Ian Paice and DP tribute band Hush in La Coruña – January 30, 2010

Deep Purple are quite simply five of the best musicians playing today. This was confirmed on Saturday – I saw Ian Paice playing with Italian tribute group Hush.

A small venue (a discotheque by the beach) holding no more than 500 people – we were right at the front. The group was good, nothing to criticise, but it made me realise just how much more than good Purple are in comparison; and the comparison is recent, I saw them at the Hammersmith in November.

Paicey was the centre of attention and was amazing. Three drum solos, one of them a double with Hush’s own percussionist. It was fun to hear Burn, Mistreated and Child in Time too. Just one gripe – at one ‘quiet’ point in the gig I asked Ian to give my son a drum stick, he said “Maybe” and then at the end gave it to the guy standing next to him …

Well, it’s been two years since I saw Purple (Beauvais – March 2007), in a very impressive show, and fronted by an impressive Ian Gillan. I didn’t planned to see the band on this tour, but a friend of mine who is a big Gotthard fan proposed me the trip to Amiens (about one hour by car).

So… here we are : Gotthard makes a big impression to the crowd !

They’re enthousistiac, the show is full of energy, and the singer is really awesome ! My complaint is that every song sounds “dejà vu”. Gotthard’s music is full of clichés, and is somewhat a catalog of the 80’s hard-rock bands.

Then Deep Purple came on stage… very quicly 4 points are obvious :
– the sound is absolutely excellent ! I think I’ve never heard a sound as clear as tonight in a hard-rock show.
– the band plays very well, seems to enjoy the show
– Don Airey is incredible and his sound on stage (like two yeards ago) seems better than Jon Lord. It”s a big surprise because I love Jon Lord and was very sad of his departure. He’s almost leading the band on some songs, like during “Lazy” or “The rapture of the deep”.

So 3 very good points !
But… where”s Ian Gillan ?
Where is THE singer ?
Big Ian is only the shape of what he once was.
He looks very old, very thin, and I wonder if he’s not ill ?

His voice is as thin as his body, and during “Fireball” he seems so exhausted than it’s really a pity !

On some songs his voice seems more relaxed and better (“Wasted sunsets” for example), but in “space truckin”, “highway star”, and most of the old songs, he simply cannot sing anymore.

So it is time that the band understands the fact, and adapts the track list to Ian”s todays’ voice. It’s ridiculous to force him to pretend to shout “highway star” as he’s not able to.

So this show was very good on some points, but it was ruined on some ways by this fact : Gillan is not a hard-rock singer anymore (I mean during a long tour). He’s too old for that, there is no shame to accept it, but please : the band must absolutely discuss it and choose the right songs for him.

See you next time, and in a better shape Ian I hope…
Christophe

To celebrate the 65th birthday of Ritchie Blackmore, Lick Library is promoting four instructional DVDs from its library of titles, all featuring Ritchie’s style of playing. All these lessons are taught by Danny Gill, who himself studied from Joe Satriani.

All Lick Library guitar DVD lessons are filmed in high definition and include double screen so you can see what both hands are doing at the same time.

Jam With Deep Purple

Catalog number: RDR0313
Media: CD and 2 DVDs (PAL, Region 0)
Skill Level: Intermediate
Jam with Deep Purple is a double DVD set with an accompanying CD of tracks without the guitar so you can jam along as you learn. In the two hours of guitar lessons, Danny Gill walks you thorough seven classic Purple tracks — Woman From Tokyo, Lazy, Black Night, Smoke on the Water, Strange Kind Of Woman, Burn, and Highway Star. The backing tracks are featured on the “jam along” CD recoded with full professional backing band including drums, bass, keyboards and rhythm guitar.

Learn To Play Deep Purple

Catalog number: RDR0072
Media: DVD (PAL, Region 0)
Skill Level: Intermediate To Advanced
Learn to play Deep Purple tracks note for note. It is a two-hour DVD lesson which takes you through note for note through five timeless Deep Purple tracks. In this DVD, Danny take a more in depth look at these tracks covering techniques such as bending, picking, and key changes. He also discusses open-string licks, use of the tremolo bar and how Ritchie plays those staccato notes. Tracks include: Smoke On The Water, Burn, Highway Star, Lazy, Black Night

Learn to play Ritchie Blackmore — The Solos

Canalog number: RDR0285
Media: DVD & CD Set (PAL, Region 0)
Skill Level: Intermediate To Advanced
Ritchie Blackmore — The Solos has Danny taking you through the solos of Since You’ve Been Gone, Smoke On The Water, Man On The Silver Mountain, Highway Star and Burn. Each solo is played up to tempo, at a slow tempo and then at a medium tempo. The CD has fifteen backing tracks, one at each tempo for each solos featured on in the guitar DVD lessons. You can learn at your own pace and build up to full speed.

Quick Licks Richie Blackmore

Canalog number: RDR0236
Media: DVD (PAL + NTSC, Region 0)
Skill Level: Intermediate
Quick Licks in the Style of Ritchie Blackmore features more than 30 licks reminiscent of Deep Purple’s “Burn”. As Danny looks at each Blackmore-flavored lick he explains why the idea works at that particular point in the backing track. Danny also takes time for a more in-depth look at scales and rhythm and use of a slide.

Thanks to BraveWords for thew info.

Rick Wakeman reports in his monthly column titled “Grumpy Old Rick’s Ramblings” not only that he spent a most enjoyable evening with Jon Lord at the Thames Valley University doing a Q&A with some students, he also reports that

Jon and I also talked about some future joint concerts together which hopefully will happen next year. We both love the use of orchestras and it seems a very natural progression.

Question is why it took them nearly 40 years to find out 🙂

As the band is back on the road in Australia, Brisbane Times has a rather favourable review of the opening night at the Convention & Exhibition Centre, giving it 4 stars out of 5:

While it’s clear the band, especially Gillan, Glover and Paice, aren’t getting any younger, the sound was so tight and the atmosphere so high that no one cared.

The long standing ovation was proof the crowd were all too happy being reminded of the amazing sounds that defined a generation.

And here are the setlists:

Brisbane, April 27:

Highway Star
Things I Never Said
Maybe I’m A Leo
Strange Kind of Woman
Wasted Sunsets
Rapture of the Deep
Fireball
Contact Lost
Sometimes I feel like screaming
Well Dressed Guitar
Mary Long
Lazy
No One Came
Keyboard Solo
The Battle Rages On
Space Trucking
Smoke on the Water

Encore:
Speed King
Hush
Black Night

Sydney, April 28:

Highway Star
Things I Never Said
Strange Kind of Woman
Wasted Sunsets
Rapture of the Deep
Fireball
Contact Lost
Sometimes I feel like screaming
Well Dressed Guitar
Wrong Man
Lazy
No One Came
Battle Rages On
Space Trucking
Smoke on the Water

Encore:
Hush
Black Night

Thanks to Daniel Bengtsson for the info and to almityVideo for this clip of Lazy from Sydney.

Australian newspaper Herald Sun has published an interview with Ian Gillan. No groundbreaking revelations there, just the same war stories most THS visitors have already heard and read. But it’s good to see the band getting media attention during the tour.

We have the freedom. It’s exciting. It’s like you going to the office every day, and then outside you’ve got your motorbike waiting and you jump on and roar off into the night and feel the wind blow through your hair. It’s like sport, you know your teammates but you never quite know what’s going to happen on the day.

Which is your most precious memory with the band?
You always remember the first time. I’ve been in music all my life. My grandad was an opera singer, my uncle a jazz musician, I was a boy soprano in the church choir. But the first performance with Deep Purple was something I’ll never forget. All elements were working brilliantly.

Read more in Herald Sun.

Thanks to Daniel Bengtsson for the info.

Update May 26: Release date has been put back to June 15.

“Stay Tuned” is the title of Austrian drummer Bernhard Welz’ first solo album. It features a slew of prominent guest musicians, including Roger Glover, Steve Morse, Don Airey, Ian Paice (live drum solo 2002), Neil Murray, Steve Lukather, Mike Stern, Mark King and many more.

 
Jon Lord will feature on a limited edition of 1.000 copies, that include a bonus live recording of “Child In Time” with Jon Lord, Steve Lee (vocals, Gotthard) and Bernhard Welz on drums. This was recorded with the Nota Bene Symphony Orchestra in Zürich, Switzerland January 2009.

The studio tracks were recorded between April 2009 and March 2010. Most of the international guests recorded their parts at home, but not all, explains Bernhard Welz.
 
– I worked in the studio with Steve Lukather, Mike Stern, Ernesto Ghezzi, Kaitner Z Doka, and most of the local artists.

– There was one funny incident. When I recorded with Steve Lukather in Frankfurt, I had come straight from a show in Stuttgart. We talked about travelling and then he asked me “did you do it in A440”. I said “no A81” I meant the motorway I’d used to get there. He meant tuning the guitar in 440 Hz! He looked at me like I was a ghost, then he said: “Ah, nevermind, I play everything.”

Sales of the album supports the Children Cancer Trust, and the release date is May 20.

Pre-order and listen to sound clips.

It looks like the future of the band formerly known as Black Country is under one big question mark. Producer Kevin Shirley reports on his Facebook page:

I’m the studio with Journey – producing their next album. Despite not rushing, we already have two new tunes in the can! They are a really special band. Black Country looks to have imploded, with a completed album in the can! We set out as friends and lovers of music, to make something special. Then the managers got involved… and kept changing their wants, ultimately demanding EVERYTHING! I can’t absolve all the musicians – but one I can completely absolve, is the one who actually has a career and has just been voted Best Guitarist in the World – who was 100% open ALL the way. And he doesn’t ride on anyone’s coattails… see below. Maybe they’ll come to their senses…. I’m not holding my breath.

He quickly followed with an update:

OK – I have been urged to amend this – like everything on the internet, things get twisted! I believe there is a salvage operation to rescue survivors from the downed BC plane. I have just had a big conversation with Glenn, who is mortified about the situation, as he has really put his heart and soul into it. I love Glenn. Here’s the salvage plan … See Moreguys – everyone is equal. It’s that easy. Cut out the cancer that is anyone greedy, and this thing will rock. Morality rules….. managers try to. I am mad too!!!

Thanks to Daniel Bengtsson for the info.

‘Who Cares’, dreaminess, complaining less, loosing his strings, Euclid of Alexandria, Vladimir Putin, Robert Mugabe and Britney Spears, Giransan vellybad amellicatobrame and underground buzz — read all about it in the latest installment of Q&A at Caramba!

Is it crazy to drive 750 km to Györ, Hungary, to see a Concerto and a clinic? Some people may say so, but I say it is totally rational, sensible and normal behaviour – for any Deep Purple fan ;-)!

So there we were, and after the magnificent concert with Jon Lord the night before, now it was time for the Györ Drum Festival, whose main event was to be a drum clinic and a guest appearance of Ian Paice with Cry Free, a Hungarian DP cover-band.

The performances of the other musicians that day went from highly amusing (Mr. Glass) to slightly amazing. Especially three gentlemen with huge percussion-kits, who played extremely precisely and with astonishing stamina on various instruments, and who had even written their music down on enormously big sheets made me stand (or sit, as it were) in bewilderment. To my question ‘Who on earth could actually WRITE something like this down?’ my companion only replied ‘Someone with a splitting headache who wants to give the same to anybody else’. Ok, I admit, I am a philistine…

After some other acts, some more and some less fun, it was finally time for the main thing.

Ian Paice entered the stage, and with his first few sentences he made clear what this night would be about. Not a clinic in the traditional meaning, but more some demonstrations of his playing plus – and that was the really interesting part – a lengthy time for all kinds of questions from his fans. In fact he explicitly asked for questions about drumming, people and anything else, and he promised to give “truthful or at least humorous answers”.

But before that he disappeared behind his (borrowed) drum kit and showed us why… It is almost unbelievable what a real master of his art can do with a comparatively small drum kit (I counted six drums plus four cymbals) – means not only hit the things, but make some real music on them.

Actually that very topic got touched at one later moment, when he explained that the really important thing for a drummer is not so much technique (which he called a very useful tool in your toolbox), but the knowledge how to make music with one’s drums. He even went so far as to say that you could have two drummers on one stage, with the identical kit, playing the identical thing. One could make you go with the music while the other could leave you stone cold. He defined it as the way to communicate your feelings. To this point I will get back sometime later, so please keep it a little in mind.

Slightly out of breath after his solo-tour de force, Ian Paice took the microphone for his question-and-answer-game.
It was a little tricky, as all the questions were asked in Hungarian and needed to be translated into English by a translator, and with the answers it was of course the other way round. In addition to that, the translator told the English question to Ian in a very low voice, so for me it was neigh impossible to get them (sadly my Hungarian is non-existent). Mostly I had to hear the answers before I could even guess what the question was.

It is impossible for me to remember all the questions, so I will mention just a few who stuck in my mind.
One was about his choice of brand – in his earlier days he had used a Ludwig kit, because he had seen Ringo Starr with one. But then the family Ludwig sold their company to another company, and the quality decreased considerably. After some research, Ian settled with Pearle, and remained happy with them to this day.

To the question why PAL hadn’t worked he told us that the whole thing had been built around what Tony Ashton could do as an improvising Blues/Jazz/Rock musician– but only in small venues, where there was a rapport with the audience. As soon as the venues got bigger, that magic of Ashton’s was gone, and so they noticed that it wouldn’t work and left it at that.

Of course there was the inevitable question about Ritchie Blackmore. Ian Paice’s comment: “Now this is gonna be good”, and then he explained that Ritchie saw the world in a pretty narrow frame, and that he hadn’t wanted to do the same things the rest of the band wanted to do. So the best solution for all was Ritchie to leave the band.

So now Deep Purple were a happy band with smiles all over, and he hoped that Ritchie was happy with what he is doing now too. As a very personal statement he did regret that Ritchie wouldn’t leave out that great rock ‘n’ roll musician that must be still within him, to create great wonderful and exciting rock.

A very funny moment was, when a guy asked for permission to hit a note on Paicey’s drum kit. Of course he got his wish granted and left the stage a very happy guy.

A more personal question was about Ian’s kinship with Jon Lord (they are married to identical twin-sisters), and he told a hilarious story about the times when Jon and his wife were living for a short time in Ian Paice’s house, and how embarrassing it can be to mistake your wife with someone else’s.

More coincidentally there was another story to be told, when a fan presented Ian with a drumstick for signing he (the fan) had caught personally on a show in Budapest in 1993 (I think). Ian showed it to the audience and held up one of these he is using nowadays to compare them. The difference was striking – the one from 1993 was almost twice as thick, and the explanation was that in those days, Ritchie Blackmore used to play so loud that Ian HAD to use ‘half of a tree’ for being able to compete with that volume and even be heard.

Oh yes, and he doesn’t like to go to the supermarket or to bring the garbage down – but both of them he has to do now and then, as he lives a pretty normal life when he is at home.

To me it is a never ending source of amazement, what a totally different side of Ian Paice you get to see on one of these drum clinics. With Deep Purple he is normally more of the quiet kind, someone who doesn’t say a lot; but here you experience a witty, charming, humorous and truly entertaining guy. In fact I admire him very much for doing this, as you never can know what kinds of questions you get. There were some tricky ones, but he never failed with giving a truthful, jokey and very often deeply personal reply.

After quite some time, he returned to his drums and gave us another taste of his drumming. Again, he left not the slightest doubt why he is known as one of the best rock drummers in the world, and that he truly deserves being called so.

Then another question or two (plus their answers, of course), and Cry Free joined Ian Paice on stage.

Cry Free are a Hungarian DP cover band, with Olivér Lee on guitar, Csaba Kecskeméti on bass, Tamás Tatai on drums, Attila Nagy on keyboards and Attila Scholtz on vocals.

The setlist with Ian Paice was:

Burn
Stormbringer
You keep on moving
Perfect Strangers
Highway Star
Smoke on the Water

I won’t list the rest of the songs, as this is supposed to be a review about Ian Paice and not about Cry Free. In fact, this brings me back to the statement further above about the two drummers with identical kits playing the same song. One of them makes you ‘go with the music’ while the other leaves you stone cold. Something similar was what we experienced that night. WITH Ian Paice on the drums, it was pure magic, WITHOUT him, not all of the magic was gone, but a considerable amount of it.

Sorry to say that, and it is certainly not Cry Free’s fault, who gave a very enthusiastic and energetic performance throughout both of the nights. I think it is remarkable, how they succeed in playing the songs very well, but not sticking slavishly to the originals.

Every single of them is a highly talented and skilled musician, and even though their drummer had a difficult task in ‘taking over‘ from one of the best in their profession, he had proved his (remarkable) skills the night before with Jon Lord, and did the same again after Ian Paice had left the stage.

It was huge fun hearing the first three songs live, but NO, I wouldn’t even WANT the actual Deep Purple play them! There are many reasons, and not the least of them is the fact that these songs were written for two singers. ‘Burn’ was not much of a problem, but with the latter two you couldn’t forbear noticing a certain ‘emptiness’ in the vocals.

Please, don’t get me wrong, Attila Scholtz did a great job, and his vocal power and range are truly astonishing (actually I got the impression that he is capable of covering the lowest range from David Coverdale right up to Glenn Hughes’ top notes), but one man just can’t sing harmonies, can he?

So, if I want to hear songs from Mark III or IV live, that’s what we have cover bands for, and when there is a member of the Original playing with them – well, the better for me!

All in all we had an evening with some excellent music, interesting informations, and quite some good laughs. Ian Paice was all smiles, and he certainly gave the impression of enjoying himself; so much so that Ian Gillan’s analogy he drew for ‘One Eye To Morocco’ came to mind. When Deep Purple is their day job, it is evenings like this that are their ‘naughty weekend away’.

If it hadn’t been for a very clear statement he (Ian Paice, that is) had made at one point during that night to the effect that – as much as he enjoyed working with other musicians – Deep Purple would always remain his life, there might even have been some twinges of worry about the future of my favourite band…

Good to know that nights like this are but some kind of musical sexcapades ;-).

Monika Schwarz