The ‘same’ great show.

The audience was hot, the music was loud and powerful, the band was OK. They can play everything.

Very good the four-tracks-four beginning. Mary Long, Perfect Strangers and Smoke (after 1.223 times) are always a pleasure.

Great job by Steve during Black Night; for the first time I heard Loosen my Strings and it was great; up with new songs! Less Machine Head and more ‘other’ (Somebody stole my guitar?).

Rapture of the Deep should become a new live classic (maybe longer, maybe a little different) and today it isn’t.

Enrico Ravasio

Since 1975 I wanted to see this best band in rock. On november 3 2007, my dream came true.

Thanks guys for unbelieveable and superb moments for me and other huge fans from Bosnia.

Excuse me for my English and quality of photos.

Davor

All photos are (c) Bulphoto 2007.

The concert in Sofia was held in the Festival Hall (Zala Festivalna) in front of a crowd of 7.500 enthusiastic fans representatives of three generations. It was nice to see a father and a daughter or a grandfather, a son and his little boy singing alongside groups of young long-haired hardrock fans armed with their black Purple T-shirts and headbands.

All the tickets for the show were sold out more than a month before the concert date leaving the fans wondering why a venue with that capacity had been chosen for a concert of such calibre.

The Bulgarian hard rockers Konkurent weren’t the best choice of a warm up band as the lead singer’s Coverdale-style microphone stand tricks were a bit annoying having in mind the next band waiting backstage had Gillan up front.

Anyway, the guys were on stage only for 25 minutes and did what they were invited for – got the people in the mood for the great show coming up.

Deep Purple went on stage exactly at 8.30pm local time under the roar of the standing audience which did not sit back at their seats till the end of the show.

The performance was extraordinary – full of passion and devotion: Steve Morse getting the crowd screaming in joy a dozen times at the virtuosity of his solos, always-smiling Ian Paice and crowd-bantering Roger Glover with their energetic performances, Don Airey with his professionalism giving depth to every song he plays and, of course, Ian Gillan with the power of his presence and his remarkable voice – everyone proved that the band is still in top form!

The set list did not include any surprises:
1. Pictures Of Home
2. Things I Never Said
3. Into The Fire
4. Strange Kind Of Woman
5. Rapture Of The Deep
6. Woman From Tokyo
7. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
8. Contact Loss
9. Steve Morse solo
10. Well Dressed Guitar
11. Knocking At Your Back Door
12. Lazy
13. Don Airey solo
14. Perfect Strangers
15. Space Truckin’
16. Highway Star
17. Smoke On The Water

Encore:
18. Hush
19. Black Night

The band left the stage at about 10.20pm after giving an emphatic performance that made people chant their hymns outside the hall hours after the end of the concert.

To be honest, I’m 24 now and that was the first Deep Purple concert I attended. I was thrilled by the energy these five guys possess. I cannot imagine what it would be to go to a Purple concert in the 1970s… Exceptional!

Dragomir Keranov

The only DP concert in Austria this year, so my wife and I went to Graz (for me it was the 14th time to see DP).

Sound was good and it was not as loud as they played in former days (but that’s OK).

Surprise: DP played Rapture of the Deep and Black Night with the very excellent Lidia Baich (played violin also with D.Airey-band sometimes in Austria).

I was very delighted to hear Into the Fire, Mary Long, Knocking at your back door and The Battle Rages on.

Setlist (I don’t know exactly the running order):

Picture of home
Things I never said
Into the Fire
Strange Kind of Woman
Rapture of the the Deep
Mary Long
Kiss Tomorow Good-Bye
Contact Lost
Steve solo
Well Dressed Guitar
Knocking at the back Door
Lazy
Don’s solo
The Battle rages on
Perfect Stranger
Space Truckin’
Highway Star
Smoke on the water

Encore
Hush
Black Night

A very special evening. I hope to see the very excellent DP soon again in Austria, maybe in Linz. I’m sure to see them again and I hope to hear sometimes Flight of the rat, Rat bat blue or Place in the line …

Walter

What a show! Highest point over all: Loosen my strings! Finally the band follow the fan request: we want more Morse-era Purple songs!

The lowest point: The battles rages on: could be erased without problem.

The show was not very well mixed, but the five guys were smiling and pushing hard more than ever, if it is possible!

Sold out. As in Mantova two nights before. After show with Don, Steve and Big Ian.

This was my 22nd Purple show. Every time it’s better. More than 2 hours.

Complete setlist:

Pictures of home
Things I’ve never said
Into the fire
Strange kind of woman
Rapture of the deep
Mary Long
Kiss Tomorrow
Contact Lost
Well dressed guitar
The battle rages on
Lazy
Loosen my strings
Perfect strangers
Space truckin’
Highway star
Smoke on the water

Speed king
Hush
Black night

Mego

Setlist:
Pictures of home
Things I’ve never said
Into the fire
Strange Kind of woman
Rapture of the Deep
Mary Long
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
Contact Lost
guitar solo – Guitar Parade
Well Dressed Guitar
The Battle Rages On
Lazy
Loosen my strings
keyboard solo
Perfect Strangers
Space Truckin’
Highway Star
Smoke on the water
———
Speed King (drum solo)
Hush
Black Night (bass solo)

Luca Bariffi

The Gripe Sportshall was filled with audience, there are very little empty spaces left inside, by my judgement there was about 5, 500-6, 000 people attended at show tonight, but it’s very difficult to say the correct numbers.

It was a great gig, the band was in amazing form tonight, every member was doing his job at high level. Gilan voice was in great shape, blistering solos from Morse and Airey. The crowd was amazed with Purple’s performance and gave them incredible response in return.

During Perfect Strangers two girls somehow manage to pass the security and jump into the stage and they goes straight into the arms of Gillan, security responded immediately but they held our favorite singer so strong and they are pushed from stage almost together with Gillan.

Perfect Strangers continues as some kind of jam because they lost the point of song and it was very unique and strange version after all with different arangement and ending also.

During another song (I can’t remember now which one) the guy manage to jump into the stage right into the Morse trying to reach his hands and while security almost pushed him back Steve manage to come closer to the guy and shake his hand before security pulled the guy down from stage.

I was so lucky to go into backastage as guest member and I meet all the band members and I collect all their signatures at my concert ticket and Rapture Of The Deep booklet.

I was at backstage for one hour and most of the time I speak with Roger, what a great man and gentleman, he offer me a drink and open my beer with a lighter (great job Roger) so we take a drink together and he act like we know each other all life.

During my autograph collecting I manage also to spoke with all other band members, Paicey was in exceptional mood and when I reach Gillan for a moment I forgot what to tell him, it was a shaking hand almost with silence from me, but luckily I was back into reallity soon and some words just starts to flow from my mouth.

After two years since ROTD tour started I was in some kind of fear and doubt that ROTD tour would never make it to Croatia, but my dreams come true and I just can’t wait for their next album and next tour and next visit to Croatia.

Come back soon and many thanks for this amazing night!

The setlist :

Pictures Of Home
Things I Never Said
Into The Fire
Strange Kind Of Woman
Rapture Of The Deep
Mary Long
Kiss Tomorrow Goodybe
Contact Lost
The Well Dressed Guitar
The Battle Rages On
Contact Lost
The Well Dressed Guitar
Lazy
Don Airey Solo
Perfect Strangers
Highway Star
Space Truckin’
Smoke On The Water
Hush
Black Night

(1 hour and 52 minutes)

Many many thanks to Manny and lovely lady Katie at backstage. Love you with all my heart and I hope to meet you again very soon!

Dubo aka Purpledream

Photos by Vedran.

My friend, Dave, and I travelled from the US to the Sarajevo, Budapest, and Graz shows. They were all excellent, of course, and I see no need to rave about the band’s performance at each because they performed amazingly, as usual. I do want to point out some interesting aspects of each, though.

1. Sarajevo
a. Tickets cost the equivalent of $17 American.
b. It was the only show where the fans were subjected to a full body pat down search.
c. Tour merchandise was inexpensive.
d. Though vocalizing exceptionally well for every song, Ian Gillan said not one word to the crowd–and I am serious, not one word.
e. The setlist had one difference. Instead of The Battle Rages On, they played Knockin at Your Back Door.
f. The fans were wild, emoting like no other show that I ever attended.
g. It was almost surreal afterwards when we walked to downtown Sarajevo among the locals, joining them in their loud and raw Black Night chants of “oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh, oh oh.”

2. Budapest
a. It was the first time that I saw a coat check at an arena.
b. The venue was new and very comfortable.
c. The sound was great.
d. I never saw so many people in business-type clothing at a rock concert.
e. Gillan tried hard to interact with the crowd, but I found them to be mildly unresponsive to him.

3. Graz
a. The acoustics in the venue were substandard in my opinion. I will not speculate about the cause.
b. I found the crowd to be mighty appreciative, especially as the program moved through its second half.
c. They offered the most memorable moment of my trip by having a gorgeous blond woman dressed in black with a purple sash around her waist play with the band on Rapture of the Deep and the last encore, Black Knight. She was awesome and added a flair to the music that I could never have anticipated. The show concluded with Steve and her dueling, responding perfectly to each other’s challenges. The visual was just as cool, because they faced each other at center stage with their long blond hair seeming like living pillars of virtuosity. It was the last part of our trip and it was a sight that I will never forget.

It truly is “all about the music.” Frankly, I cannot imagine a more worthwile investment of time and money than to have experienced these shows among the people of the locales.

I am proud of the band to have seen the intensity of emotions that they evoked and, conversely, to have felt the appreciation that the fans reciprocated to the band. Thanks once again to the band for making a part of my life very special, and to The Highway Star for allowing me to express these sentiments.

Craig Neely, Emmaus, Pennsylvania

Check out Metal Head Romania’s photos from the Bucharest concert.

And Metal Head Romania’s video from Bucharest:

Thanks to Morrison.

Great concert in Sofia, Bulgaria and I can give you setlist and some pictures:

01. Pictures Of Home
02. Things I Never Said
03. Into The Fire
04. Strange Kind Of Woman
05. Rapture Of The Deep
06. Woman From Tokyo
07. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
08. Steve Morse Solo -> Well Dressed Guitar
09. Knockin At Your Backdoor
10. Lazy
11. Keyboard Solo (Don Airey)
12. Perfect Strangers
13. Space Truckin’
14. Highway Star
15. Smoke On The Water

Encores:
16. The Battle Rages On
17. Hush
18. Black Night (special for Bulgarian Fans)

Tickets was sold out before one month ago, I found one very hard in the day of the show.

Gillan was in good condition, Steve too. Concert was filmed and I don’t know… maybe for upcoming DVD or for local TV, but is great.

Edwar