Joe Lynn Turner gave an interview to Rock Overdose and a question of Rainbow reunion popped up:

Rock Overdose So, talking about Ritchie, do you see maybe a reunion for the band of Rainbow?

Joe Lynn Turner Well, I’m gonna be honest with you, right now. Yes! Possibly. It’s very possible. Last year, I wouldn’t say it. But this year I say it. It’s possible. It’s a very big possibility that something might, just might, happen. I heard talk a bit and all I can say is that I’m not supposed to talk about it, but I’m talking to you now, and all I want you to do is say yes. It’s a very big possibility that we may have a reunion. It will be phenomenal.

Thanks to Hair Bangers Radio for the info.

Drove 4 hrs from Buffalo, NY with the wife to the Caesars Windsor Casino (Canada). Checked in for overnite stay and had a few hours before the show to gamble, have cocktails and dinner.
This was a 60th B-day present for me (wife not a fan) and hadn’t seen them since 2004, so I was pretty excited.
Full venue (3-4 thousand) and the sound was very good (I was 12 rows and a little right of the stage).
They exploded out of the gate with Highway Star/Hard Loving Man/Into the Fire/SKOW right in a row !!
The band was tight and in great spirits. Vincent Price was followed by Contact Lost/Uncommon Man/WD Guitar in succession. Paicy’s solo during The Mule was top notch. Lazy was followed by another new one called Hell To Pay which sounded great live. Don Airey’s solo before Perfect Strangers was just brilliant.
Space Truckin’ and then SOTW followed. The band went off for probably just one minute and came back out to do Green Onions/Hush/Black Night for the encore !!
Just an exceptional concert with great memories.

Daniel Viapiano

More details have emerged about Gillan’s involvement with the Guitars on the Beach festival to take place in Lyme Regis in September. Festival organizer Geoff Baker spoke to the local paper Bridgeport News:

With thousands of guitarists involved, they need to follow the house band on the song and we need a stage for the house band.

We thought we might have to cancel; a handful of organisers had a whip round amongst ourselves overnight and raised several hundred pounds, but we needed a lot more.

Then out of the blue, Ian Gillan rang from the middle of Deep Purple’s world tour, saying he had heard about our problems and he would pay for the stage to be built.

He has saved the day and all of us involved are deeply thankful for his generosity.

Big Ian will take the stage to front the house band and perform Smoke on the Water accompanied by thousands of guitar players in the crowd. Papa Le Gál, the band featuring his daughter Grace Gillan, will also perform at the festival:

Thanks to Yvonne and Bridgeport News for the info.

David Coverdale got the short end of the stick in the Ice Bucket Challenge that is intended to raise funds and awareness for a disease called ALS.

Thanks to Cameron Hons for the info.

Ian Paice appeared on the Classic Rock Show that aired on TeamRock Radio on August 20. There does not appear to be a way to listen to the interview again, but Classic Rock magazine has a couple of quotes posted on their site.

The quotes deal with Paicey’s current relationship with Blackmore (if any):

I don’t know that he’s still my friend. I don’t believe it. I don’t have anything there that convinces me he’s the guy I used to know.

I don’t think Ritchie’s changed – I just think he’s become a more concentrated version of himself through the years. It’s sad because it’s unnecessary. I hope I’m wrong. If Ritchie reads this and gives me a call, and says, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’ I’ll go, ‘That’s fantastic.’ But I’m not hanging by the phone.

I didn’t put the wall up. He knows I’ve been here for 40 years. He knows who I am. I don’t have his phone number; I don’t have contact with him. Friends keep in contact.

Thanks to MacGregor and Blabbermouth for the info.

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