I attended the gig in Copenhagen with a VIP-ticket.

Very excited to see the backstage and meet DP. At 6 PM I met other VIP-fans and this was very fine to talk to other big fans of DP. We got a tour by Gordon from the DP-staff and he did a real good job showing us all the soundboard, the whole stage with stories to the keyboard, guitars and drums. Good stories.

Afterwards we went backstage and said hello to the members from DP. Very very nice people and down to earth; made the time to sign autographs and talk about whatever we asked about. To the Lord of DP; Mr. Roger Glover I showed an old photograph of my bedroom 35 years ago in 1973 when I was 13 fully plastered with posters of DP! He thought it was a funny story from an true devoted old fan.

Good talks with all the members; Steve, Ian, Don, Ian and Roger about lots of things. And then the show: full energy from the very beginning and with that energy it was very hot and humid in the hall!

I enjoyed especially well dressed guitar, sometimes I feel like screaming, Ian’s drums, Roger’s solo before Black Night (I must say that Steve has a competitor in Roger when it comes to big sound from a guitar!). I whish there was more volume to Don’s keyboard; he deserves it.

This was my 12th concert starting in 1975 with Coverdale, Hughes, Blackmore, Lord and Paice, and the energy and excitement is still there.

Looking forward to more concerts and a new record

Søren Mørup from Denmark

A great, fantastic show really from Deep Purple at the Steinkjer festival 120 km north of Trondheim.

They started at 22.00 hrs sharply, and since the nights here in mid-Norway now are becoming darker again, the light show really came on during the concert. It was a clear and beautiful late summer evening, and 6.100 people enjoyed every minute of the group’s performance.

The set list (see below) had no big surprises, Perfect Strangers was included, which indeed is a concert favourite among the fans, and three encores were given (Mary Long, Hush and a lenghty Black Night with Steve Morse and the audience exchanging play and sing along responses – great fun for all!).

Good sound all through the concert, and Ian’s voice was in top shape. The band was very pleased with the show themselves afterwards, and I think no one went home that night disappointed, but instead enlightened highly by Deep Purple and what they still represent. For many it probably was a ‘first’ of seeing Steve Morse and Don Airey live, and Steve does not fail to impress any ‘newcomer’.

Many young people attended and there is clearly a new ‘Purple generation’ experiencing and following the band nowadays. Personally I think this concert was even (slightly) better than the one I attended in Montreux in July.

Norwegian television filmed part of the concert and aired a short clip of it on the 23 o’clock evening news at main channel NRK1, and the local NRK radio and most of the mid-Norway newspapers in Trondheim and Steinkjer had long pre-show articles, interviews and good and positive reviews the day after.

Deep Purple, Steinkjer Festival 15 Aug 2008, 22.00-23.45.
Set list:

Fireball
Into the Fire
Strange kind of woman
Rapture of the deep
Kiss tomorrow goodbye
Contact lost / Steve solo
Well dressed guitar
Sometimes feel like screaming
Wring that neck
The Battle rages on
Don Airey solo
Perfect Strangers
Space truckin’
Highway star
Smoke on the water

Encores:
Mary Long
Hush
Black night

Thanks Deep Purple!

Hans Peter Jenssen
Trondheim

An alternative version of the No, No, No video from September 1971 performance at the Beat Club:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGrlUqOOTRw

Thanks to Jim Collins for spotting this one.

A Gibraltar website reports that Deep Purple concert on September 11 in Marbella, Spain has been rescheduled to September 12th at the same venue (Plaza De Toros in Estepona) “due to rescheduling of the band’s tour”. Tickets already purchased for the 11th September in Estepona will now be valid for 12th September. This will be their only date in Andalucia, chosen because it is a charity event (a donation from this concert will for to children’s charities.)

We have also received venue and ticket info for the September 15 gig in Palma de Mallorca. The show will be held at the Palma Arena (cap. 4,500) and tickets are on sale at €39 for arena floor and €95 for a seat with “VIP package” (no it’s not the DP VIP package, it just allows early entrance to the arena and some free drinks, but no access to the band).

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