Deep Purple at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, September 4, 2024; photo: Claude Sawyer.

The Aquarian reviews the September 1 show at the Jones Beach Theater in New York City:

The set included five songs from Deep Purple’s 23rd and most recent studio album, =1. The collection, released just six weeks earlier on July 19, is the first to feature the current cast. Perhaps because these five songs originated from the present team, they sounded as rich and forceful as the four vintage songs from 1972’s Machine Head and the three classic songs from 1970’s Deep Purple in Rock.

Ironically, “Smoke on the Water” was one of the least impressive songs of the set. Some 50 years later, Deep Purple is so much more than that very familiar riff. Now in its seventh decade, Deep Purple is far from over the hill.

Radio station Q105.7 from upstate New York has a short review of the Saratoga Springs show on September 4, dedicating just a paragraph to each of the artists:

Two absolutely legendary Rock and Roll bands shared the stage on Wednesday night in Saratoga. Deep Purple and Yes were both formed in 1968. Both have had considerable personnel changes throughout the past 56 years. The Deep Purple that headlined on Wednesday night was a variation of the “Mark II” version of the band. This version was the most commercially successful incarnation of the band. Original drummer Ian Paice was joined by longtime bass player Roger Glover as the rhythm section. Singer Ian Gillan’s voice hasn’t aged a day. Keyboard player Don Airey impressed with not one, but two keyboard solos. The most recent addition to the Deep Purple family is Irish guitarist Simon McBride. Following after the likes of Ritchie Blackmore, Tommy Bolin, Joe Satriani and Steve Morse might seem like a daunting task, but McBride more than fills the shoes of those who came before him. His blistering solos were the highlight of the night.

Our reader David Black has collected some of the best on-stage Gillanisms from over the years, and here we present them to you with a little judicious editing from everyone involved. Oh, we’d love to be the flies on the wall of the train of Gillan’s thought.

Knockin’ at Your Back Door — Knebworth 1985

This one-I’d like to tell you about this song, I really would, but unfortunately the whole content of the song is illegal-as well as every single word in it, every comma, whatever. There’s not, there is not a single, single word or note in the song which is obeying any law at all. It goes like this…

Strange Kind of Woman — Long Beach 1971

About six months ago we started recording a new album and the second track we finished on it was something we’re going to do now. It was released as a single in Europe, and it’s on the album over here. It’s a story about a prostitute and a friend of ours – it’s a relationship which was so extraordinary and turned out to be such a drag that we wrote a song about it. It’s called Strange Kind Of Women.

Strange Kind of Woman — BBC 1972

This was actually a true story and we thought very profound. It was about a friend of ours who got mixed up with an evil woman, and it’s a sad story. They got married in the end and a few days after they got married the lady died.

Strange Kind of Woman — Knebworth 1985

We’re going to do some of the older songs here tonight as well as some of the new ones. We’ve all been doing different things over the last 10 years. Personally, I’ve been studying languages and have become something of a cunning linguist, in fact I’m known as a master of many tongues. So tonight, I’d like to introduce each song in a different language — this one in French. This is the story of somebody we met outside the Turkish embassy some years ago, and she had terrible problems with her arthritis. In French this is called e-hoh-e-hohn strange kind of woman.

Speed King — Knebworth 1985

This is the saddest, most miserable, depressing, agonising song we ever wrote. In fact, we only ever played this song once because we were so depressed after we played it, we all went out and decided not to do it again. This song is about a seed. It fell into a stony path. And, in fact, it grew in the rocks and the filth and everything else. It’s certainly the most depressing song I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s very slow, it’s a ballad designed to bring you to your knees.

Perfect Strangers — Knebworth 1985

The way this song was inspired, there’s a weird story behind this. A story about a football team who got thrown out of their league for playing and drinking and all that sort of thing. So they sat down in a little stadium in a small town, and they used to play games away, and they were known as the Rangers, and in fact the street where they had this little stadium was called Perfect Street. So that’s the story behind this song. It’s about a football team called the Perfect Street Rangers.

Perfect Strangers – Budokan 16th May 1985

I’d like to give you the alternative introduction to Perfect Strangers. I knew you’d been gasping for it. The side street from Kaiser Wilhelm Strasse is called Perfect Strasse and there’s a place down there which is perfectly horrid, and it makes everyone furious. In fact, in angers people. So, it’s called Perfect Strasse Angers.

Blues — Budokan 16th May 1985

What we need to know is a huge mass of pink just to sort of flop down over our heads. But in the absence of that — here’s a great wodge of Blues for you.

Smoke on the Water — Made in Japan

Here’s a song, that’s also from the last album. It tells the story of how we recorded it and what went wrong when we did it. Happened in Switzerland, and it’s a song called Smoke on the Water, this one.

Demon’s Eye – Rockford 2005

This next song is… well, how can I describe it… It’s the result of a vindaloo curry and the complete lack of sphincter tincture after a sixteen-hour ride on a bus. It’s called Demon’s Eye.

Mary Long – Hong Kong 2001

Long time ago we were bedevilled by injustices and intolerance. There were two people in England particularly who used to get right up our collective noses, Mary Whitehouse and Lord Longford, who didn’t like above anything else nudity and coarse humour. Well, fuck ‘em. So, we got pissed off and wrote this song – it’s a little collage of their intentions and ours called Mary Long

The Mule – Tokyo 2014

And now this is not what you think at all, it’s not about little furry creatures with sharp little nails, blind, underground connections. It’s none of those, it’s actually… [Little Ian crashes in to stop Big Ian talking about moles]

Mandrake Root — Aachen 1970

If you don’t feel too cold, we want you to get all your gear off. Take all your clothes off and let it all hang down to your knees and everything like that. I mean, there’s no one around and the fuzz are all out the back. So, get it all off and be very rude. Here’s a filthy rude song. It’s diabolically rude, so if you feel like getting your diabolicallies out, let’s do it. It’s a thing called Mandrake Root.

Woman From Tokyo – Budokan 1985

I have to explain that Woman From Tokyo is a love song. It’s not about one woman, it’s a love song about Japan.

Lazy – BBC 1972

Bit of silence please for a bit of authentic rhythm and blues.

Anyone’s Daughter – Stockholm 1993

This song was written one of the dark evenings when my trousers weren’t heavy enough and my belt loops were jangling.

Twist in the Tale – Stockholm 1993

This one’s is about the one little pig. Just the one…

Talk About Love – Stockhlom 1993

This song is from the new record [in mock French accent] ze Battle Rages On, and the song is all about the itch with no name. You can find it in your trousers.

The Well Dressed Guitar – Rotterdam 2000

What we’d like to do now is, something as I’m making this announcement, Steve is actually writing this song which we’re going to do tonight with the strings and orchestra. Just a moment to distribute the music by arrgghh… osmosis. There you go. It’s a thing called the Well Dressed Guitar.

Bananas – Berlin 2003

There was one day when our producer Michael Bradford had to go to the East coast, and we were left alone in the studio, and the band went insane, and we ended up with this. It’s in 7/4 and 5/4 which is an interesting combination. It’s called ba-ba-ba-bananas.

Almost Human – Melbourne 1999

This is a song dedicated entirely to, in the first part, that familiar thing that happens when you get on a sticky part in the pub – there’s a bit of beer on the floor, and you get stuck to the floor – which is the basic inspiration for the song and the second part is about the next day, round about midday when you have your first one and feel almost human. And that’s what it’s called – Almost Human.

Lazy – Stockholm 1985

There once was a very much bent pair,
a tea-leaf and one who just went there,
He’d take out his badge,
Say I’m licensed to snadge,
All the bikes outside Tesco’s in Edgeware.

House of Pain – Berlin 03

Here’s one and there’s another one up there. This is all about our manager. It’s dedicated to the management company in Connecticut and its brilliant skills of middle management communication, and it’s called the House of Pain.

Into the Fire – Stockholm 1970

This next thing is like rock and roll as well but rock and roll with its trousers down. Rock and roll back to front, inside out, whatever you like. Changed it around a little bit, it’s a little slower. If you can count eight, you can just about keep up. It’s called Into the Fire.

Special Mention – Jon Lord & Roger Glover – The Highlander — South African Radio 1995

JL: “You got to imagine that one with Ian Paice thundering away in the background and…”
RG: “Ian Gillan thundering away in the background.”

Post scriptum

Some of your humble editor’s favourite Gillanisms form the Caramba Wordography section.

Dislocated

Sometimes the strength of a word in a rock song is not so much it’s meaning as it’s sound; the percussive value for example, or it’s syllabic sympathy in terms of meter and melody etc. Overall, of course, the lyrics have a story to tell, a message to convey or a meaningless stream of drivel to offer. I would like to start with the last category as it is the most fun.

No Laughing in Heaven

My perception of Heaven has always been a bit jaundiced. When I consider the likely incumbents, the prospect is just horrific. Everywhere I look people are murdering each other in the name of some god or other.

Uhm, we were going to offer more examples, but Caramba — in its infinite wisdom — after asking me thrice to prove I’m not a robot finally decided that I failed in doing so. How twistfully ironic…

David Coverdale posted a video for the 2024 remix of Wherever You May Go off his revamped solo album Into the Light, slated for re-release on October 25, along with WhiteSnake and Northwinds. Continue Reading »

Goldmine magazine reviews =1, and does it in most glowing terms:

The music encompassed in this 23rd full-length studio album, by one of the most revered and accoladed rock bands in the history of ever, will make you think “WOW!” and at the same time spur-on the thought of, “I wouldn’t have expected anything less.” Deep Purple, literally from the inception of the band until now, has existed as a ‘staple’ within the realm of classic and modern rock fandom. The band, though in 2024 obviously not comprised of 100-percent the original line-up, still includes original and extremely early members—Ian Paice, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover. The album, anticipated with massive expectation—even before its 2024 summer release—did not fail the media’s or the consumer’s hopes in any way, shape or form, all thanks to the current DP line-up of Ian Gillan (vocals), Roger Glover (bass), Ian Paice (drums), Simon McBride (guitar) and Don Airey (keyboards). Goldmine has chosen a select few of the album’s tracks to expose and review, hoping to give the Deep Purple fandom a broad yet concise overview of this 2024 masterpiece.

Continue reading in the Goldmine.

Deep Purple live at Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater (Bridgeport, USA 2024-09-03)

AMAZING SHOW IN BRIDGEPORT, CT

Deep Purple Live at Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater, September 3, 2024

Having seen the guys two days prior at Jones Beach, NY, where they delivered an excellent, high-energy show, I went to the Bridgeport, CT, show on September 3 hoping they would maintain the same standard. Not only did they maintain it; they exceeded it. It was the best show that I can remember, at least in the last 10 years. The band was tight and they sounded great, especially Big Ian.

The day off between the September 1 show at Jones Beach, NY, and the September 3 show in Bridgeport, CT, served the band well. The guys seemed rested and full of energy. Gillan sounded outstanding; perhaps the best I have heard him sound live in a long time. Has Gillan succeeded where Ponce de Leon failed, and found the Fountain of Youth? Kidding aside, he was on fire.

The Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater in Bridgeport, CT, used to be a Minor League Baseball stadium and was converted to its present format in 2022. It is a state-of-the-art facility with a capacity of roughly 7,000 seats. The venue attracts nice acts. It was pretty much sold out on September 3 and the crowd was enthusiastic, giving Purple a wonderful reception. The band seemed to enjoy playing there and seemed appreciative of the warm reception.

Having seen Purple just a couple of days prior, I was curious if they would play slightly different, especially Don and Simon. And, to my enjoyment, it felt like they improvised and played with some variation compared to two days prior. The September 3 setlist (see below) was pretty much the same from September 1, except for one change. At the end of the September 1 show at Jones Beach, NY, my friend stated that he wished they would have played a ballad, like When a Blind Cries, for instance. Well, he got his wish on September 3. WABMC was played instead of Show Me. Gillan shone.

Getting to see my all-time favorite band twice in three days was a special treat. I hope they go on for a while longer, but if September 3 turns out to be the last gig, in my book they would have ridden into the sunset on a huge high and in style. After the show, while the five of us were waiting for Uber to arrive, one of my friends looked up the rest of the DP tour schedule on his phone and asked: The O2 Arena, London, November 6? My response: Man, don’t tempt me!

Thank you, Deep Purple, for yet another memorable experience. We love you!

SETLIST (Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater, Bridgeport, CT, September 3, 2024)
Highway Star
A Bit on the Side
Hard Lovin’ Man
Into the Fire
Guitar Solo
Uncommon Man
Lazy Sod
Keyboard Solo
Lazy
When A Blind Man Cries
Portable Door
Anya
Bleeding Obvious
Space Truckin’
Smoke on the Water

Encore:
Green Onions
Hush
Black Night

review by Albania

One of our most prolific commenters Uwe Hornung writes:

I know, I know, we’re not a guitar player forum, but this here is real interesting.

It shows how Blackmore created THAT otherworldly studio sound of the Highway Star solo by harmonizing it (and breaking traditional harmony rules in places as he did not properly discern between major and minor intervals, so some notes sound dissonant, but that is the beauty of it!). It’s really instructive with the split screen and especially with the half-speed version which starts at 01:30.

And of course something that could never be replicated live in sound by any DP guitarist, you need a second guitar player to do that.

=1 reviewed by The Highway Star reader Mike Whiteley.

After listening through my laptop speakers for a week, the CD/DVD arrived three days ago, now two full listens thru my stereo.

Show Me – Pretty poor opener. The descending, repeated riff is almost as irksome as the one in Throw My Bones. Moog synth solo shows up in the early going. That sound grows more and more irritating as the album goes on.

A Bit On The Side – “Goin’ to Rosa’s Cantina”. Best song on the album. Paicey rules.

Sharp Shooter – A good riff wasted on a fairly tepid tune.

Portable Door – Two months later,I still like it.

Old Fangled Thing – Interesting bridge, not much else. Likely to be skipped more often than not.

If I Were You – Akin to Clearly Quite Absurd. IG’s bkgd/vox at the end should’ve been a Hammond solo instead.

Pictures of You – A pleasant song. Very singalong chorus. It’s too bad the lovely atmospheric coda went absolutely nowhere. A chance for a proper segue ignored.

I’m Saying Nothin’ – Cold Intro. Pretty lacklustre.

Lazy Sod – Rockin’ and fun. DP does ZZ.

Now You’re Talkin’ – The tune should have built to a crescendo a la A Day In The Life. Another missed opportunity.

No Money To Burn – Don’s solo sounds strangled and like someone’s chuckin’ razor blades at my ears! A certain skip.

I’ll Catch You – Owes a nod to Wasted Sunsets. Did the album need a second ballad? Pick one or the other, por favor.

Bleeding Obvious – An attempt at an epic closer. It sticks out like a sore thumb from the other 12 tracks. One of these tunes is not like the others! Before Time Began + The Surprising + YYZ + Tom Sawyer.
Why did Bob Ezrin choose to wedge in the sleepy “… all adds up to 1” interlude?
A forced fit, to my ears.

As for the overall record, far too much synth from Don. Thankfully, no barroom honky-tonk piano! Yeay!

Simon’s riffs are generally very good. The only one that’s likely to stick in my head is A Bit On The Side. His solos are good as well, until he gets too “widdly-widdly”.

Gillan’s not pushing his voice too much. He sounds comfortable throughout.

Glover’s got a bit of a growl in his bass tone.

Paicey seems laid back and swingin’ as has been the case on all the Bob Ezrin-produced albums.

How does =1 add up? 7/10 on a good day. The advance singles were well chosen. Far better than inFinite. Won’t get as many repeat spins as either Now What?! or Whoosh. Not sure how memorable it will be in three-four months. It may grow on me a bit more. Even if it doesn’t, I’m thankful to have a new, proper DP album in 2024.

The DVD – I like behind the scenes stuff. A 7/10 for that too.

After a few listens to the new album, I would call =1 an “almost” masterpiece.

Review by The Highway Star reader Flavio Romoli.

How much MKII and Blackmore do I hear in here? Not much, very little, McBride’s guitar riffs are different, the rhythms too, and the solos and other solutions are closer to Morse, but I don’t mind, just as I wouldn’t have minded if I had forcefully heard a return to MKII!

How much Morse do I hear in here? Quite a bit, both for what was said above, and because the other four have assimilated a lot of the way of writing from Purpendicular onwards, but I don’t mind this either, and if the Morse-style will be even less evident on the next album, I won’t mind anyway.

What matters are the songs, if they are interesting, and =1 is full of songs that are an incredible bridge between a long past and a future that we hope will give us at least another album!

In my opinion, the real protagonists of this album are two: mr. Ian Paice finally returns to set his skins on fire like he hasn’t done since Abandon, even if he is still a bit penalized in the mix, not like in the recent past at least, but I would have liked to hear him higher up. TOP performance!

The other protagonist is Mr. Ian Gillan, who unfortunately no longer has the range he once had (what would I pay to hear him again with TBRO‘s voice), but guys, thanks to the structure of these songs he returns to sing vocal lines that are lost in the meanders of his career, from the beginning to the recent past! A sort of melodic autobiography!

Roger is the usual fundamental glue with his typical shuffle chromatics and the diabolus in musica that have influenced generations of bass players, and like wine the older he gets the more he exudes class.

Simon promoted with full marks, technique, taste, personality, humility, honestly I don’t care about comparisons with Ritchie and Steve [Yet, that’s how your review opens! Ed], I only know that he proved to be the right man at the right time.

Don Airey’s performance for me is not on par with the other four. A great musician, his work with synths is amazing, only he could replace Lord, but I don’t know about solos, I thought he would surprise me more, and instead except for three or four songs with great duets with Simon, the rest he stuffs with scales and fast passages that demonstrate an exaggerated technique, but they are quite anonymous.

How we miss Jon!!! His solos are unrivaled in terms of writing and taste, if he had still been around the Morse era would not have ended with flaccid and twisted albums. I expected more from Don, let’s hope for the next album: less is more.

1. Show Me
It starts with an incredible guitar riff, 100% McBride!
The song is catchy like no Deep song has ever been! It makes me want to dance with a silly smile like when I was young and I danced at the Rolling Stone to Red Hot Chili Peppers songs!
Paice makes it clear right away that the lethargy is over!
First solo with a guitar and keyboard duel in perfect Purple style 3.0!
One of the best songs on the album that makes you hear new things never done before.
If it weren’t for Pictures of You I would say it’s the best song on the album.
I haven’t heard such an initial bang since Ted and Any Fule Kno That.

2. A Bit On The Side
Another Top song.
At times very heavy for Purple standards, the heaviest ever written in decades, despite not being heavy metal at all!
The cacophonous break halfway through the solo reminds me of Dream Theater in the VII movement of Change of Season.
The vocal line is simply sensational and stays in your head in a nanosecond!
Only Deep can make hard rock like this, leaving all the other 70s/80s bands light years behind!
I always praise them for this!

3. Sharp Shooter
Not at the level of the first two, but a nice song anyway.
Verse and bridge are beautiful and remind me of the solo Gillan of the 90s, but the beginning of the song pays the debt to Steve Morse, it reminds me of something from Abandon.
I thought that if there had been the great Steve Morris on guitar, the intro and rhythm would have been totally different from this.
I would say an AoR vocal line on a song that is not AoR. Very sycophantic as Purple likes it.

4. Portable Door
The riff of Picture Of Home takes us back in time, but it is still a worthy tribute to MK II and one of the most linear and catchy songs on the album.
Different from the other things on the album, but very clever to use it as the first single, it almost seems like it was written specifically for this. To tell the truth I’m a bit sorry that there are no other songs so obviously “nostalgic” on the album.
Forgetting the POH quote, it is masterful.

5. Old-Fangled Thing
A good boogie song, which with its breaks takes me back to the Ian Gillan band, and which in the rhythm and vocal lines reminds me of Moonshine from the masterpiece Naked Thunder.
Airey’s solo is noteworthy.
Will Gillan’s scream at the end be the last we will hear on a studio album???

6. If I Were You
The level rises again with the first ballad of the album, 100% a gift from Simon who plays at being Gary Moore, the other four guys can only build on it a slow song that continues the tradition of Purpendicular, always keeping the ballad standard very high.
Who knows who Ian dedicated the lyrics to …

7. Pictures Of You
The best piece of the album for me, perfect riff, perfect verse, perfect chorus, everything turns to perfection, already a great classic! There are more innovative songs, but this one reminds me of the atmospheres of Perfect Strangers, and I hoped that =1 had been full of songs like this!
Musically there is the same truth and the same seriousness (which I adore, maybe because I have a weakness for Bm) of all the time in the world, but not in the theme of the lyrics, which I would have liked Deep Purple to develop almost in a concept album the theme of existence on this Earth.
I firmly believe that an album of songs like this would have been Deep Purple’s last masterpiece.

8. I’m Saying Nothin’
There’s a lot of Morse in the writing here.
It could come straight from Now What?!
Gillan’s performance is excellent, histrionic, reigning supreme for three and a half minutes, but the structure smells of déjà vu.
Don’s work is also nice, giving interest to the piece with some of his tricks.
It needed a few more BPMs to make it more catchy!
The filler piece of the album.

9. Lazy Sod
The third single in nice hard full of swing, the second and last song that still smells of MK II, an exceptional performance by all five guys.
For me it’s Wring That Neck transformed into a song with vocals 55 years later!!

10. Now You’re Talkin’
Another Deep Purple 3.0 piece along with the first two.
The tempo is Cascades (which in turn is Highway), even if I would have preferred the verse less rock’n’roll, but then Gillan on the bridge and chorus puts a splendid vocal line and Paice and Glover hammer like 30-40 years ago.
The battle of the solos sets my speakers on fire, what more could you ask for from a song that brings together past and future, that works very well from start to finish and seems to be played by forty-year-olds?
Guys, here I enjoy like a porcupine!
At 79″ Gillan drives me crazy!
The break at 1’16” reminds me of something by someone else, but done by the Deep and placed so unexpectedly it’s a second orgasm in a matter of seconds, with the duet between Don and Simon that takes me to Nirvana!

11. No Money To Burn
One of the most “normal” songs compared to the standard of the album, I feel like skipping it, it seems to come out of Infinite even if it is a little more evil, Don and Little Ian do a great job, they could have used it as a bonus track.

12. I’ll Catch You
Second ballad on the album, I prefer it to the first, but still a great tear-jerking song! Here the Gillan of the 70s meets Wasted Sunset and Simon enters Blackmore territory.
Between text and interpretation Big Ian is the absolute protagonist.

13. Bleeding Obvious
In its intentions a great piece.
It begins with an exceptional riff that Purple do not exploit properly, repeating it only one more time, and even then only with the keyboards.
The verse (which however has a bad Bananas-like progression) is too slow and dampens the enthusiasm. the chorus is more convincing.
Then from the first solo onwards the piece takes off with a melodic variation by Gillan that brings us to the Ian Gillan band, and a second main riff also enters that links to the first.
The ending also has a crescendo with Gillan singing in the style of Jesus Christ Superstar, but the verse leaves a bitter taste in the mouth because it could have been a real masterpiece.

With a cool head, I don’t consider this first album of the fourth Purple era a true masterpiece (like In Rock, Perfect Strangers and Abandon, the 10 and praise masterpieces), there are some slightly weaker pieces, but I put it on the level of Purpendicular, mostly for the variety of ideas it contains even if it is very different.
I think it can’t be compared with almost anything done before by Deep, certainly not with the pre-Morse period (except maybe the three singles), with the Morse period instead the points in common are enough.
Paradoxically there are several points of contact with Gillan’s solo career.
In any case, I hope that God gives the strength to Deep Purple to make at least one more album, and that it is if possible better than this one.

Rating 8.5/10

P.S. It’s a shame that Gillan didn’t play the harmonica on one of the two ballads, it would have been the cherry on the cake!

Fla76

Deep Purple Live at Jones Beach Theater, September 1, 2024
– reviewed by The Highway Star reader Albania. Photo: DP WebCrew.

The guys were on fire and delivered an excellent show at the iconic Jones Beach Theater on New York’s Long Island on September 1, 2024.

Having been on the road for the prior two days at a soccer tournament for my 11-year-old, going to the September 1 show was going to be a showtime decision for me. After a four-hour drive from MA to CT, I got home at a somewhat reasonable hour to be borderline willing to buy two tickets last minute, pick up a friend nearby and drive together an hour and a half to the Jones Beach show.

YES had played a couple of tunes by the time we got there. They sounded great and are highly skilled as musicians. The current singer sounds a lot like Jon Anderson. Steve Howe is very impressive as a guitarist and harmonized very well with the singer.

After a two-year, $20 Million renovation, The Jones Beach Theater reopened its doors in July of 2024. It is an impressive venue with a capacity of 15,000. The uppermost tier was empty; my guess is that there were around 12,000 people there. It was a mix of ages, with a somewhat noticeable middle age component present.

DEEP PURPLE sounded great and came across as energetic. They were sharp and exciting. Little Ian and Roger were tight and thunderous. Simon feels even more at home than the first/prior time I saw him with DP in East Brunswick, NJ, in February of 2023. Big Ian was wonderful overall. He exuded happiness and was charismatic and sharp, especially with his in-between-song stories/anecdotes. Don was solid as ever and delivered the mighty wall of sound that has for some time now become his signature with the Purps. The new material (see setlist below) sounds great live and went down well.

The Purple show moved at a fast pace, especially compared to YES (at least the YES part that we were able to catch). Within the opening notes of Highway Star, the crowd got on its feet, but, to my dismay, most people gradually sat down out of respect for those that preferred to stay seated. That is understandable. Every now and then you could see pockets of people that were itching to get and stay up, but chose the opposite so that they would not block the view of seated folks behind them. This all changed with the opening chords of SOTW, with pretty much the whole crowd staying on its feet for the remainder of the show.

After the uncertainty related to the prior few days’ long-distance driving, the so-so food, and some sleep deprivation, I am glad that in the end I was able to muster enough willpower to go to the September 1 gig at Jones Beach, NY. It was an excellent show and the guys did not disappoint. I am now counting the hours until the September 3 gig at the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater in Bridgeport, CT. This time it will be five of us, including a first-timer.

Here are three words for those that are in doubt: GO SEE THEM.

SETLIST (Jones Beach Theater, NY, September 1, 2024)
Highway Star
A Bit on the Side
Hard Lovin’ Man
Into the Fire
Guitar Solo
Uncommon Man
Lazy Sod
Keyboard Solo
Lazy
Show Me
Portable Door
Anya
Bleeding Obvious
Space Truckin’
Smoke on the Water

Encore:
Green Onions
Hush
Black Night

Louder Sound reprints Ian Gillan’s 1973-84 out-of-Purple career retrospective that originally appeared in the Classic Rock magazine issue #92.

There has never been a dull moment in Ian Gillan’s career. From his 60s bands The Moonshiners, The Javelins and Episode Six to his three separate stints in Deep Purple, via an unlikely one-album service in Black Sabbath, he’s been a fixture of the British rock scene for decades.

But there’s one period of his long and sometimes chequered past that often gets overlooked: his solo years between 1976 and 1982, fronting The Ian Gillan Band and, subsequently, Gillan.

These days, with guitarist Ritchie Blackmore long out of the picture, Deep Purple feels like a happy family. That wasn’t always the case. In 1973, a pissed-off and disillusioned Gillan intended to quit both the band and the music industry for good.

“I didn’t know what to do with myself,” he recalls today. “I had more money than sense. Well, I didn’t actually have the money, it was held for me in various bank accounts. But all I had to do was ask for it.”

Continue reading in Louder Sound.