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

Once again Deep Purple in Copenhagen, and what a gig, just awesome in a full KB Hallen with approx. 35 degrees Celcius. It was hot like a sauna.

The sound was good and all members were excellent, but I have to say, Steve Mores was outstanding, he was playing as if he came from another planet.

For myself I will hope the next four months will go fast for my next Purple concert will be in Aarhus on November 21.

Setlist 13 July, Copenhagen:

Highway Star
Things I never said
Wrong man
Strange kind of woman
Rapture of the Deep
Fireball
Contact Lost (Steve’s solo)
Sometimes I feel like scraming
Well dressed Guitar
Wring that neck
The battle rages on
Don Airey’s solo
Perfect Strangers
Smoke on the water

Hush
Black Night

1 hour 45m.

On his official website, JonLord.org, the maestro has confirmed three concerts for October.

The dates and cities are:

Oct 9 – Yekaterinburg, Russia – tickets
Oct 12 – St. Petersburg, Russia – tickets
Oct 15 – Moscow, Russia – tickets

At the concerts Jon Lord will perform his Concerto for Group and Orchestra along with different solo pieces and Deep Purple songs together with local orchestras and band.

It was a great festival, with the Bass Monsters as an opener, Hooters, Roger Hodgeson and Status Quo, but there was after 10 seconds of Deep Purple no doubt, who was the headliner and who was the boss in the ring.

But, unfortunatly, the sound mixing was the worst I have ever seen at a Deep Purple concert (and I have been on every tour since the Abandon tour). First of all Ian Gillan was not to hear at all, then, instead of regulating the other players down, they put him up too, so it became hurtingly loud. Remember, like the band, we are not the youngest anymore too.

But, even worse for me, for example, was, that the guitar of Steve Morse was too loud for the great quality of performance, to hear all the nuances.

I will join you on the next tour, of course! But I hope, you will take care of a better mixing and you think about all of your older audience. 😉

Keep on Rockin’

Ducky

Here’s a news cast video of Over the Rainbow’s recent visit to El Paso, Texas, USA.

It features live clips from their appearance at El Paso Street Festival and interviews with Joe Lynn Turner and Bobby Rondinelli.

Go to www.kvia.com and click on ‘Top News Videos’.

A Russian court has fined Deep Purple for “illegally” performing their own songs, according to russiatoday.com.

The concert in question took place on October 19, 2008 in Russia’s southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
According to the court’s ruling, the musicians – Ian Gillan, Ian Paice and Roger Glover – should have obtained a license from the all-Russian NGO, “Russian Authors’ Society” for the public performance of any of their songs. The organization represents the rights of foreign performers in Russia – even without these performers giving the NGO permission to represent them.
For every “unlicensed” song, the court imposed a penalty of 30,000 roubles (about 1,000 dollars) on the organizers of the concert for payment to the “Russian Authors’ Society” which, in its turn, is supposed to make payments to the authors – Gillan, Paice and Glover.
Lawyers say the real reason for the suit might be that the “Russian Authors’ Society” receives revenues from those royalties received.

Blogger peplov points out that the judge misinterpreted the Articles of Association of the “Russian Authors’ Society”. It clearly says that the organization was created by authors for protecting their rights in their field of intellectual activities. “The Society is based upon the principle of free will, equal membership rights and democratic self-management,” peplov said, quoting the document. “Can’t the judge read?” the perplexed blogger asked.

Professional lawyers say the court’s ruling sticks to the letter of the law, noting that case law – which could help avoid such confusing situations – is not used in Russia.

thanks to George Kikonishvili for the news.

Blabbermouth reports that Steve Morse has been interviewed on Rocknation TV. The interview is featured in episode 46 and can be viewed online at www.rocknation.us/tv.

Rocknation TV is a weekly 30-minute metal program featuring metal videos and interviews. It is available online and airs in the USA on Time Warner, Comcast, Service Electric and Charter Communications. Some of the cities airing the show are New York City, Houston, Anaheim, Chicago, Austin, Denver, Atlanta, Cleveland, Dallas and Sacramento.

Keyboard player Tony Carey has left Over The Rainbow and has been replaced by Paul Morris.

Here is Over The Rainbow’s own press release:

After he received a great reception from over 12,000 fans at the Sweden Rock Festival, Over The Rainbow has officially added keyboardist Paul Morris to the band’s roster for several USA concert dates in July. Like all members of OVER THE RAINBOW (with the exception of guitarist Jurgen “J.R.” Blackmore), Morris was also part of RAINBOW as he recorded and toured with the band from 1994 through 1997.

Confirmed dates:

Bridgeview, IL
July 3
Toyota Park

El Paso, TX
July 4
Downtown Street Festival

Ocean City, NJ
July 6
Ocean City Music Pier

Auburn Hills, MI
July 8
DTE Energy Music Theatre/Palace Sports and Entertainment

Allentown, PA
July 10
Crocodile Rock Cafe

Asbury Park, NJ
July 11
The Stone Pony

Keyboardist Tony Carey has left the band and all of the members of Over The Rainbow, its management and staff wish Tony much success in all of his future endeavors. They emphasize that there is no ill will toward Tony and they all respect his decision.

Over The Rainbow would like to take the time to thank all of their fans for their incredible and loyal support and look forward to bringing the great music of all eras of Rainbow to the USA next month and to Russia and Europe in the fall.

Over The Rainbow is:
Vocals: Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow 1980-1984)
Drums: Bobby Rondinelli (Rainbow 1980-1983)
Bass: Greg Smith (Rainbow 1994-1997)
Guitar: Jurgen (“J.R.”) Blackmore

Another interview with Ian Gillan, this time at KNAC.com (Big Ian is certainly getting his money’s worth from the PR agents). Amid the familiar by now story behind One Eye To Morocco, he made some interesting remarks, particularly about his songwriting process:

I never write the lyrics first, but I do make a lot of notes every day. I’ve got hundreds of books. I use the composition books, like the ones the American schools use. I’ve got hundreds of them. If I see anything over the course of the day that either makes me start growling or makes me roll on the floor laughing or touches me emotionally, then it gets written down. Names, places, times, clothes, weather — all those little bits of color that take you right back to the moment when you want to use it in a song or in an essay or something like that. So those ideas are kept and logged for later use. But normally speaking, if I’m writing with Steve Morris, for example, he comes up with some backing track demo-type things and then I write the tunes and put the words on top. I do what I do — the singing bit and all the connected parts. But generally it’s the tune that comes first. You can hear the beginning of the words when I do what I call “my gibberish,” which is when I sing and I first hear the ideas and the music with a guitar or a more developed piece. I just start singing the most natural thing, without having to worry about the words. But more important at that stage than the meaning of the words is the sound of the words. So I’m pretty careful with the vowel sounds and the percussive value of the consonants. When you’re hitting the high note, you don’t want an “ooo” sound, you want a more open vowel sound because singers don’t like that. So it’s the working on the craft of it, really. Then once you’ve got that in shape, you can think more about the words. But very often, a phrase or a sentence or a word will come spontaneously whilst I’m doing this gibberish, and very often that will lead to the development of the rest of the lyrics.

Read the rest of the interview at KNAC.com.

Thanks to BraveWords for the info.