In the latest installment of Caramba TV, Big Ian reports from his undressing room in Baalbeck:

Thanks to Steve Campbell from Caramba.

Audio Fidelity’s In Rock achieved a surprising chart success in the top sellers list of an online retailer CD Universe. As of July 29, it reached #2 interrupting a bevy of Michael Jackson’s albums.

Meanwhile this release is only at #325 in Amazon.com charts.

Thanks to JL from deep-purple.ru forum for spotting this.

Audiophile label Audio Fidelity has released on July 21 their own remastered version of In Rock on a limited edition 24 karat gold CD (yep, that’s real 24 karat gold instead of aluminum; which has nothing to do with sound quality, just longevity). Mastering for the CD was performed by a cult engineer Steve Hoffman. This release follows the original 7-track format with no bonus tracks.

The album can be ordered through Amazon:

Previously Audio Fidelity has released Who Do We Think We Are (2005, Gold CD, AFZ-027) and Live on the BBC (2004, SACD, AFZ-017), the latter comprised of the 1972 BBC recording better known as the second disc of In Concert 70/72 with two bonus tracks Hush and River Deep Mountain High.

Thanks to MuzikReviews.com for the info.

The concert on September 15 in Madrid, Spain, has been moved from La Cubierta to Palacio Vistalegre. Both are big modern arenas of similar capacity (10-15,000), so it is likely it has something to do with e.g. hall availability, rather than ticket sales.
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Lakselv, Northern Norway

The set list was the same as Copenhagen, but without “Wrong man”.

Paice is brilliant. Keeps the whole thing together with Glover, but no drum solo this night. Morse was also good, but no surprises for the die hard fans, but a lot of the show was new for most of the audience, and therefore he scored high during his solo spots.

Personally “Contact lost” sounded fresh, maybe because Steve has stripped it down somehow. Very clean sound from the guitar, and very tasty. Airey also did a fine job, but a little bit low in the mix, although during his solo spot he got a huge applause and “sing-along” when he played a traditional “joik” (Samiid Aednan, the same he did in Tromso 2006) Luckily, no “Star Wars”.

The four did an excellent job, and really showed what brilliant musicians they are, but it felt a little bit like they were on auto-pilot. Gillan was not good. He really struggles now, and a lot of people were dissapointed with him. He is a fantastic mid-range rock’n’roll singer, as he proved several times this night, but his days as a hard rock singer is over. He tries the impossible during “Space Truckin`”, “Fireball”, and “Highway star”, just to mention a few. I mean, keep it simple and change some of the songs.

Also, I dont`t like what they are doing to “Strange kind of woman.” Is there a Purple song that has been more modified and changed during the last ten years? This is a crowd pleaser, don`t wreck it!! A lot of “Gillanizing” this evening too, but that`s quite normal, isn`t it?

Conclusion: A good show with a lot of stunning performances, but Gillan (sorry…) didn`t match the other four.

DP went on at 10.30 P.M., and played til 11.50 P.M.

Another concert with DP on DP’s homeground, KB Hallen! Lots of good experiences before the concert when meeting souls-mates in town on their way to the concerthall and at the entrance of the hall.

Lights went out at aprr. 9.15 PM and after a piece of music, my favorite starter “Highway Star”! And then it went on and on for almost 2 hours of jumping, swetting, cheering and singing; I’m nearly 50 years old but not at a concert !

Very hot in the hall; so hot that Mr. Lead-bass Roger had to put his hands down into some powder to dry his hands and the neck of his awesome wood-bass. Good sound and very high volume; as it should be!

As always a good concert; I have seen them since 1975 Mrk. 3 in Gothenburg

I’m going to Aarhus later this year to see them again.

Soeren from Denmark

Set list didn’t had much surprises but as always a strong one.

The intro – Is an unreleased track from Don Airey, at least that’s what I heard. Nice bombastic and imo better then the jazzy jump intro.

Highway star – Ah, what can you say about that one except that it’s an excellent song. Maybe not as an opener as it immediately demands the most of IG voice. So definitely not a good warm-up for him. Never the less he always does an excellent job and today as well. The crowd liked it very much as did I.

Things I never said – One of the nice Morse era songs and a strong one to follow Highway star. Always cheers me up because of the happy tune. Always thinking of a dance hall full of dancing people. How strange the mind can roam. Maybe not a bad idea to change the order of those 2.

Wrong man – Not one of my fav’s but a good song to play live.

Strange kind of woman – Ah, there we have another oldie. The audience was a bit “quite” for the last 2 songs but now the remembered what they had to do and they did it. They were jumping up and down like I was a Quo song. Nice.

Rapture of the deep – Morse era and of course a good one to play live.

Fireball – The guys on the left of me immediately went crazy when it started. I must say they were completely right. A heavy, up tempo song like this always does the trick. One of my al time fav’s liked it very much when they got it back in the set list.

Contact lost & Well dressed guitar – I put them here as one but in the concert there was Sometimes I feel like screaming in between. I must say that at one point I started to dislike his guitar sound a bit. But in the last year were I was following DP more extensively I threw the “dis” away and started to like his playing more and more. Could be because of the live sound being different then the album sound. Good songs and nice solo work.

Sometimes I feel like screaming – Is it a ballad, power ballad or just a good rock song that has everything in it to make it just a good song. Anyway a good one to play live and to get things slowed down for a couple of minutes. Must say I like it very much that they use this song to make a nice triptych with CL and WDG.

Wring that neck – Or the turkey song as IG likes to call it. Here is one of the last changes clearly an excellent one. The guitar & keyboard battle between Don and Steve. Heard it for the first time in Eastern Europe this year and was very surprised and pleased with it. Because of this change the song got a new live.

The battle rages on – At the moment one of the most powerful reunion songs I can think of. For me this is a highlight of the show. This song always gives me Goosebumps. Bombastic and rough in an excellent way. Excellent workmanship on this one. Hope they keep it in.

Keyboard solo and Perfect strangers – And now the most talented…… Don Airey. Including the keyboard solo again one of the most powerful reunion songs. In the soli were always the same and became boring after hearing them. Now I must say it’s one of the highlights of the show. Don has proved to be capable of doing nice things and changes every time he pays it and it’s wonderful. Of course it’s often the same but there are those small changes that make it very interesting to listen to. Especially the bombs he throws just before he starts PF. Man they blow you away, literally. Then of course PF starts definitely one of the best reunion songs. Needs no further explanation. Or………….?

Space truckin’ – One of my al time fav’s from the old days. I must say I miss the long version they did in the old days. Man how I wish to have seen the MIJ version. Nevertheless it is still a great one to hear live. Always glad when they play it. It hurts me, as a Gillanist, to admit that in this song IG voice was not good. You can hear that in some of his screams. But for the rest the song was as usual excellent.

Smoke on the water – What can you say about this song. Not much as I think it’s everybody’s fav. . At least live. His intro to this song is always amusing as he like to fiddle around with bits and pieces of other bands fav’s. Today he used “Man in the mirror” from Michael Jackson or at least that what was told me. So don’t kill me if it is wrong.

Hush – Good song with a nice drive. The intro is always a nice surprise. Not much else to say then that it’s a good song.

Black night – Never really my fav but that changed due to the fact that RG started to do a solo at the beginning. Imo he does a great job and I like it to the extreme. Hope he keeps it in and does more of those things in other songs. For the rest nothing to say about this song.

All in all it was a great concert with great weather on a nostalgic square. Can’t say a bad thing about it. Good weather, good music and excellent company so what more can you wish.

So up we go to prepare our self’s for the next concert in Arbon, but that has to wait for 6 bloody weeks.

Intro
Highway star
Thing I never said
Wrong man
Strange kind of woman
Rapture of the deep
Fireball
Contact lost
Sometimes I feel like screaming
Well dressed guitar
Wring that neck
Battle rages on
Don Airey solo
Perfect Strangers
Space truckin
Smoke on the water
Hush
Black night

Band
Ian Gillan
Ian Paice
Roger Glover
Steve Morse
Don Airey

Special guest Foreigner
Doors open 19:15
Foreigner on stage 20:20 – 21:20
21:20 – 21:50 Change over
Deep Purple on stage 21:50 – 23:20

As for the rest of the day:

I left for Locarno to pick up my dear travel companion on Wednesday the 8th. Woke up and left home around 09:00 to walk to the train station, about 12 minutes to walk. How lucky I was that about 2 minutes from home the rain came poring down. Luckely it was only 2 minutes but still……. well you get the picture. How different it was in Locarno

On a hot summer afternoon……… Ah yes it really was. While getting closer it became hotter and hotter. Ending up in Locarno with 26 degrees and lots of sun. We had our hotel in Lugano as Locarno was already fully booked a couple of month ago. As we arrived early we first walked a bit through Lugano. Sun sun and delicious ice-cream on the boulevard. A small climb to a panoramic garden that gave a beautiful sight over the lake and a tree with some ripe vigs. Shhh we took a couple and they were delicious.

We went on time to Locarno, about 40 Km from Locarno. The trip was hot but nice. Parking in Locarno is certainly cheap so no problems there.

After a small walk we found the city square where the concert was being held. A nice square in the middle of the town. The square was still open for the public so we could have a nice view of the crew who were still preparing the stage.

I was a bit worried because of the fact that the sun was burning the stones and of course everybody on it. But lucky us a nice and friendly cloud kept the sun away and almost right after that it disappeared behind the buildings.

Foreigner

At 20:20 Foreigner jumped on stage and rocked the town. For me it was the first time I saw them and I was surprised to see that they were so good. Never new that. In my book they were always a top of the pop band with those poppy hits. So to my surprise they turned out an excellent warm up for DP. As could be expected all the hits passed. I wanna know what love is, Jukebox hero, Cold as ice, etc etc. A real treat

They played between 60-65 minutes and then had to make way for DP. After a change over DP entered the stage at 21:50

Cheers and enjoy

Purplefan

KB-Hallen has been a part of the regular circuit for DP for quite a long time now and we have high expectations as they have always delivered when they hit this stage. As Roger Glover put it, it is a part of the band’s history.

They certainly took up the challenge, especially the three Mark 2 members. Gillan did a fine show with a lot of energy and had fun. Of course he was worn out afterwards.

Glover and Paicey seemed really committed to prove that they’re still up for it. Morse and Airey should also receive a compliment for their way of dealing with Wring that Neck which really got stretched out compared to last time.

The setlist has not been changed since last year in Copenhagen, but it wasn’t the same show. Bits are added and moved around and you definitely get some interesting intros and solos.

If you listen to Gillan’s introduction to the songs you might think that you are in for something new, but he is just cheating… We get “the spiritual”: Rapture of the Deep, the “folk song”: Fireball and the Christmas song about what you should do to the turkey: Wring that neck. Nice. I even think he called their latest title track Roger of the Deep…

Don Airey also left out Wonderful Copenhagen in his solo and it sounded to me that he quoted a Danish traditional “Ole sad på en knold …” Comments, anybody?

See you next time.

Per Sorensen

Lots and lots of solos and improvs spread out through the setlist. New transitions, new starts, new middle section jams, new endings. The Contact Lost – guitar solo -> Sometimes I feel Like Screaming -> guitar solo -> The Well Dressed Guitar section was clever, amazing and beautiful.

That one combined with 3 monumental songs from the last record resurrects Morse-era Purple to the attention and glory it deserves.

This was the third time they played Copenhagen and KB Hallen during the Rapture Of The Deep tour. I missed out on the second concert being on tour myself, so this was the first concert in a couple of years for me.

I cannot say which one was the best. But I think last nights concert was as heavy as I have never seen Deep Purple before. Especially Wrong Man and The Battle Rages On.

Can’t wait to see the band again!

01. Highway Star ->
02. Things I Never Said ->
03. Wrong Man
04. Strange Kind Of Woman
05. Rapture Of The Deep
06. Fireball
07. Contact Lost -> guitar solo ->
08. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming -> guitar solo ->
09. The Well Dressed Guitar
10. Wring That Neck
11. The Battle Rages On
12. Keyboard Solo ->
13. Perfect Strangers
14. Space Truckin’
15. Smoke On The Water
16. Hush incl bass & drum solos
17. Black Night

Anders

This tour’s set list is somewhat more brave than the previous years, although it reflects the bands 41 year career very well.

The band sounded very tight as always and the sound and mixing was very god, at least were I was standing. The also had two rather large projector screens on the sides of the state which showed close up filming of the band. I can imagine that that made a big difference for those in the back of the crowd.

The most positive experience was Ian Gillan’s performing, especially in the first half of the show. His voice sounded great and he sung with an almost perfect pitch.

Of course he became a little bit tired in the end and had some difficulty with the high screams in the third verse of Space truckin´ but over all he kept it together very well and was maybe the hottest spot of the stage that night.

The others also performed well (as usual) although I´ve heard much more inspired playing from Steve Morse over the years. He played at a technically very high level with a very clear tone but his improvising ideas was not as good as you expect them to be.

Don Airey had a great organ sound (although it´s a brand new digital Hammond those days) and he played very well, especially in the duel with Steve Morse in Wring that neck. His solo spot witch was very piano-syth based wasn’t very refreshing though.

The rhythm sections was incredible tight. They played many of the songs slightly slower than previous years witch creates a very laidback groove, rather unusual in the rock business, absolutely wonderful!

Of course I would liked a longer drum-solo, although Paicey gave a solid and joyful performance throughout the show, especially in the swing/shuffle songs like Strange kind of woman & Wring that neck.

To summarize the show the band still delivers a very high standard rock show which probably beats most of the bands of half their age out there. Theres no doubt that the guys aged for every tour. You can hear that, even Steve Morse has some difficulty playing his own solos now days.

But the beauty with Deep Purple is that they age with dignity in the way that they transform the old material and the old idea of this solid improvised heavy-organ rockmusic over the years to fit both their change of physical capacity and grown musicality, not to mention the incredible lyrically work from Gillan the last years.

The show started att approximately 9.15 after a short local warm up act.

The setlist was as follow if I can remember it correctly:

Highway star (1972)
Things I never said (2005)
Wrong Man (2005)
Strange kind of woman (1971)
Rapture of the deep (2005)
Contact Lost (2003)
Steve Morse solo (a short one)
Sometimes I fell like screaming (short version) (1995)
Wring that neck (extended version with a nice guitar-organ duel) (1968)
Fireball (1971)
The battle rages on (1993)
Don Airey solo
Perfect strangers (1984)
Space truckin´ (1972)
Smoke on the water (1972)
– – – – – – – – – –
Hush (with a short very snaredrum oriented drum solo) (1968)
Black night (introduced by a heavy distorted bass solo) (1970)

Göran Ernström, Malmö Sweden 2009-07-14