Deep Purple live at Casino Rama (Rama, Canada 2014-08-22)

I expected the band would be sluggish,this being their 3rd show in as many nights.Not so at all. Deep Purple,2014 are 5 consummate professional still playing with passion and energy.

Ian Gillan was in good shape,kept the screams within his comfort zone ( kinda spoke the ” Music in our solar system” line in Space Truckin,a frequent stumbling block avoided )

A sold-out but absolutely sleepy crowd. Most folks stayed seated & largely quiet after Highway Star until Don played O Canada in his solo .From Perfect Strangers onwards,they at last began to come alive.

Vincent Price,Hell To Pay, Uncommon Man from ?! plus the usual set list suspects..Ian used red and green glowing sticks for part of his solo in The Mule.

Pre show stuff:We caught most of the guys outside early in the afternoon as their vans pulled up.I showed Paicey a picture of him & I from a Toronto Just Drums meet and greet in 2012.He signed it and the booklet from Now What.Also,true to his word in 2012,Ian took my Bananas Tour Book and had Don sign it for me. ( It only took 10 years,but I finally have all 5 signatures;freakin’ excellent ).I chatted with Steve for a bit,mentioned that I loved High Tension Wires (1989 ). He honestly looked astonished . My girlfriend Paulla took a picture of us.

I had about a 10 minute chat with Roger as he waited to send a fax at the hotel desk. He looked very tired. Paulla asked him how much out of the year DP tours.He said ” I don’t keep track,but it’ll be good to get home”.( They’ve a month off coming up).I asked if Above & Beyond was in the set,Rog explained the unfortunate reality…..”We can’t play too much new stuff in North America”.We spoke of Jon’s passing, both of us welled up..Paulla took another picture.

Later on,I saw Don coming out of the hotel gift shop,2 bags of stuff,looking very much the tourist.He said Hello,I told him that the Bananas book he’d signed earlier was mine.

I managed to get into the pre-show meet & greet,too. No Gillan..

A very quick “Smile for the camera” situation. I shook hands all around,turned back to Paicey and said ” I’m so sorry about Jon” He gripped my shoulder and replied “Thanks so much,nice to see you again.Enjoy yourself tonight”.

Despite not seeing IG,,it was a damned near perfect Purple day.I got 4/5 signatures in the Now What booklet,and a ton of great memories.

review by Mike Whiteley

Deep Purple live at Festival Park (Elgin, USA 2014-08-20)

After amazing performances of Highway Star, Into the Fire, Hard Lovin’ Man, and Strange Kind of Woman, Ian Gillan informed the thousands of fans at Festival Park that the rock show was over and the rest of the evening would be jazz and slow ballads. Perhaps a sarcastic hint that the new songs were about to be played. The band then flawlessly recreated Vincent Price. This writer’s ear drums were destroyed many shows ago, but I’m pretty sure Don Airey’s keyboards somehow produced rattling chain sounds and other haunted house sound effects. Next Steve Morse led the band thru an amazing Contact Lost/Uncommon Man/Well Dressed Guitar. Steve Morse took over, he was the band leader and the performance of these three songs demonstrates how talented this band is and how relevant they are. How can you top that? Obviously by playing The Mule. After Lazy, back to Now What ?! with a crisp Hell to Pay. The strength of this song was highlighted when Roger Glover, Ian and Steve sang the chorus of Hell to Pay. Their three voices shouted out in unison tricking you into believing that students from the Nimbus School of Recording Arts were backstage singing along. Perfect Strangers was next followed by Space Truckin’ and Smoke on the Water. No Green Onions or Woman from Tokyo but a spectacular performance of Hush and Black Knight for an encore. Awesome drum solo that included Ian Paice’s lighted drum sticks. This felt like a rock concert. The crowd was on their feet and fists were pumping in the air. There were many young people in attendance and it was fun to see a crowded merchandise booth. Like others who have posted reviews I also traveled quite a distance for the show. I drove 250 miles from St. Paul Minnesota and brought my 10 year old son along. A special moment for me was rolling around in the grass fighting for a Steve Morse pick which I immediately gave to my son. Please keep coming back to the U.S.!

review by David Connor

Deep Purple live at Festival Park (Elgin, USA 2014-08-20)

Setlist from Elgin 8-20-14, Highway Star, Into the Fire, HLM, SKOW, IG introduces Steve as the Aviator then Contact Lost/Uncommon Man/WDGuitar, the Mule (drum solo), Vincent Price, Lazy, Hell To Pay, Airey solo – (Chicago (that tottlin’ town) America the Beautiful), Perfect Strangers, Space Truckin’, SKOW encores – Goin Down intro to Hush and bass solo intro to Black Night.
Old school ‘open air’ concert, nothing covered except the band, it rained for 3 hrs of our 4 1/2 hr trip but when we arrived in Elgin the sun was out and it was beautiful. The venue was full and there were ALL kinds of DP fans and t-shirts, In Rock, Machine Head, Perpendicular, Ian Paice, Jon Lord and Tommy Bolin t’s also + many of the current lineups recent tour t’s. Gates opened an hour before the opening act which gave everyone time to have a few drinks and eats or whatever. Black Sabbath and Van Halen blasting from the speakers along with all the sights and “smells” of an open air concert was a real throwback. Deep Purple fans are some of the nicest people in the world, there were quite a few in our hotel and we all chatted before and after the show in the lobby and bar. The backup band ELO II or as they were billed The Orchestra stayed there too and hung out at the bar. Anyway back to the concert, The Orchestra opened and played 1 hour of ELO’s greatest hits and they very good and well received by the crowd. After only a short wait DP hit the stage and they were very loud tearing through their first 3 as usual before IG said a word to the crowd. Ian was in a festive mood joking and yapping all night and all the guys were in great spirits and form. Highlights for me were Uncommon Man, Hell To Pay and probably the best audience participation of SOTW I can recall. I will not review every song we all know how they go…….I will say this if you can go to see this band you MUST, we don’t know how long this go on because its not just a concert its a family reunion for Deep Purple fans. Had a great time and btw 2 hrs after the show it started raining and didnt stop all night!

review by stoffer

Deep Purple live at Festival Park (Elgin, USA 2014-08-20)

Drove six hours with my son to see Purple in Elgin, Illinois. We saw them in ’11 in Minneapolis but the show was pretty disappointing, mainly but not only because of the sound. Last night, however, the show was truly superb. Not only was the sound clear and the balance right, but the band played with a level of commitment and energy that frankly I didn’t think they were still capable of. It was just electrifying. Of course, it helped that the crowd (pretty old, it has to be said, but so what?) was loving it, singing along unbidden and on their feet throughout. But all the instrumentalists were in brilliant form. Steve, in particular, was terrific, and carried himself more like the guitar god that he is. I didn’t miss Ritchie last night.

A surprisingly small amount of time was taken up with singing. Maybe it was just last night’s show, but I suspect the band is starting to bow to the inevitable effects of time on Gillan’s voice. He did what he set out to do very well, but his role in the show was smaller than it has been in the past: he did less singing, and the vocals were down in the mix. Of course, it all worked magnificently, because the instrumentalists were so damned good. But when the very sad day finally comes when Ian has to call it quits, I hope the band considers carrying on as a purely instrumental group rather than trying to find a replacement singer. Unorthodox, obviously, but they could make it work.

The set list was MIJ minus “Child in Time”, plus “Perfect Strangers”, “Contact Lost”, “Hush”, and three of the new songs: “Vincent Price”, “Uncommon Man”, and “Hell To Pay”. So a lot of the golden oldies. But here’s the thing: yes, I would’ve loved to hear live versions of any number of Morse-era songs, but they did the oldies so damned well it didn’t matter. They cleverly steered a very tricky path, sometimes unashamedly performing the classic licks and fills from MIJ, yes, but also introducing enough innovation to make it clear that they are their own band–that there really is a living, breathing Deep Purple, as Ian put it recently. There is, and last night, on a lawn in a Chicago suburb, it breathed fire.

review by Andrew Melnyk

Deep Purple live at Festival Park (Elgin, USA 2014-08-20)

I drove my son, who is 14, from Detroit to see this, his second Purple show (the first being a few years ago at the Fox, in Detroit). On the way there, he asked about The Orchestra, which we thought was going to be the same as the orchestra they brought with them last time. He wondered if we would be able to hear the conductor/violinist when he did his solo this time. (At the Fox show, the poor guy looked like he was absolutely JAMMING, but something wasn’t plugged in, so we could only assume he was as good as he looked).

Well, this show was opened by The Orchestra, made up of former ELO guys, and playing, quite well, their biggest hits.

Then, Purple came out. Powerful as always. Good start with Highway Star (though I really liked it several years ago, when they opened with Pictures Of Home!). So many great songs played so well. It was nice to hear “The Mule” for the first time. They played stuff from “In Rock” that sounded better and fresher than most new stuff from any band today. As they made their way through a great set, including excellent performances of “Vincent Price” (a song I don’t like all that much) and “Hell To Pay” (a song I do like), I couldn’t help but think that they need to be heard live, in person, by more people. You Tube doesn’t count. At one point during the show, my son leaned over and said, “The power feels like another heartbeat!”

This type of tight band…incredible musicians playing great music…is all too rare these days. And each incarnation of Deep Purple has been able to pull it off. I know…I’ve seen them. (Even the worst…about 1986…was still pretty good)

Ian Paice continued to be strong (I’ve thought for years that he’s the best…no…THE BEST rock drummer.) Steve Morse brings such muscle the the stage. Roger Glover seemed to take it easy for most of the show. But, near then end, pulled off a solo that was better than most I remember from him. Don Airey…well, if you can’t have Jon Lord, who could be better for this band? Ian Gillan worked it like a pro. (Another comment from my son, after the show, “I like how they didn’t waste a lot of time talking. They just made music”)

Now, for my nitpicky bad parts…Looked like Roger Glover had some amp problem that they solved quickly, and Steve Morse showed the tiniest bit of sloppiness I’d never seen before (what’s the thing on his wrist?). Ian Gillan sounded better than before, though they seemed to turn down some of the highlight screams. I also could have done without the pre-show DJ/announcer bitching about the Rock Hall of Fame…who cares? The venue…outdoors, in a park, was a disappointment at first. For $100, I didn’t expect a folding chair. But, then, it became a positive. They CRANKED it. Sitting ten rows back was perfect.

As we walked back to the car, my son asked if he could have ten free seconds. “Sure, bud.” “That was fvc%ing AWESOME!”

I wish they toured the States more regularly, because I really hope he gets at least one more chance to see them (me, too!).

Thank you to the band.

review by Mike

Deep Purple live at Snoqualmie Casino (Snoqualmie, USA 2014-08-10)

Our 40th Anniversary Deep Purple Show
August 10, 2014 – Deep Purple at Snoqualmie Casino, North Bend, Washington, USA.

On a perfect Summer Sunday evening with temperatures in the high 70’s, my wife Rita and I drove to North Bend, just 15 minutes east of Seattle. Deep Purple’s return to Seattle since 2004. We’ve seen them seven times since 2004 but all shows were out of state or out of the country! I call it our 40th Anniversary Show because 3 months after we were married, Rita and I drove to Kansas City, Missouri and saw Deep Purple Mark III in August 1974 during the Burn Tour. Now 40 years later, both Deep Purple, Rita and I are still together.
There was no warm up or back up band. Around 7:30 pm, Deep Purple hit the stage and played a non-stop 100 minute hard rock performance. I was wearing an Ian Paice shirt and after Smoke On The Water, Paicey threw his drumstick right at me. I also got a Steve Morse pick. What an anniversary gift!
Set-list:
Highway Star
Into The Fire
Hard Lovin’ Man
Strange Kind Of Woman
Vincent Price
Contact Loss
Uncommon Man
Well Dressed Guitar
The Mule
Lazy
Hell To Pay
Don Airey Solo
Perfect Strangers
Space Truckin’
Encore – Green Onions
Hush
Roger Glover Solo
Black Night

Harry Heathman III
Photos By; Harry and Rita Heathman

review by Harry Heathman III

Dan Shinder from Drum Talk TV did an in depth interview with Ian Paice while the band was in Las Vegas. The interview is just a hair short of a full one hour long, and quite understandably, a lot of dirt has been turned over in this time. There are nuggets in there for both the aspiring musicians and well seasoned fans.

Enjoy!

Also, check out their photo album from the Vegas show on August 15:

Thanks to Yvonne and Dan Shinder for the info.

Mascot Records has posted a promo video for Mask Machine — a track from the new Flying Colors album Second Nature.

Second Nature is due out on September 29 in Europe and 30th in the rest of the world.

Thanks to Daniel Bengtsson for the info.

The official Youtube channel has posted a couple of clips — Child in Time and Black Night — with narration from Jon Lord. I have a strong deja vu feeling about both of them, so they’re probably recycled from the recent DP(o) video releases.

Deep Purple live at Fremont Street Experience (Las Vegas, USA 2014-08-15)

My wife and I made the trek to Vegas for Purple and we were rewarded with a great show.We usually head to LV once a year so it worked out that we could catch the band there as well. We took off Thursday morning and headed north up the I15 Freeway and saw the first billboard promoting the show going through Apple Valley CA in the High Desert.Nice.About 3 and a half hours later we arrived at The Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino on Freemont Street to find even more billboards and banners for the gig and checked in for the weekend.We were 2 blocks away from where the show would take place.Spent most of Friday at the pool but got cleaned up and I decided to check out the stage and see what was going on when lo and behold Don is sound checking his keys when he sees me watching from the side and tells his tech to come get my Now What cd book for him to sign for me.How cool. About 7:30 they opened up the area for the concert but the front section was fenced off for special guests and radio people . Freemont was jammed by 8:30 and about 5 minutes before showtime a lady asks me and Lisa if we’d like to be in the VIP section up front.Hell yes we would! My Burn retro tour shirt might have caught her eye but it was more likely my beautiful wife who got us in there.We end up about 4-5 people deep from the stage where RG and IP will be.Lights go down and the guys come on and right away I’m nearly floored by Paicey’s first kick of the bass drum.It was LOUD and you felt it from head to toe . We were in for a good night.Highway Star gets things going and Gillan is sounding good.Steves guitar is piercing but just right and the whole sound is perfect.Into the Fire and Big Ian nails it! Crowd is eating it up and loving it.Set is the same as Costa Mesa but tonight we get the added bonus of The Mule about mid set . I’ve never seen them do this so it’s the highlight of the show for me.Paice put his all into the solo and is given a healthy applause from the crowd.I preferred Don and Steve’s solos at Costa Mesa but that’s a minor complaint.Lazy went down a storm! The majority of the crowd sang the verses and chorus with Gillan while the band was locked in and rocking this version.Wonderful stuff.Encore time and the guys come back out and go into a little Vegas lounge cabaret music.Too funny.Green Onions leads in to an extended Hush then Black Night finishes it off .Walking around Freemont Street afterwards and we keep hearing people who had never seen Purple talk about how awesome DP were and I was proud to be fan for the last 30 plus years.Thanks to Ian, Roger, Ian, Steve and Don and come back soon guys.
Steve Hunt

review by Steve Hunt