A Japanese group has Youtube’d their own feisty instrumental take on Deep Purple’s Burn – complete with special slowed down guitar lesson at the end.

I guess we get the best of both worlds on the current DP tour. The energy level is high and the setlist is interesting enough to enjoy even after 40 years(!). In Copenhagen we got the kind of show we expected – with dynamics, humor, improvisation and virtuosity.

The setlist is working fine to build up the atmosphere as you get (no formula here) 3 classics, 2 new songs, 2 slow ones and 2 instrumentals before we get the audience participation bit. The setlist is already widely known – see other reviews.

But it takes some courage to rely on 6 NOT sing-along-songs in a row and still expect people to be going crazy from one second to another in the middle of The well-dressed Guitar, following Gillan’s instructions to join in. IG has the courage and it happened.

In Sometimes I feel like Screaming I think there was a bit of confusion in the band and it sounded different as some parts were being left out, but then again we want something new and may be an apt title would be Sometimes I feel like playing something else…

One of the most enjoyable parts of the evening was Roger’s solo before Black Night. He was totally into it and played some raw stuff sounding very heavy and melodic at the same time. More of that, please. Paicey delivered as well and this rhythm section is hard to beat.

Wring that Neck was an interesting choice and could be the next vehicle for duelling between Steve and Don. Actually we never heard their interpretations of this piece in full length, so this is an opportunity!

Gillan has been pointing out that the audience nowadays is ranging from 18 years to whatever. If you haven’t been to the gigs I can assure you that they are selling t-shirts in all sizes incl. S and I was next to 2 Swedish guys 10 and 12 years old wearing the new DP t-shirts, so this is the way of the world.

Per Eidnes Sørensen/CPH

Speaking of age differences, Rasmus Heide caught this couple in the front row:

When Purple began they started with Fireball. I was surprised over the setlist. They had changed a lot compared to earlier shows.

There were some good surprises for me. One was Wring that neck. One of my favorite tracks and they played it like they did in the seventies. The other was The battle rages on. A heavy version that differ a lot from the original.

The band was tight and the music awesome as always. I was surprised over the energy from Don Airey. He fits well in the group and Stewe Morse and Don Airey are almost like Lord and Blackmore in the old days. I was pleased after the show.

The show started 22.00 and lasted for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Before Purple, there were two bands. Bonafide (a new swedish band with influences from AC/DC) and Europe.

The setlist:
Fireball
Into the fire
Strange kind of woman
Rapture of the deep
Kiss tomorrow goodbye
Contact lost
Stewe solo
Sometimes i feel like screaming
Wring that neck (short verision, one solo each for organ and guitar)
The well-dressed guitar
Ted the mechanic
Don solo
The battle rages on
Space truckin`
Highway star
Smoke on the water

Encores:
Hush (drum solo)
Glover solo
Black night

I’ve seen the boys six times now, and this one was the best out of those, and one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen.

The band was on fire, the jamming just flowed, every one of them seemed to enjoy immensely the atmosphere. The audience was very responsive, one of the best audiences I’ve ever seen, and the band seemed to notice that.

I never thought I could see Purple in my home city, let alone 300 meters from my apartment, but so I did. It made me proud to see the Kuopio crowd so enthusiastic. There was something special in the air tonight, and I was lucky to be there.

Oh, and Nazareth didn’t disappoint either. Great opener for DP.

Set list:
Fireball
Into The Fire
Strange Kind Of Woman
Rapture of the Deep
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
Contact Lost/Morse solo
Well Dressed Guitar
Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
Wring That Neck
The Battle Rages On
Airey solo
Perfect Strangers
Space Truckin’
Highway Star
Smoke on the Water

Encores:
Mary Long
Hush
Glover solo
Black Night

Cheers!

This interview with Gillan and Lord filmed circa 1999 Concerto performance tells some amusing anecdotage. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCXARPZvwMo

This report of the last Mk2 gig was shown in Finnish TV next morning, November 18, 1993. Gillan’s interview seems to have been done before the Helsinki show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHqURYigALc

And, to wrap the things up, here’s another TV episode from that tour rehearsals two months earlier:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRig-5NO07E

As Deep Purple quite obviously prefer stages around the globe to studios, the fact that the British hard rockers are on tour is not exactly headline news. The “new” album “Rapture of the Deep” dates back to 2005 and was presented on stage, among other places, in Wetzlar in 2006.

During the current leg of the tour, however, there are bigger things to celebrate, namely the 40th anniversary of the band’s foundation. In 1968, the group began to establish themselves on the British market with a concert in Denmark and an album that still lacked a little direction (“Shades of Deep Purple”). 1969 saw the third album called “Deep Purple” with its early classic “April”, but at that time the first line-up (aka Mark I), was already history. When vocalist Ian Gillan and bass player Roger Glover joined guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, keyboardist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice the legendary Mark II line-up was completed. It survived until 1973, only to be reunited ten years later.

After endless battling with Blackmore Gillan was once again shown the door in 1989, but has been in the band since his return in 1993. Since 1994 American axeman Steve Morse has been the guitarist in Deep Purple, Don Airey replaced Jon Lord at the keys in 2002. With Airey being a member of the extended Purple family tree anyway, this latest change of personnel has not led to any serious musical consequences, even though Jon Lord the gentleman, the man responsible for crossover projects like the Concerto for Group and Orchestra, is certainly missed.

Steve Morse, the permanently beaming master of the strings, might lack the spark of genius that Blackmore was able to ignite on a good night, but on the other hand he allowed the quintet who had so long been quarrelling to rediscover the joy of playing together, guaranteeing a constantly high quality of all of Purple’s shows. His guitar sound is richer, more distorted, his way of playing more virtuoso and less raw than Blackmore’s. But of course he delivers the mother of all hard rock solos, the legendary run in “Highway Star”, with the same clarity – and when the monster riff of “Fireball” starts crashing from the speakers, the question who is up there on stage becomes irrelevant anyway.

Purple have never been famous for changing setlists around on a daily basis, but on each new tour they keep delighting their fans with little surprises. “Into The Fire”, whose riff had formerly only been tagged to the end of “Fireball”, is now presented completely, pleasing the fans of the furious masterpiece “In Rock” (1970) in Siegen, where the band hit the stage last Friday [1st August, 2008].

“Strange Kind of Woman”, another mega success, has reappeared on the setlist, followed by those tracks from “Rapture of the Deep” that have passed the road test, namely the title track, “Contact Lost” and – later – “The Well-Dressed Guitar”, all of which give Morse a chance to shine with lots of his guitar sound wizardry.

“Wring That Neck” from the second album is a genuine surprise, being – with the exception of “Hush” – the only song that is actually as old as the band. In the late sixties it was often stretched to more than thirty minutes, whereas the Siegen rendition was even shorter than the original LP track. After all this instrumental is a very welcome vocal pause for 63-year-old Ian Gillan, whose voice sounds as pleasant and unmistakable as always. In some passages, like “Highway Star”, however, the strain is painfully evident in Gillan’s face. It is probably out of consideration for his vocal chords that the band omit “Speed King” as the third encore.

The band have brought back “The Battle Rages On”, the majestic title track of the last album with Blackmore (1993). Both melodious and heavy, it resembles “Perfect Strangers”, which still seems firmly established in the setlist. Some in the audience seem slightly disappointed about the playing time of only about 95 minutes, but with their exuberant joy of playing and their dreamlike musicianship they still never fail to rock the house. The next chance to see them on stage [in the Central Hesse area] will be in Frankfurt on 7th November.

Axel Cordes, Giessener Allgemeine Zeitung

Bravewords has a Martin Popoff’s interview with Nick Simper (with contributions from Mick Underwood). Simper talks about his current projects — The Good Old Boys, Purple Mk1 shows with Nasty Habits, and the old days. Although no groundbreaking revelations there, Nick is not being inertviewed too often these days, so it’s an interesting read:

Jon Lord came up to me one day when we were working with a band called THE FLOWERPOT MEN, who were an enormously big outfit at the time, and he said, ‘Would you give all this up, all the money, to do your own thing?’ And I said, ‘Yes, you bet your life I would!’ (laughs). We went from sort of, well, we were earning hilarious money for the time, and we went to about 10% of that to start Deep Purple, but it was worth it.

Read the rest at bravewords.com.

The video above is from the Nick Simper and Nasty Habits gig, Club Reigen, Vienna, Austria, May 27 2008.

Thanks to Mike Garrett for the info.

I just got back from Odense, from my second concert with DP in a week.

The first one was on Wednesday in Copenhagen, and I have to say Odense was the best one – a better sound, Ian Gillan sounded much better, Steve Morse in outstanding topform – not that Copenhagen was bad, absolutely not. Again sold out in Copenhagen 3500 people, and approx 4000 in Odense, almost full.

The set list in Odense was

Fireball
Into the fire
Strange kind of women
Rapture of the deep
Steve Morse solo
Somtimes I feel like screaming
Wring That Neck
Well Dressed guitar
Mary Long
Don Airey solo
Perfect Strangers
Highway Star
Smoke on the Water

Extra
Hush (Ian Paice solo)
Roger Glover solo
Black Night

In Copenhagen there was no Mary Long or Perfect Strangers. But we got Ted the Mechanic and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.

I met the band in a meet’n’greet before the Copenhagen concert. It was nice to say hello to them. I asked Ian Gillan among others about the concert in Israel, will it be recorded. He said no, so no news there.

Carsten Ankjær

At Deep Purple’s show in Ystad, Sweden last, guitarist John Norum from Europe (who supported Purple) got onstage to jam on “Smoke on the Water”.

Steve Morse and John Norum preceded the song with a lengthy jam – with Ian Paice and Roger Glover looking on – before tearing into the Purple classic.

The show’s setlist was:

Fireball
Into the Fire
Strange Kind of Woman
Rapture of the Deep
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
Contact Lost
Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
Wring That Neck
Well Dressed Guitar
The Battle Rages On
Perfect Strangers
Space Truckin’
Highway Star
Smoke on the Water
– – –
Hush
Black Night