Last Sunday evening I attended the Edgar Winter/ Alice Cooper /Deep Purple show at the XFinity outdoor amphitheatre, about an hour’s drive south of Boston, Mass. I know a lot has already been written about Purple’s current USA jaunt in recent reviews here, but thought I would add my 2 cents worth of perspective just for good measure.
First up at 6:45 pm were Edgar Winter and his excellent band who played all their big hits: Free Ride; a cover of the Stones’ Jumpin’ Jack Flash; Rock & Roll Hootchie Koo; a great vocal call / guitar response on Tobacco Road; and Frankenstein. Edgar showed himself to be a very talented multi-instrumentalist, very impressive. 45 minutes of enjoyable, well-played musical entertainment. I was pleased to have seen Edgar perform this night, a real treat.
Next up at 8:00 pm on the dot was Alice Cooper. Lots of theatrics, showmanship and guitar-shredding; and very loud, too loud. Apart from a couple of big hits (Eighteen and School’s Out), I found the rest of his show interminably long. I do however caveat my statement by the fact that I have never been a fan of Alice’s music – I have never owned his records, so perhaps I am a bit biased in this department – the crowd did seem to appreciate his 70 minute show. At the end I overheard a comment from a nearby concert goer to the effect that Deep Purple would have to work very hard to top Alice’s show.
Well at 9:40 pm Deep Purple arrived and brought their A-game with them. Perhaps the band had been monitoring some of the show reviews, perhaps they had settled into this particular combo-tour package format; whatever it was, they came on strong this night. Highway Star was the opener and Gillan in his Popeye T-shirt was in pretty good voice for the song. On Fireball, as others have remarked, Gillan struggled to keep up with the song’s fast tempo and thereby missed a few lyrics. Purple might want to re-think whether in future, this is a good song to retain on the set list.
Next up was Strange Kind of Woman which I also think might be best retired in favour of other songs from the Purple catalogue. Though the riff and vibe of the song might be crowd pleasers, Gillan & Morse’s call and response is no longer the stuff of legend. In fact I was far more impressed with Edgar Winter and his guitarist’s Tobacco Road exchange – Edgar’s vocal range and scat singing is stronger, as was the shredding energy of his guitarist.
One thing I noted about the show by this point was the poor quality of the sound system. Gillan’s vocals though seemingly quite strong, were diminished by distortion and volume quality. I did notice something similar during Alice Cooper’s show, so perhaps it’s the venue’s P.A. system which is the culprit. I also noted that Gillan did seem genuinely happy and smiley this evening – no curmudgeonly grumpiness as has been reported in other reviews.
On with the concert….Uncommon Man was then introduced by Gillan as “to the memory of our beloved Jon Lord”. Steve Morse’s guitar intro for it was a lot more raw and hard than in previous shows I have witnessed. The song then morphed into a very majestic sounding performance which was very well received by the crowd. Then came Lazy which is a song I have never generally liked all that much on record nor in concert. Tonight however I actually enjoyed how it was played – I tapped my feet and bopped to it for the first time that I can ever recall – due in part no doubt to the very good energy by the band. And again Steve’s guitar seems to have taken on a more raw character, more crunch and less noodling. Perhaps his problematic wrist has forced him to alter his playing style. Whatever it is, I enjoyed his playing this evening, more so than in past shows.
Knocking at Your Back Door was the surprise this evening for me. It’s the first time I have heard it at a Purple concert since the Mark 2 reunion show in Montreal in 1985. Ian Gillan’s voice was great and the whole song came across very well on stage. Then came a stirring performance of The Surprising from the new album – Ian’s voice was perfect on it. Next was an Airey keyboard solo which led into another strong performance by Gillan and band on Perfect Strangers.
Then in rapid-fire succession came Space Truckin’, Time for Bedlam, Hush and Smoke on the Water. All well played and well received, however the band dispensed with the usual Smoke sing-along, due possibly to time constraints. Nor was there an encore performance per sé; Hush and Smoke were all rolled into one to finish the 80 minute show. Actually I have no issue with this, the standard show encore concept is really such a contrived performance vehicle these days….everybody expects it. Closing with Smoke as was done this night left the crowd happy all the same. The show ended just before the clock struck 11:00 pm.

So what was different tonight versus standard Deep Purple concerts? Yes a bit shorter, a few less songs and not a lot of soloing. The only fairly lengthy solo on this night was Airey’s intro to Perfect Strangers. Nor was there a drum solo by Little Ian, perhaps that’s due to his recent health scare. I would however have liked to have heard more tunes from the new album, especially Birds of Prey, but that’s a small gripe. The band did seem to be happy playing, even though they were restricted by time. I have attended several other Purple shows in past few years and did not feel tonight’s overall performance was any less worthy than previous outings. In fact I was suitably impressed with Gillan’s performances and Morse’s rougher-edged guitar work. The 19,000 or so attendees at this night’s event also seemed to be very appreciative of Purple’s performance.

Gary Halverson, September 2nd, 2017

So we all came out to Boston…. (yours truly driving in from Montreal, Canada). On a Sunday. For a religious experience? Well, having seen Deep Purple for most of the tours that have brought the band near and around my hometown since 1984 , the road trips have become more of a roving pilgrimage not only to see musical history but to experience true class in the rock world. On to the show; while seeing Edgar Winter was a musical treat, it was difficult to get excited over 2 songs that are still in the constant rotation of the classic rock stations. Or maybe I’ve just grown tired of “Free Ride” . And I`ve always thought of “Frankenstein “ as a novelty song – but hey, that’s just my (right/wrong) opinion. Alice Cooper: What can be said that hasn`t already been said at the Highway Star; he is a true showman. Total entertainment, great rock show with the expected flash bombs, a Frankenstein and (why not!) a head removal!!. Of the 3 bands, Alice was definitely the most theatrical. Mind you, some of the sound was buried under the 3 guitarists, but when Alice is snarling around on stage, throwing knives at big balloons, who really noticed.
The boys came on with a nice orchestral build up that eased them seamlessly into Highway Star. And yes, the crowd erupted. Big Ian seemed to struggle with the lyrics of Fireball that followed HS but I doubt many noticed. The set list didn`t change and in away made the show slightly predictable. Personally, I could live without SKOW and would have preferred Birds of Prey or anything else from the Morse Era. In concert, the band is the band. They are tight, insanely professional and no doubt could do this in their sleep ( but probably prefer not to!!).

If this is the last tour and if this is the last time I have the opportunity to see them, then I am content. They have never disappointed me in any of the shows I have seen and this show was perfect. Say what you will, but if a band can perform with members who are in and near their 70`s and continue to entertain the fans, continue to release excellent rock music, AND still leave the crowds ( and there were many) wanting more, then the deserve praise for having accomplished something thing that few bands have ever done. Thank you for the music!!
That`s it, the preaching is over.

• Apologies for the lateness of the review – I had to drive back to Montréal ( about 5 hour drive) and go to work ( the horror) – the next day. I`m not as young as I used to be!

Gary in Montreal

Deep Purple live at PNC Bank Arts Center (Holmdel, USA 2017-08-28)

After reading a lot of the reviews from the other shows here in America, I have a little bit different take on this. First, Edgar Winter did a fine job but I found it really unnecessary to have him on this bill. Valuable time was lost as far as I was concerned. That time could at least have been split between Cooper and Purple with Purple getting a little bit more of it than Cooper. Next Alice Cooper was typical Alice. Tons of props, gimmicks fireworks etc. Just what you would expect from him. I think Alice should be on the same bill with someone more similar instead. The 2 bands are not a great mix in my opinion. Finally the ultimate professionals took the stage. The set list was the same as the previous shows except the order was a little different. As usual they were great but they always are. I still think All I Got Is You would have been a better choice than The Surprising and Hell To Pay would have been a better choice than Uncommon Man but that’s my personal opinion. One good thing, I did the meet and greet and asked Ian Paice if they would ever come through the USA again, especially the New York area for my own personnel reasons. He said next year there not exactly sure how it’s going to play out but they will be in the states again. This tour does not have all areas included. So fingers crossed America, If health is with them there may just be one last chance to see them after this is over.

George Martin

review by George Martin

Deep Purple live at Jiffy Lube Live (Bristow, USA 2017-08-23)

I have been a fan of Purple since the 80’s. I graduated from high school the same year that Perfect Strangers came out. I had liked Purple before that (and really liked Rainbow) but the Mark 2 reunion opened up a love affair with a band that has lasted 30+ years. Deep Purple really is the soundtrack for my 51 year old life.
So when I told my 2 kids (27 and 22) and my wife I was likely going to have one last chance to see the band (this is my 5th live show…minus every DP video release that I have watched multiple times) they all wanted to come along for the ride. That made the show special for me, no matter what occurred on stage.

Bristow is about 4 hours from home (near Roanoke VA) After a pleasant trip up to Northern VA, we settled in for the show. I have read many of the reviews of this concert and was not optimistic. I found my experience was somewhat different than others that I have read.

Edgar Winters didn’t really excite me going into this, but we got there in time to see his set and I have to say it was fantastic. My wife thought he was the best act of the night. I am a bit biassed towards a certain band, but she could make a good argument for this position. His band was hot. He was in top form vocally and musically and he did a call and response bit with his guitarist that would have rivaled anything done by Ritchie and Ian in the day.

Alice Cooper. What can I say. It was all spectacle, noise and silliness. I was entertained, but the band was OK, the sound sucked (that’s what you get with 3 guitarists) and for the most part the crowd ate it up. Nina Strauss gets a lot of run for being a spectacular player. I found her to be a good but generic shredder with a boat load of MTV style guitar tricks and a penchant for throwing picks into the audience. Cooper’s band must go through 2000 picks per evening. Not my cup of tea, but it’s not everyday you get to see a singer decapitated on stage. 🙂

Now on to the show. Same set list. Big Ian was really struggling tonight. He barely got through HS and Fireball, He got it together for SKOW and was pretty good the rest of the evening. My son, who is a fan, was afraid Ian wasn’t going to make it through the show. The rest of the band seemed intent on carrying the load. I saw Steve Morse watching Edgar Winter’s prior to the show (i had pretty good seats) and his performance may have inspired the band to an extra energetic performance. The band was just spectacular extending the songs more than I had seen on the Now What tour and really getting into the music. Perfect Strangers and Space Trucking were particularly good.

I don’t like the fact that they didn’t do an encore. They just plowed through the encore bits without a pause. If they are going to do that…move Smoke to the last song.

That being said, Bedlam and The Surprising went over well and they ended with a great version of Hush including a great keyboard/guitar duel. Fantastic way to end probably my last Deep Purple gig.

Overall the show was fun,, the company was great and the bands were all good. I would say that it might be time for Ian to stop touring. I saw clips from Europe were he sounded pretty good, but this long of tour is doing him no favors. It really is a shame, as the rest of the band is absolutely on fire. As an instrumental group, they are as good as you will likely ever see live.

But Ian is a pro and he soldiered through. I would ask him to do something different with his story telling bit in SKOW. I had no idea what he was saying and while Steve seemed entertained everyone else looked puzzled.

Good times and thank you for decades of wonderful music. You are the best!

review by Chip

Deep Purple live at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (Woodlands, USA 2017-08-18)

Back at home after a Great night of music for the most part. I will start with Edgar Winter. I previously said a 30 minute set. Actually was 45. 5 classic songs if your old enough to know them. Band was very good. Lots of vocals/guitar banter between Edgar & the guitar player which was entertaining for a while but drug out a bit. Would have been better had they opted to play a couple more songs but overall the songs & the band were tight. Edgar sang, played keyboards, Sax & a little drums on Frankenstein.

Next came Alice & Alice didn’t disappoint!!! I previously said that Alice & DP would play for about 1.5 hours. Not the case as both bands played short 70 min sets. Alice threw everything at us but the kitchen sink but sadly NOT the Guillotine! For some reason it was left out of the set but with the triple guitars led by Nita Strauss, Dolls, Frankenstein, confetti, guitar pics flying it was quite a spectacle. Nita is a very capable guitarist in her own right, I was wrong about her. The band Alice has assembled for this tour is just as good as the original band which I got to see in 73. Under My Wheels was very good but the highlight song was Halo Of Flies. The 2 new songs went over very well but like I said before I still didn’t like Poison & Feed My Frankenstein.

Now the hard part of my follow-up.

I feel in love with Deep Purple around 1970 right before In Rock came out & have been a loyal fan sense. I had to wait 33 years before I ever got a chance to see them, luckily with John. Last night was only my 4th time to see them. Right out of the gate you could tell that Ian was struggling with the high notes on Highway Star & Fireball. SKOW was next & was a bit easier for him. Uncommon Man is a great tune but it took the energy right out. Lazy will always be Lazy but next up was The Surprising which works well in the set. Then it was time for Don to star & star he did.After a very enjoyable solo, he ushered in Perfect Strangers.This is hands down the song of the night. I won’t get all technical but Steve’s guitar playing on this song is as good as any guitarist on any song ever!!! Then came Space & Smoke & I had to walk away. It’s kinda like hearing Freebird & Stairway on the same night. They’ve just gotten lame. KAYBD followed which I came back for, then Bedlam & Hush. Goodnight, no encore. They just played the whole set & left. Other than Ian thanking the crowd there was very little love from the band, they waved & walked off. 1st time of the 4 shows I have seen that they did this. If this is truly the end, would have been nice for a little more love from the band.

Overall Purple’s show was good, not great & left a lot to be desired!! I really think they are tired, can’t see them doing another tour like this. I also think they’re regretting booking a tour with a Showman but that’s just my opinion.
I hope I’m wrong & they continue but I can’t go see this band that I will love till I die…again

review by Sammy Romeo

Deep Purple live at Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan (Las Vegas, USA 2017-08-12)

I managed to catch the first two nights of the tour. Vegas was great,my wife and I were front row on Steve’s side.The guys came out firing on all cylinders with 3 killer tunes then Uncommon Man drops the energy level from the crowd.Hip Boots would go over much better in this spot,that tune is taylormade for America.Heavy and bluesey.Lazy was really strong,Steve getting into it with a great lead in to the familiar riff .The Surprising works well on stage,a classic track. Perfect Strangers followed and was epic.Morse really working the whammy bar and bending the strings wrenching out those siren sounds.His son was watching from the wings and bringing him different guitars through the show which was cool to see.Space and Smoke were fine,cool lighting and images on the big screen for these two songs.Time For Bedlam absolutely kicked ass,so damn heavy and agressive.The best song of the night for me. Hush wound things up to thunderous applause from the audience.Gotta mention,Paicey looked and played great.He was a joy to watch,still got those quick wrists to whip out those fast fills.Gillan struggled with Fireball a little,not even getting all the words out during the verses.Maybe that one is too fast to sing now.Judging by the t-shirts, the crowd looked to split pretty evenly.For me it was great to see two of my all time favorites up close and personal.

review by Steve Hunt

Deep Purple live at Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan (Las Vegas, USA 2017-08-12)

Upon the announcement of the Deep Purple / Alice Cooper co-headlining tour (w/Edgar Winter in support), I was ecstatic! My favorite band and two rock legends in support! I ponied up to get great 8th row seats and counted the days, until the show finally came. Edgar Winter came on with a bunch of guys half his age and played a quick set of hits (Highlighted by Free Ride, Rock n Roll Hoochie Coo and Frankenstein.) Exactly what one would expect.

Fast forward to the end of Alice’s set and it hit me just how ironic this co-Headlining tour was and what exactly Purple had gotten themselves into. On one hand you have Alice Cooper who is master of hard rock showmanship and theatrics and, yes, has some great tunes too. On the other hand Deep Purple who clearly have much, much better songs, but whose greatest foray into showmanship was Ian Paices’ lighted drumsticks on the last tour. Needless to say in this day and age, particularly in Vegas perhaps, Cooper won the night with three guitarists, a guillotine and props galore. And yes, his songs were tight and sounded great. Confetti, bubbles, rock poses to work the crowed, guitar picks flying out in every direction.

Enter Purple with 70 minutes and an impossible act to follow. Purple competently delivered their set which included the surprise of Uncommon Man and two songs from the excellent Infinite (Time for Bedlam and The Surprising), but a mere 70 minute set left me wanting much, much more (particularly if this is a farewell tour). I was also disappointed in the lack of One Night in Vegas which, if they’re ever going to play it, it would have been the night in Vegas. Despite the anti-climactic nature of the set (which witnessed a thinning crowd, song by song) Purple managed to deliver, perhaps the greatest version of Perfect Strangers I’ve had the pleasure to hear in my 25+ Purple shows. Morse absolutely worked the feedback and hung all those wonderful notes as if he owned them and his life depended on it and THAT is what encapsulates the magic of Purple. The fact that one could show up at any given show and witness the greatest live band in history (IMHO!) deliver a mindblowing rendition of one of their hits on a farewell tour, is a testament to this band which will always exist In Rock.

review by Mark Bojanowski

Deep Purple live at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (Woodlands, USA 2017-08-18)

If it’s OK with everyone, I’d like to do something I’ve never done. I’d like to write a pre concert review & follow up after I see it to see how I stacked up.

After a 5.5 hour drive, we arrive @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion just North of Houston Texas. First up is Edgar Winter. After waiting 40+ years to see him, it would be an understatement to say I’m not jacked up! FANTASTIC performance but way to short. 5 song set clocking in at 30 minutes just wasn’t right. If you see this show, arrive early as you don’t want to miss Edgar Winter!! Not enough time to work up a sweat even tho with the humidity it felt like 110!!!!

Next up is one of my all time favs, AC. Good 15 song set with the standouts being Under My Wheels, Halo Of Flies, Killer, Eighteen, School’s Out & the new single, Paranoiac Personality. Downers were Poison & Feed My Frankenstein. AC hasn’t put out until now a good album since WTMN. ‎Nita Strauss is a very good guitarist but she’s not Glen. PLEASE Alice, 1 last tour with the old band!!!Show clocked in at 1 hour 25 minutes.

Next up is the 3rd greatest band of all time (we could debate this till the cows come home) DEEP PURPLE
Right out of the gate comes Highway Star, Fireball & Strange Kind Of Woman. Bang,Bang,Bang back to back non-stop. Great way to open up what has become such a predictable set. Being just the 5th show of the tour & coming off a night off the band sounds great. Ian’s voice is pretty good all things considered. Show clocks out at 1 hour 30 minutes with only 11 songs on the set. I have a real problem with this set list. First why Lazy, Space Truckin’ & Smoke? This is probably the last tour so why keep playing these 3 songs into the ground when there’s at least 40 other songs you could play? SMH The highlight of the night is The Surprising. Encore is Time For Bedlam & Hush. NO BLACK NIGHT!!! What a shame.

Overall a very enjoyable night seeing 3 living legends…. PROBABLY for the last time.

FYI… Full set lists can be viewed at Setlist.fm

review by Sammy Romeo

Rainbow Live Review, O2 Arena, London, 6/17/2017 (Summary)

Did Ritchie Blackmore really enjoy his return to the world of rock in 2016?
The answer must be yes as he is actually seen to be smiling in the DVD from the shows. Most of Ritchie’s fans gave accolades to the 2016 lineup, so it was no surprise when the 2017 shows were announced with the same members.

In the O2 Arena show in London, the focus was on Rainbow tunes rather than Deep Purple. The opening was Spotlight Kid, vs. Highway Star from last year.

Ritchie was the obvious star of the show, but Ronnie Romero was not so far behind. Of course his vocals do not reach the level of Joe Lynn Turner in “I Surrender” or David Coverdale in “Mistreated”. However, it is worthy of praise that Ronnie reached the high notes of all the tunes, including “Child in Time”.

All of Ronnie James Dio songs were great. It is obvious that Ronnie Romero seriously studied Rainbow’s “On Stage”. The special effect of showing RJD’s image on the screen also worked quite well.

Ronnie did some comical things on stage, such as taking a guitar pick from the previous band, and throwing it to the audience, saying “I always wanted to do this.” I am not sure whether Ritchie enjoys this kind of humor, but the audience certainly did.

Last year’s Rainbow lacked rehearsing, but this year it was different, and they were much tighter. There may be room for them to become “heavier”, but they certainly are not “Blackmore’s Night playing Rainbow” as some people say. They are much heavier.

Ritchie is not a complacent guitarist. He is always looking for ways to change tunes that he has played hundreds of times. For example, “Long Live Rock’n Roll” was lighter and a bit jazzier. For “Smoke on the Water”, the arrangement was new as well.

Ritchie may no longer be able to play the best hard rock riffs, but his play is more soulful than before. The acoustic guitar in “Soldier of Fortune”
was indeed deeply touching.

The setlist itself was not dramatically different from 2016. I am sure there were many other Rainbow or Deep Purple songs that fans wanted to hear.
But in the case of Ritchie, we just need to be content that he has decided to do this. No one tells Ritchie what to do.

So what next? He is unpredictable, and people do not know whether he has the biggest ego on earth or no ego at all. Only time will tell whether he will seek a heavier sound with the new Rainbow or will stop here.

Interview with Ritchie and Candice (excerpts):

On “To the Moon and Back”:
Candice: We started on this, I think the middle of last year. We had input from our fans using SNS. We have some re-makes and some new songs.
Ritchie: Yes, we have “Ghost of John”. This is not about Jon Lord. It’s an old English folksong. Our daughter Autumn brought it home from school. We decided to include it in the album since it was wonderful. Autumn is singing at the end of the song. She is 7 years old, but she has a nice voice. The original song was written 300 years ago.
C: The first verse is the original. Ritchie said we should add verses,
so I wrote the other verses and made it into a ghost kind of story.
R: Ian Andersen played the flute in “Play Minstrel Play”.
C: The fans requested “Shadow of the Moon” the most. Other favorites
were “Under a Violet Moon”, “Fires at Midnight”, “Ghost of a Rose”, “Village Lanterne”. Ritchie’s favorite has always been “Renaissance Faire”.
R: Yes. Also, “Ghost of a Moon”, “Fires at Moonlight”, “Under a Violet
Moon”, “Renaissance Moon”, “Shadow of the Moon”, “Spirit of the Moon”, “I Surrender to the Moon”. (Note: all made up by Ritchie except for “Under a Violet Moon” and “Shadow of the Moon”.)

On Eddie Jobson:
R: Eddie almost joined Rainbow. We auditioned him in LA. I think it
didn’t work out because we wanted a keyboard player but he wanted to play the violin.

On “I Surrender”:
R: Candice sang the track I sent to Ronnie for his recording. But
Candice’s vocals were really good, so we decided to include in our album and release Ronnie’s separately. You will note that the backing track is the same.

On “The Land of Hope and Glory”:
R: I have always loved that tune. I decided to record it when Candice
was away for a few days. I told the producer we could use the tune using electric guitar for Rainbow’s opening tune. It turned out well so we decided to include in the album.
C: It was important to release it at this timing, considering what
happened at the Manchester Arena where Rainbow was scheduled to play.

On Rainbow’s Shows:
R: I do it every year, but it still makes me feel nervous. We usually
rehearse for a week. We played in London, Scotland and Birmingham.
Manchester was canceled. In Birmingham I think I finally felt comfortable.
In the other shows I was praying it will go well. It takes time to get used to each other, relax and feel the music. It takes time to get to a point that I could express myself well in the tunes. I was very scared the first day. I was not sure what I was playing. But it went well. Everyone did a great job.
Those shows are exactly the opposite of Blackmore’s Night shows.
With Blackmore’s Night, I sit on a stool, talk to the audience, and play for
4 hours. I am relaxed throughout. With Rainbow, I am more tense. I love to play the Stratocaster and plug in. My technique is using the pick with my thumb and index finger. With Blackmore’s Night, I use the acoustic guitar. To use the pick, I need to clip my nails. For acoustic guitar, I need to grow my nails. So after Rainbow’s last show, I took one month off to grow my nails. It is actually quite challenging to play the guitar in different styles.
Regarding the setlist, I took Candice’s advice. There were comments on the internet that people wanted to hear more Rainbow songs. So I dropped “Highway Star” and added a few Rainbow tunes.

What next:
R: We will probably do some shows in the US. I worked too hard in the Deep Purple days, so it’s important for me to take time off. I don’t want to work like that again. We manage our own schedule.
I think there will be more Rainbow shows with Ronnie Romero. We can play music that everyone enjoys. It went well last year, it went well this year. Of course will do it again.
We would like to go to Japan, but traveling is a challenge these days.
C: I would like to go during cherry blossom season. Then I could write
a cherry blossom song.
Burrn: That would be late March to early April.
R: Then we will go around that time.

many thanks to Akemi Ono for the news and translation

A new addition to “Videos from the bottom drawer” on RGs official website:

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