Costa Mesa: The triple bill of Deep Purple / Blue Oyster Cult / Edgar Winter played in Orange County at the Pacific Amphitheatre. Lucky for me as it’s only 1/2 a mile from my apartment!

Edgar Winter opened the show… I last saw him open for Uriah Heep 6 years ago. Edgar is a fantastic performer and musician. I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed his set. Great back up band and a fine entertainer! He seemed to really enjoy what he was doing… playing music for the people.

Blue Oyster Cult… I did not know they were still around. Last saw them in 1984 when they would fill arenas. Excellent playing by all, but the only musicians with energy was the bassist (Rudy Sarzo) and the 3rd rhythm guitarist/keyboardist. Bloom and Dharma looked like they just got off from their Wall Street job to play a gig. Still, an enjoyable set of hits.

Deep Purple came on with Pictures of Home. The set was like the others listed.

The entire band was brilliant… even if Gillan’s pipes were not as “ballsy” as they once were. The range he does still have sounds fine and powerful. Don, Steve, Paice, and Glover… are superb.

There were teenagers in the audience… one with his hippy dad and wearing a Misfits T-shirt… *he* was REALLY getting into the show. It wasn’t just all fat, middle aged people, although they were in abundance.

Glover was, at times, jumping up and down while playing. That man is really 20 something in age in my opinion. In fact, the playing from the band was from men 40 years younger… not 50 or 60 year olds. I give this show a solid A. There is no reason they should stop playing nor stop making albums any time soon.

The only complaint is that there is NOT enough new material played. If they played only Morse-era material for at least 1/2 the set, I would be far happier. I’ve heard the Machine Head album enough performed live. Give the true fans some variety before DP finally calls it quits.

Carl Hardwick

Hampton: Deep Purple’s perfect record continues. I’ve never been disappointed with a Deep Purple show and I’m glad to say this tour is no exception.

The opening act was The Gary Hoey Band. A very good band indeed. Three excellent musicians who were a blast to see and hear. They played a great version of Hocus Pocus they got the crowd fired up.

The Casino is an odd venue, a little rough around the edges but I like it. It sort of adds to the hard edged rock n roll flavor of the show.

As for Purple I saw them in Boston and in NH. I have to say NH was the better of the two shows even though they skipped playing “Battle” Ian’s voice was stronger and he seemed to be in a really good mood, joking around with Steve and Roger.

We had great seats. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to my favorite band. The volume was a little low at first, especially Steve’s guitar. He made a couple of adjustments and then it was fantastic. To quote another famous banjo player “It was like being inside the Machine Head album” It really was!

When Don started playing the Lazy into, that awesome Hammond growl reminded me of the first time I ever heard it. Don was just fantastic through the entire show. His playing and feel for DP’s music is IMO, much improved on this tour. He’s still Don though and that comes through in his solo spot. His technical ability is second to none.

Mr. Gillan was all over the stage. It was hot and humid in the Casino but that didn’t stop him from bouncing all over the stage and screaming like a banshee. He gets help from Steve sometimes, sometimes not. It’s funny, he doesn’t shy away from trying to sing the difficult stuff. He just goes for it. The whole band does it too. They still have the hard rock attitude.

Ian Paice was GREAT! I love watching him play. His hands are still lightning quick. The one handed roll during his Hush solo spot was cool but his playing throughout the show was signature Ian Paice.

Steve and Roger were super! They were really good to the crowd too. They kneel down and let the people in the front play their guitars a bit. It’s not an act, these guys love putting on a show for a crowd that appreciates the music.

Roger is such a gentleman. When the picks were being tossed out to, one woman didn’t catch one and Roger carefully placed one in her hands. Nice guy! The Purple rhythm section was as heavy and locked in as always. It’s one of my favorite things about this band. They lay down a monster groove!

Steve went from the newer sunburst guitar to his trusty blue one and played a great version of Contact Lost and Well Dressed Guitar. When the classical feel morphs into the classical over the hard rock backing, it’s just so cool.

I could go on forever about these guys. I only wish there was a little more Morse era stuff. I think Don’t Let Go, MTV or Wrong Man would go over well. So would SIFLS or Don’t Hold Your Breath.

As for Purple, they do something few can match. For a little while, I forget about wars, violence, work, money etc. and just enjoy the moment. It’s reassuring that there are still moments in life when you can do that. Thanks Ian, Steve, Don, Roger and Ian!

Setlist:

Pictures of Home
Things I Never Said (Goes over very well live)
Into The Fire (Killer version of this for sure! Listen for Ian’s new lyrics ; )
Strange Kind of Woman
Rapture Of The Deep
Woman From Tokyo
Contact Lost/
Well Dressed Guitar
Knocking At Your Back Door
Lazy (Killer Hammond intro)
Keyboard solo (Amazing Don Airey)
Perfect Strangers (Best I’ve heard in a long time! Very Heavy!)
Space Truckin’ (Another highlight)
Highway Star

Smoke On The Water
Hush (With Ian Paice solo!)

Frank Fitzgerald

The concert experience started as my brother and I pulled in to park at the Casino Ballroom in Hampton beach. A rain shower was just ending and a rainbow was spotted over the hall. Surely a sign of special things to come that evening (insert your own Ritchie Blackmore joke).

Even though we live less than 90 minutes from Montreal we decided to avoid the three hour delays at the border coming back into the US and see DP in New Hampshire. Glad we did.

The opening act was Gary Hoey (a fellow New Englander). He provided a very high energy, 30 minute crowd pumping show. Of the 4 DP shows I’ve seen over the years, Hoey was probably the best opening act. He is just the right amount of straight up guitar rock and roll but quite a different flavor than Purple. They should consider joining together again for future tours. Man, does this guy have on-stage energy ! Gary Hoey is now on our “must see” list.

Purple’s performance was outstanding – everyone in top form. House mix was way too heavy in keyboards and vocals. Great to hear Strange Kind of Woman back in the set list. Not much else to add over what’s already been said. Morse’s guitar tribute medley was a real treat. The crowd exploded when the opening bars to Zep’s Heartbreaker came out.

Already looking forward to the next tour,

Joe Tymecki

The Hampton Beach Casino is a great place to see bands, small, reserved seating and located in a kind of time warp, along the Hampton Beach scene of Skeeball, Pinball and Fried dough… the best of Americana.

I must admit that I was hesitant to go, having seen Deep Purple numerous times in their heyday (Glover, Blackmore, Lord, Paice and Gillan lineup) with the last time being in Boston with Hughes/Cloverdale lineup. Most concerning was the absence of both Blackmore and Lord.

The Gary Hoey band were the openers and quite good.

After a brief intermission, Deep Purple came on and Paice opened up with the drum bit of Pictures of Home. Set list was identical as previously listed.

Having always wanted to see Steve Morse on guitar, I was not disappointed. He is a great player, recreating Blackmore leads and in many cases, improving on them. Steve clearly was enjoying himself and this was great to see. In his guitar solo segment, he played bits of AC/DC’s Back in Black, Little Wing and Zep’s Heartbreaker…. great playing… wish he had continued this bit longer.

The sound was a bit of a problem… Keyboards were much too loud and Morse clearly could have used more volume.. he kept looking back to sound people so he was aware of this. Gillan hit some of his high notes…. but after perhaps 38 years of screaming, his voice no longer had the consistency and high range that it once had. Keyboard player was also very good… playing Lord’s parts and adding to them….

One other note, the lighting crew had a spotlight behind the stage, and they kept putting it into the audience… blinding anyone within the light’s reach.

As previously noted, Glover brought out his Rickenbacker for Smoke on the Water, and thus re-creating that sound… very nice.

All in all, a great evening. Will try to send some pictures later.

Gregory Gunter

See all of Daniele Purrone’s photos.

New York: I had bought a pair of tix to the show during the pre-sale before I knew if my buddy could go and as it turned out, he couldn’t. So, standing in front of the arena 2 1/2 hours before the show to sell my ticket, I got lucky as there was someone standing there who needed just one ticket.

We headed down to Friday’s for some beer and transact the deal. We talked for a few hours and then headed into the show. Truthfully, I was THRILLED that Vanilla Fudge replaced Thin Lizzy. I had seen TL several times over the years and was never truly impressed.

But this was the first time I would see VF and knew they would obviously play “You Keep Me Hanging On,” which, of course, they did as the set closer (and even made a comment, “And now the song that brought everyone in to the house.”) A cool surprise was the opener, the Zombies cover, “She’s Not There.” All in all, I was quite impressed w/VF and very happy I got to see them before they start being worm food.

I already knew the DP set list from the net so I was not surprised at what they played. How they played it, is another story. The last time I saw DP was in 1996 at the Beacon (then I actually won tix on Q104 before they got popular – I was the 13th caller and then called back to be the winning 25th). This show was SO much better than 96.

With the exception of Burn (which my older by 10 years brother gave me a lifetime ago), Perfect Strangers is my favorite DP album. So, hearing Knocking and Perfect Strangers was a real treat. I was silently praying that my new found friend wouldn’t talk to me during Perfect Strangers (as he was getting drunker and drunker all night and talking during every song) so I could sing the words to myself.

But, alas, he did… And maybe it was the distraction, maybe it was that strange odor coming from the people on either side of us and behind us or maybe I’m wrong, but I believe they screwed up on the lyrics and sang: “your tears are lost in Falling rain” instead of “I am the echo of your past.”

But, other than the non band related distractions, the show was AMAZING. They were very tight, full of energy and really seemed to enjoy themselves up there. Being a closet Deadhead, I know the feeling when the band and the fans feed off each other’s energy and help produce magical musical moments… Of course, I couldn’t wait to tell my buddy what an amazing show he missed…

Now all I need to make me complete is to see Blackmore doing ANYTHING other than the medieval music he is doing now… Come on Richie – do a tour w/ Dio again… Please???

Computorney Writer

Saw DP last night @ Club Casino, Hampton Beach, NH. They were truly professional, spot on performance, tight 1.5 hr show.

It looked like they were having a great time on stage. Hard to believe Big Ian can still hit those notes. His voice held up just fine. Set list similar to what has been posted. No Battle Rages On but they did play Knocking at Your Backdoor.

My only quibble was not enough new songs, not one song from Perpendicular, Abandoned, or Bananas. Oh well can’t have it all. One encore – Hush featuring Little Ian’s on hand drum roll. Thank you gentlemen of DP for a great show!

By the way, I was amazed at how many under 21 were in attendance.

Greg Kidd

Radio City Music Hall is perhaps the nicest venue in all of New York City, and a perfect place to see two outstanding and long-standing rock groups, (the original) Vanilla Fudge and Deep Purple.

Fudge was in great form as they celebrate 40 years together. Their set included a number of the covers that they’ve played over the years including “People Get Ready,” “Shotgun” and the song that paid for the house, “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.”

They also did a searing version of “Dazed and Confused” from their most recent release, “Out Through The Indoor”, a bunch of Led Zeppelin covers. Terrific vocal harmonies and a tight sound. Carmine Appice was particularly sharp on the drum kit as well as his vocal spots. A great choice for an opening act.

Deep Purple hit the stage at 9:15 and banged through the same set list as the most recent shows – including a first encore of “The Battle Rages On.” Having had a few days to rest seemed to serve Ian G. well, although he strained at times during “Into the Fire.”

I admit I was a big Steve Morse fan long before he joined DP. He had great tone on this night and his playing was crisp and exciting. With that said, it would be great if he could occasionally be a little more subtle with his solos. Every solo comes at you at two hundred miles per hour when, sometimes, one or two notes with a little vibrato can be much more interesting. I guess that’s nitpicking.

The audience was very responsive to DP’s set, maybe the best New York audience in years. Like many reviewers before me, I would love for more Steve Morse era songs to find their way into the set list. Bottom line – a great performance by a great band!

Steve G.

Photo by Lynn Ma Mongo.

I had a great time at the show in NH last night. The set list was similar to the previous shows with the omission of “The battle rages on”.

The Hampton Beach Casino is a small venue that gave everyone the chance to “see” Deep Purple as well as hear them. That’s a nice change from the large outdoor venues or arenas. The sound level was quite loud (My ears will be ringing for a couple of days). The guitar mix was a bit too loud compared to the other instruments. It was dificult at times to hear the vocals and the keyboard. This was somewhat corrected after the first four songs.

Some highlights of the show were Don Airey’s Star Wars theme (some low-flying moths gave him a hard time though) and the nice “Green Onions” intro to “Hush”. “Space Truckin'” was also especially rocking.

The cherry on the cake was the whole band signing autographs and taking pictures with a crowd of about 50 fans. I got the chance to speak to every member and they were all very friendly and courteous… real gentlemen. Thank you Deep Purple !

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) Steve Morse solos (including AC/DC “Back in Black”, Led Zep “Heartbreaker” and GNR’s “Sweet Child Of Mine”) /Well Dressed Guitar
8) Knocking At Your Back Door
9) Lazy
10) Don Airey Solo (Including Star Wars Theme)
11) Perfect Strangers
12) Space Truckin’
13) Highway Star
14) Smoke On The Water

15) Booker T “Green Onions” / Hush (with Ian Paice solo in the middle)

Nicolas Venjean

See all of Daniele Purrone’s photos.

New York: The hall was packed and the crowd very enthusiastic!

Ian got everyone going with Into the Fire and Woman from Tokyo, such great material. Steve’s guitar solo was sublime, ethereal, and the crowd loved it. Don Airy was awesome on Lazy.

Steve and Don have really come into their own, and seem to enjoy the spotlight compared to six years ago at Jones Beach.

Highway Star, which is really Roger’s moment to shine, got everyone on their feet. It was great to see him prowl the stage all the way from far left to far right, looking every bit as energetic as say, Mick Jagger. Everyone was standing now and stayed on their feet through Space Truckin’ and Smoke On the Water.

I noticed that the set was a shorter version of Made in Japan, the bands best live LP, missing only Child in Time and the Mule. Ian Paice made up for it with his drum solo in Hush. The crowd definitely wanted more!

The Japanese and German fans I met reminded me of the global appeal this band had and still has! The band and crowd seemed to have much more fun than during the 1991 reunion with Ritchie and a different singer at the same venue.

Keep coming back!

Jim Ayer

See all of Daniele Purrone’s photos.

Went to the Purple concert at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, with Vanilla Fudge as the opening act. Excellent show all around.

Vanilla Fudge put on a surprisingly energetic show opening with a mid-tempo cover of the Zombies’ “She’s Not There”. The highlight of their set was definitely “Shotgun”, the sole VF original of the night, which included some extended jamming and a few measures of “Greensleeves”.

I was a little disappointed with the cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Dazed and Confused”. It was competently done but was missing some spark that the rest of their set had. Might have been fun if they had done a Purple cover instead – I bet VF would do interesting things with one of the old Mark III songs that doesn’t get played anymore. The set lasted about 45 minutes and closed, as I expected, with “Keep Me Hangin’ On”.

Purple came on at about 9:20PM and played ’till just before 11, and their set list was identical to that at the Boston and Wallingford shows. I’ve seen Purple pretty much every time they have come to the NYC area since the Abandon tour, and for quality of playing and general show energy this was probably second only to the triple bill with Dio and the Scorpions at the Garden State Arts Center in 2002. (The Jones Beach show that same tour was less good.) The crowd was really into the music throughout, and this seemed to push the band to greater heights.

A few minor flaws: Gillan’s voice seemed a little hoarse for the first few songs but after “stretching out” a bit on “Strange Kind of Woman” he was great. Don Airey’s solos for “Pictures of Home” and “Highway Star”, as well as Steve Morse’s solo for “Highway Star” were all verbatim the original Mark II studio solos, so there was a little less improvisation than the typical show. Also Don Airey’s solo leading in to “Perfect Strangers” was a little gimmicky, but he pleased the crowd with a few bars of “New York, New York”.

Some great moments: During “Well Dressed Guitar”, we the audience were just gaping silently in awe at Steve’s pyrotechnics when Gillan crept up behind him and started gesturing to the audience to crank up the cheering and jumping, which we promptly did. Later, Steve and Roger started improvising something that sounded like an up-tempo instrumental version of Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind” but warped it, step-by-step, measure-by-measure, until it turned into the opening of “Highway Star”.

Anyway, the show was really great like that throughout. But I would like to gripe about the set list: Only two songs from “Rapture of the Deep”, the album they are supposed to be supporting (“Things I Never Said” and the title track). Only four songs from this decade (above two plus “Contact Lost” and “Well Dressed Guitar”). Only 5 songs less than 20 years old (above four plus “Battle Rages On”). And yet most of “Machine Head” was played, while Purple has a whole catalogue of great recent songs that never get played live.

Count me among the vocal die-hards that would like a set list more focused on relatively new material. I suppose we are a minority if some internet polls are to be believed, but surely some better balance could be struck. Maybe the solution for the next tour would be for Purple to play two shows in each city, one big concert (like the one tonight) where the fogey-ish masses can get their fix of oldies, and a second show at a (probably smaller) venue (maybe Irving Plaza, for example) where they play the new album in its entirety plus a sampling of post-1995 songs for us real fans. I would go to both. 😉

Andy Shiner