Our favourite bass player shares some amusing travel anecdotage in his latest installment of Road Life:

One of the things that intrigues me about rock concerts – everyone afterwards has a different story to tell. Did the band suck? Weren’t they fantastic? They didn’t play the favourite song, the bass player’s cute, the sound was awful, the drummer rocked, they’re not as good as they used to be… the best band in the world!

Every single person in the room, be it a club or an arena, has had an adventure just getting there; the missed train, the last minute babysitter, meeting old friends, the weather, the broken-down car, the lucky parking, the lousy meal, the great seats, who’s got the tickets? Potential catastrophes and near misses, highs and lows – nights to remember. Sometimes shit happens but most people who have done this many times know the hows and wheres of attending a rock concert – what to prepare for and what to avoid, what to bring. The seasoned fans have it down; travel light, take only what you need – water, a bit of cash, phone, camera, lightweight clothing. On the other hand, casual fans can easily get confused just finding the right entrance, the right seats, disposing of their overcoats, locating toilets.

Musicians go through similar experiences, or rather we would if we didn’t have people to guide us through the maze of endless backstage corridors and concrete staircases. And our road stories are just as varied and memorable, at least the ones that I can remember, as anyone’s.

Continue reading at RogerGlover.com.

As the New Year approaches, here’s the summary of the upcoming tour dates we have lined up so far.

Glenn Hughes will do a brief tour of Brazil in December, rounding up the year with a 2 date public live debut of Black Country Communion in Wolverhampton and London.

Gillan will kick the year off with an orchestral tour of Germany, Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland. The tour is billed as “Rock Meets Classic” as Ian Gillan, Lou Gramm and Dan McCafferty will perform with the Bohemian Symphony Orchestra Prague conducted by Philipp Maier. Steve Lee from Gotthard was also on the bill, but he tragically died in an accident on October 5 this year.

Deep Purple are wrapping up their lengthy European tour leg and will reconvene in February in Mexico. We have two dates that went on sale so far: Zapopan and Mexico City. After that they’re off to Eastern Europe where they have 5 dates in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus at the end of March. These are not confirmed by the band’s management yet, although the Eastern European dates come from a pretty reliable source.

Jon Lord will perform his Concerto in Germany in May with various local orchestras. Three dates have been confirmed: Koblenz, Frankfurt and Stuttgart.

Then it’s the Deep Purple’s turn to do “the orchestra thing” as german promoter KBK has just announced four dates in July. There is a date in Italy snuck inbetween those, at a picturescue ancient Arena di Verona.

As usual, full details in our events calendar. Please email additions, corrections, tour info, etc to our tourdates editor.

Show started at 6pm with Philip Sayce’s brilliant power blues-rock trio. With a set essentially based on the Peace Machine LP, Sayce took the audience by surprise using his talent to set the field for Purple.

The oriental intro served by the new lightshow surprised the audience a few seconds just the time to hear Ian Paice running the Highway Star introduction. Don Airey’s Hammond and Morse’s driving solo punched into Le Zenith : smiling faces everywhere from 14 to … Powerful version.

Then came Hard Lovin’ Man : what a blast ! Morse and Airey again settled an apparently never ending song. I have to say that I was a little bit disappointed because Ian Gillan looked very tired last night. Ok, the band almost play every night and great Ian is no longer a young man but I have noticed a disturbing thinness and the loss of his voice and words constantly ( Maybe I’m a Leo, Perfect Strangers, Fireball and even Smoke showed sometimes the musicians playing alone ).

Maybe I’m wrong but Ian seemed to be in apnea during all the show using oxygen backstage to find back his voice… Let’s go back to the concert with a great version of Strange Kind of Woman, a terrific Rapture of the Deep and a quite heavy version of Silver Tongue. Fireball was a cataclysm : people looked totally knocked out !

Then Steve Morse slow down the set with Contact Lost followed by a medieval improvisation. Gillan came back on stage to take back Roger’s and Steve’s pick ups and launching a quite emotional version of When a Blind Man Cries. Not enough time to dry our eyes : Steve Morse has started The Well Dressed Guitar with people all hands up ! Great time as usual !

For now, I’m not quite sure of the order of the set : was Perfect Strangers before Almost Human or Lazy ? I can’t remember but it was great to here Almost Human and a well-introduced version of Lazy by Don Airey : seemed to see the ghost of Jon Lord… Nice Airey solo and an awesome Perfect Strangers minus an absent Ian Gillan.

No One Came was the best moment of this concert : heavy, loud and melodic at the same time. The closing section with heavy spotlights set the band on fire : these guys are the heaviest band on earth ! No need to use Ibanez or Yamaha material or having piercing and tatto’s ! Just five old pals blasting the scene ! Space Truckin’ was in the same mood with Roger’s playing terryfing the audience. Splendid version of Smoke… when we could hear Ian, a little bit lost at the middle of the song.

Then came a funky Hush and a heavy Black Night : Larry Graham / Roger Glover : we call it a draw ! But we know that the show is over, the last note of Black Night is still in the air that Ian Paice is up yet.

Hope that great Ian got some rest last night…

At the concert on November 27 in Hamburg’s Alsterdorfer Sporthalle the band played in front of a nearly sold out (7,000 people) audience. They had a surprise guest joining them just before the encores for Smoke on the Water. The Man In Black Jr — Jürgen Blackmore:

Also, be sure to check out truly excellent pictures from the show taken by Falk Simon.

Thanks to Yvonne Osthausen for the info.

After a few dates in Czech Republic, Poland and Belgium, and Lyon the day before, Deep Purple were in Montpellier on the 6th of november.

The show started very well with an italian support band called “The Running Birds” (their first song “Blast Me Away” is still in my head). Congratulations!

Then Deep Purple hit the stage, with Hard Lovin’ Man to open, which was a good “surprise” (even if i had seen it on this website before). Then, “Things I Never Said” came. It sounded really well, and i’ve been a bit disappointed to see the song was dropped from the setlist then. I remember Gillan laughed after forgetting the lyrics “i can’t remember, i can’t forget”, which was indeed quite funny.

All the show was great. To name a few highlights: No One Came with the strobe light. Good to hear Almost Human (great intro), Silver tongue. Perfect Strangers (my personal favorite) sounded so powerful…

Then it was time for the encores. Before going to the show, I had seen on The Highway Star that the song of the same name had been dropped from the setlist since the beginning of the tour. Also, while waiting in front of the Zenith before the show, people who were in Lyon the day before confirmed me that Highway Star hadn’t been played there. That’s to say I was really pessimistic…
What a great surprise to hear Steve Morse’s guitar screams!!! Highway Star??? Really??? Then Gillan started “Nobody gonna take my car i’m gonna race it to the grouuuuuuund…!”. No more doubts! I felt really lucky that they choose this show to play it again.

Then Hush and Black Night ended the show very well. And unfortunately it was already time to go.

Thank you very much to the band for nearly 2 hours of great music! As always with Deep Purple, you cannot be disappointed! You see they have pleasure and they really share it with the audience. Chapeau bas!

CD

Setlist:

Hard Lovin’ Man
Things I Never Said
Maybe I’m a Leo
Strange Kind of Woman
Rapture of the Deep
Fireball
Silver Tongue
Contact Lost
Steve Morse guitar Solo
When a Blind Man Cries
The Well Dressed Guitar
Almost Human
Lazy
No One Came
Don Airey keyboard Solo
Perfect Strangers
Space Truckin’
Smoke on the Water

Encore:
Highway Star
Hush
Black Night

The concert last night in Mannheim was simply brilliant. Everybody in good shape and good mood. Ian Gillan maybe with a slight cold, his screams “going away” towards the end…

Roger, Ian Paice, Steve Morse and especially Don Airey with great performances.

Set List the same as previous, they skipped “Things I never said” at the beginning, great versions of Hard Lovin´man, silver tongue, no-one came and Hush !

Sad to say that the venue was half full only, Marillion was not the right opener for DP, good performance but their times are over without Fish….

I will definitely go to Stuttgart also.

DB

Seventh time that I see the Purps in concert. The show was fresh and energetic. Enthusiastic crowd. They played loud.

Same list than Lyon with a great opener Hard Loving Man. The guys were in a fine form, even if Gillan had always some problems with his voice.

Highlights: Hard Loving Man, Rapture of the Deep, When a Blind Man Cries, Almost Human, Perfect Strangers, Lazy with great work from Don Airey.

Encore; Highway Star, Hush, Black night.

Lights show were also good. Two hours of happiness. Maybe nostalgia? Audience: 3500

During their stay in berlin on November 22, Steve Morse gave a video interview to More Metal. The questions ranged from his motivation to play music, to his opinion on live albums, to Joe Satriani, to the inevitable topic of a new album:

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.

Funeral for the late Tony Edwards was held in London on November 18th with Jon Lord and other luminaries in attendance. DPAS has a full report.

The reaction across Purple family has been overwhelmingly appreciative of Tony’s role in the life of the band.

Jon Lord:

A few days ago – fittingly, on Remembrance Day – I lost a friend. He was my manager from 1968 to 1976, my daughter Sara’s Godfather and the man who was instrumental in helping me to realise, in 1969, the dream which defined my musical life – that of a Concerto for Group and Orchestra.

Tony Edwards was a good man and a man also of deep-seated enthusiasms. He had a passion for, and a great interest in, Deep Purple and its various member’s careers, as well as a genuine enjoyment of the band’s music.

He was the reason that Richie and I were able to get together at the end of 1967 and the sole reason too for our being able to form the band that changed our lives. Without him and this early financial and emotional support, there would have been no Deep Purple.

He was a rock and a firm foundation on which we could build our musical house. It still stands, and it stands as a monument to him.

Thank you Tony.

Glenn Hughes:

So very sad that my dear friend and Manager of Deep Purple, Tony Edwards has passed away, we have lost one of the Good Guys…

Roger Glover:

Tony was the driving force of Deep Purple’s management in the early days. My first impressions of him when I joined the band in July 1969 – a man of ideas, an intellect, a man of taste, a man of action. I remember him rubbing his hands together with enthusiasm and saying, “Now what can we achieve today?” He was the kind of man who could think of something and then turn it into reality with his drive and passion. It was his instinct to book the Albert Hall in order to stage Jon’s Concerto, an event that was to propel the band in more ways than one into the future. He also dreamed up the cover image of In Rock, the album that changed everything for us.
I am always grateful for his powerful contribution at the start of our long journey.

My condolences go to his family.

Thanks to Andrey Gusenkov and Daniel Bengtsson for the info.

The show in Bordeaux was quite special for me: it’s the place I live, wheras usually I have to travel to see my faves … Second, it was kind of like closing a cycle (I hope this won’t be the last), because Bordeaux is the place where I rediscovered Deep Purple with Ian Gillan after 20 years, in march 2007 (see my Angoulême review in 2007).

Things are totally different now: this is my 5th gig since (not counting 1987 and 1991 shows). Unlike 2007, I decided to stand, on Roger’s side. The opening band Puggy did a good job, but a bit too much in a pop style for my taste. This meant: back to the bar !

So was it the beer? Was it the sheer excpectation, my fan’s eyes and ears, unable to do anything but admire, and love?

No, I don’t think so. Some of you may remember writing biting comments about last year’s Toulouse review in which I reported some severe, but «isolated» voice problems of my absolute fave Ian Gillan in an overall brilliant vocal performance. This time, he did a fantastic job without any remarkable weaknesses. We all know his voice is not what it used to be, but we also know, don’t we, that the voice he has is still as unique, moving and …. well, I get goosebumps every time. What an artist !!!

The first notes of the show made it clear to me we were gonna enjoy some of the better moments of the Morse era: Hard Lovin Man is a brilliant opener and outshines Highway Star (not as such, but as an opener); so glad to hear that one again ! AND: Ian is delivering the goods, and the high singing on the chorus says it all: first thought – tonight is gonna be good …
But that would actually be an understatement: Bordeaux was simply one of the finest things I got to see from this band. It was ALL excellent, from A to Z.

I love the way they rush into the set without breathing between the first four songs, I love the lines on « Maybe I’m a Leo », and « Things I never said », just like « Strange Kind of Woman », that are rather dull on tape (at least after a while), have so many good vibes on stage !

«Rapture» and «Fireball» were next, and especially on the latter it became clear Gillan was doing an A+ performance: no breathing problems, edgy elocution (can you say that in english ? I mean, he sometimes tends to mumble a bit on the faster tracks) …

The middle part of the show, with it’s mixture of songs and Steve Morse solos, was introduced by « Silver Tongue ». Good idea; well, at last the choice of playing some of the rarely played « new » stuff seems right to me. Now, if you ask me if « Silver Tongue » is the best choice … « Loosen my strings », played in Angoulême in 2007, for instance, is more interesting, at least IMHO. (how about Rosa’s Cantina, Hey Cisco, Bananas, Junkyard Blues …).

Which brings me to « Almost Human », the biggest setlist surprise. I must admit I enjoyed it, but did’nt love it; although the song has gone through a pretty nice rearrangement. Interesting, I’ll have to reconsider that one in Pau in december.

Do I have to say anything about the overwhelming quality of Morse’s soloing, of Gillan’s performance on « When a blind man cries », that popped up in the middle of the set, just like in 2007 (it was dropped between march 07 and dec 09 as far as « my » gigs are concerned) ?

At this point, the audience was totally on the band’s side, from 15 to 65 years old …

And so Deep Purple nailed it with the third, « all hits », part of the show. « Lazy », « Perfect Strangers », « Smoke on the Water » (overplayed but never enough heard) …. Let’s not forget « No one came », as funky as ever ! Gillan even went through « Space Truckin » without any noticeable problems on the « Come on ! »-parts (not like in London and Toulouse in 2009, where he sounded thin and weak, almost a bit silly). End of the show.

I started yelling « Highway Star »!!! to the top of my voice, because I knew they would only play it on a special night, and this WAS a special night. And … it worked (of course not because of the yelling …. just because they were in such a good shape). This was a climax ! And it sounds much better as an encore (just like in 2007, talking about a cycle !), because Gillan is hot, so is the band … I hear they now play it on every show (Rennes, although not as good as Bordeaux), and they even opened with it in Paris (Things I never said being kicked out of the set). Bad idea !

Well, maybe it’s partly my fault (lol), because I so warmly thanked Roger, Steve, Paicey and Don (I got to briefly meet after the gig) for playing it … I think it should only be played when Gillan is able to perform it properly (same thing with Space Truckin and Fireball). On nov 7th, they did these three all-time faves perfectly, so it was justified. And I am really grateful for that. But DP’s repertoire is so extraordinary, so rich, that they should’nt consider themselves as prisoners of any track or tracklist (well, Smoke is probably a must …).

One last thing: although I tend to talk of Ian Gillan a lot (maybe too much), I want to insist on the quality of every single musician in this band, especially Don Airey, who is now much more than an « ersatz » for Jon. Great performance in Bordeaux, Don !

See you in Pau !

PS: setlist as in Prague + Highway Star as an encore