classic after classic. Every song a massive influence to what we know as Heavy Metal.
Though the heavy riffs were handed out in mass quantities, Purple slowed it down with Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming and Uncommon Man, the latter of which was dedicated to Jon Lord igniting the entire building to erupt in applause as if the man walked out on stage himself. Continuing the setlist with even more archetypal pieces of music Lazy, Knocking At Your Back Door, Perfect Strangers, Space Truckin’, Smoke On The Water and the encore Hush. Deep Purple’s very first hit single.

All in all, tonight was a music lovers dream. An absolute intensive course in original heavy metal. Judas Priest performed Delivering The Goods for the first time since 1980 and Glenn Tipton, despite suffering from Parkinsons Disease graced the stage for 4 songs. I believe, if there was a night fitting enough to start calling the Bell Center a legendary venue, it would have been tonight.

review by Brandon Benwell

The boys stormed into to town last night literally on the heels of a huge summer thunderstorm that knocked out power to some 100K households on the island of Montreal. To complicate things further, the insane construction in and around the city prevented easy parking and therefore I missed the opening act; hope it it was good!

Judas Priest lumbered their way on the stage with a walloping wall of sound. Not being a Priest fan, Ill leave my review thus; the fans that knew Priest, thoroughly enjoyed Priest, `nuff said.

I have seen every Deep Purple show in Montreal ( and Toronto, Ottawa and Boston) since the great reunion of 84. My expectation is always the same; to see absolute professionals at their best. Was I disappointed in the set list? Yes. I definitely could do without Strange Kind of Woman but was thrilled when the played Sometimes I feel like Screaming!. Drop Uncommon Man ( yes I know who its dedicated to, and he will always be missed but it may be time to move forward a bit), and replace it with Time for Bedlam. That would have made the greatest hits show that much better. and in my option a great show opener after Priest. Don`s intro to Perfect Strangers tossed a little nugget by exquisitly playing Leonard Cohen`s Hallelujah( Montreal’s son). Overall, I left the show content, and maybe just maybe we`ll all get that long good by show again with a few changes to the list..

The Set list;
Highway Star
Pictures of Home
Bloodsucker
Strange Kind of Woman
Sometimes I feel Like screaming
Uncommon Man
Lazy
Knocking at your Back Door
Perfect Stranger
Smoke on the water
encore
Hush

Gary from Montreal

Deep Purple opened their 2018 North American tour with Judas Priest on August 21st at Riverbend in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Temperance Movement opened the night with a solid set and then gave way to the mighty Judas Priest. Priest played a combination of a few new songs along with their classics. Overall it was a great set and a great performance.

The crowd generally seemed to be there to see Judas Priest and I overheard more than a few guys stating that they were going to leave after Priest played. Even I wondered how the crowd would react to Deep Purple before they took the stage and I’ll admit that the combination of Priest and Purple seemed an odd one.

Purple hit the stage with Highway Star and never looked back however as they ripped through their set for roughly one hour and 20 minutes. The band itself was tight and Ian’s voice was in fine form. They were energetic and of course the crowd was sending out some “great vibes.”

From my perspective, the crowd really was sending out some great vibes. This was my 9th Purple show and I don’t recall ever seeing a crowd react the way this one did. The crowd really got into the show and I was amazed to hear everyone singing along to Perfect Strangers and Knocking at Your Back Door at the midway point of the set.

While I’m sure that some of the fans left after Priest, it didn’t appear that many did and it seemed that the crowd really enjoyed both bands. I still think it’s an odd pairing, but that night, the combination worked really well.

My only disappointment of the night was the stagnate set list. Perhaps because the band was touring with Priest, the set list, other than the inclusion of Uncommon Man, was more or less a greatest hits evening. In no order other than beginning and end, they played Highway Star, Space Truckin’, Perfect Strangers, Knocking at Your Back Door, Uncommon Man, Strange Kind of Woman, Hard Lovin’ Man, Smoke and Hush.

I would have liked to hear a few deeper cuts or something off of Infinite, but I understand the shorter set due to co-headlining or perhaps feeling that they needed to play a greatest hits set list due to the pairing. Either way, it was a great show and I was thankful that I got to see them play again before they call it a day. If this was it, I walked away happy (thanks for the pick Roger!) and I think they might have earned a few new fans as well that night.

Thanks,

Scott McNay

There is a new book on Glenn Hughes out in Japan from the Young Guitar magazine, The life and music of the best funky R&R player Glenn Hughes. It features the “Glenn Hughes Story” and discography of his 163 pieces of work (including guest appearances), with song titles, performing artists for his major works, and a review (long and short) for all of them, as well as a detailed analysis of his equipment from his Trapeze and Deep Purple days. The book is 271 pages long, and is, naturally, in Japanese. Albeit we’re being told that there are a lot of nice pictures in there too.

Thanks to Akemi Ono for the info.

Glenn Hughes did an interview with Icon vs Icon blog promoting his Classic Deep Purple Live tour in the US:

You’re about to launch a U.S. tour playing the music of Deep Purple. What made now the time to bring this tour to the masses?

I didn’t want to bring this to the stage with uncaring musicians. I asked myself, “Are these dudes going to give my audience what I would consider to be a great show?” Do I still have the Glenn Hughes Band playing Deep Purple songs? The answer is no! I’m changing it up and bringing people in that I think are more suitable to Deep Purple sounding songs. Look, do I like letting people go? No! I’ve been a guy who keeps a band together for at least five to six years. This thing is a two-year tour that basically takes us around the world twice. I wanted, if I may be so bold, to bring a band that sounds as close to Deep Purple Mark III and IV as possible. I’m being a little facetious here but why would I want to bring the band that didn’t sound as close to the original band? I just want people to maybe close their eyes a little bit and go, “Wait a minute! This is damn close here!” That’s the way it should be! This isn’t just something that came off the top of my head. When we talk about these kids Greta Van Fleet, forget about the way they look, when you hear that sound you go, “Dammit, that’s as close as you’re going to get!”

I’m bringing in an incredible guitar player named Jeff Kollman. He was with me 10 or 15 years ago and is an aficionado of the Stratocaster. I’m also bringing in a Hammond organ specialist from my band Kings of Chaos with Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum, Gilby Clarke and Joe Elliott. His name is Mike Mangan and he is a Hammond organ specialist as Jon Lord was. I have Ian Paice-style drummer, Eduardo Rivadavia from São Paulo, Brazil. They are all coming to bring that vibe into my band. I want to bring a band onto the stage that’s going to make people fuckin’ sit up and take notice! I don’t want everything to be tied up into a pink little bow where it’s all pretty and it sounds just like the album. No, no, no, no! It ain’t going to be like that! It’s can be blustery, organic, soft, loud, celebratory and in the raw!

For me, I’m not trying to have people look like Blackmore, Paice and Lord, but I would like people to say, “Dammit that sounds fucking close!” Wouldn’t they want that, and wouldn’t they want me to sound exactly like I did in 1974? Because that’s what’s going to happen! Bro, that’s what I’m bringing! I’ve never been in this fine a shape. I don’t think I’ve been in this kind of shape for a very long, long time. It’s a good time for me to expand, travel, take care of myself, get a lot of sleep, a lot of water and do what I have to do to bring my show across the planet!

Read more in Icon vs Icon.

Thanks to Yvonne for the info.

Burrn! in Japan has published a special issue of Metallion magazine commemorating the 40th anniversary of Whitesnake. The issue (vol. 64) includes exclusive interviews of past and present members of the band: David Coverdale, Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden, Neil Murray, Ian Paice, John Sykes, Adrian Vandenberg, Vivian Campbell, Rudy Sarzo, Tommy Aldridge, Steve Vai, Doug Aldrich, Reb Beach, Joel Hoekstra, Michael Devin, and Michele Luppi.

Here are some of the more interesting tidbits as sent in by our Japanese correspondent:

David Coverdale

On the new album:

I made music with Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra for the first time in the new album “Flesh & Blood”. It was wonderful. Unfortunately, there was that terrible computer mishap and all the mixing was lost. We need to remix after the US tour.

On Cozy Powell:

Cozy and I were close friends. When I dissolved Whitesnake after the 1981 album “Come An’ Get It”, Cozy asked me if I’d be interested in joining the Michael Schenker Group, but I passed. I drank all night with Cozy when he came over to my house outside of London. He was interesting to talk to, and very professional.

On upcoming projects:

“Unzipped” will be released in the end of October. Early next year, there will be a special edition for the 34th anniversary of “Slide it In”. Also probably a special package of “Slip of the Tongue” in a few years. We are currently planning for a greatest hits album to be released in 2020.

Bernie Marsden

On PAL:

I was introduced to Jon and Ian through Cozy Powell. They were looking for a guitar player, but could not find anyone. I think they hired me because I did not know Deep Purple tunes, and they wanted to do something different. I really enjoyed working with such world-class players, but the project was not a financial success, and Jon told me they could not fund it any further. I thought I would never play with them again, but my next project was Whitesnake.

Ian Paice

On success at an early age:

I think people deal with success differently depending on
their personality. Some handle it well, and some don’t. I think drummers, in general, handle it well. There’s something in the drummer’s spirit and ego that says “I don’t mind sitting back and doing this all my life.” So we are tough and persevere.

On David Coverdale at the DP audition:

David was such a mess! He was extremely tense, on the heavy side, with an outdated hairstyle and weird-looking clothes. But within his 40 minute demo tape, there were 3 seconds of mid to upper range vocals, and I saw the blues singer in him. I told everyone this is the guy. In a way, he was lucky, since he had the wonderful vocal support of Glenn Hughes from the beginning.

On playing on stage with Whitesnake:

I think I was focusing on making sure things were under control. I made sure Neil and I were in sync, and that Bernie and Micky Moody knew what was going on. I think I looked at David most of the time, in case he changed something. In a rock’n roll band, the conductor sits at the back of the stage.

On leaving Whitesnake:

I left because David fired me, but not for musical reasons. David was seriously working on marketing the band, making sure he was seen by the media, etc. I could not do the same. David was friendly with Cozy, and Cozy was a better fit for the band at the emotional level. I didn’t like it that I was fired, but I accepted it. In retrospect, I had a really good time with Whitesnake. I don’t think I laughed as much as I did throughout my career than during my days with Whitesnake. More than making good records, I remember laughing a lot!

Many thanks to Akemi Ono for the info.

Glenn Hughes spoke to the Talking Metal podcast, promoting his Classic Deep Purple Live tour and paying tribute to Aretha Franklin. In a bit of historical anecdotage, he revealed that You Keep on Moving was originally written in 1973 during Burn sessions, but never made it to that album, nor the next one.

The interview starts at about 2 minutes into the show and continues for almost 20 minutes:

In other Glenn news, VIP upgrade packages are available for his UK tour that starts in October.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.