Seeing Deep Purple for the nth time since the age of 15 (I am 52 now!) never diminishes in excitement. And this year’s NEC show was no less a scintillating experience.

Also living part-time in the USA I was not unfamiliar with Styx, who must be my favourite USA band. So, to have my favourite British and American bands on the same bill was sheer joy! As for Thin Lizzy: sorry guys, give it up. Nice to see ya, but…

Styx, however, showed how to put on a rock show. I have always been amazed that they have never been ‘bigger’ in the UK and it irks me to see and read that so many rock fans know little about them.

Mention should go to the ‘cover’ version of The Beatles; “I am the Walrus” which the good people sitting next to me quite rightly stated was “better than the original!” A word to the Styx management: promote them more in the UK – they deserve it!

Then the headliners… and well worth waiting for. Deep Purple must be the most underrated rock band in British music history. They provided a solid performance with superb musicianship and, although not having the ‘flair’ of their support act, rocked the house with a well-balanced mix of old and new Purple classics.

They finished with a driving second encore of “Black Night” (which, incidentally, put me in mind of a 35-minute version played in Birmingham Town Hall in the 70’s that put the lights down! Oh, to be young again..!).

I was disappointed only with Ian Gillan’s choice of ‘costume’ – I have grown to like his white flowing gown of previous appearances; while I do think that it is about time the truly excellent Steve Morse developed a ‘persona’ of his own and came out of his shell somewhat… he still looks like the shy newcomer – even though he must by now be Purple’s longest-serving ‘axe-man’, whose brilliance as a guitarist is second-to-none. So dress the part Steve, and shine!

Keep coming back guys. Again and again. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We love ya…!

Stephen J. Smith
Birmingham UK and New Orleans USA

Every tour has to end, and this to me has been the best tour since Purpendicular at the Reading Rivermeade. That was the first time I was confronted by Steve Morse on guitar.

And today? Steve is the Deep Purple guitarist, and Don is the Deep Purple keyboard player, both gems in their own right.

I would love to see more of the new album, but hey, I can´t complain – this was quality throughout. I think the set also omits to show Steve´s contribution to the band for over a decade now. But he is still smiling so that can´t be an issue to him.

As with the second night of the tour in Manchester the only downside was that the night had to end.

I got a few pics but the ´jobs worth´ employed by the NEC appeared hell bent on stopping me taking pictures. He did not win… [And a job well done! Rasmus]

Andy Worthington

A brief note about the Glasgow gig. It´s a real pleasure watching the band enjoy themselves on stage.

Great versions of some of the songs (especially Lazy); the only gripe I have is the lack of post 1995 material. When you consider there is four albums worth of stuff to choose from, it´s a shame the band aren´t able to play more recent material.

I´d love to see a more up to date set with a couple of rarities thrown in (Hard Lovin´ Man anyone?). I know this may come over as a moan but I understand the band´s position on this and it won´t stop me looking forward to the next time.

Ivor Lloyd

So, off to Birmingham for the last night of the UK Tour. After Cardiff, could I expect any bonuses?

Well, the first was that I had a seat and so didn´t have to endure Lizzy and Styx.

Downside – it was the NEC and this damn building seems to leach sound and atmosphere from any audience, but they insist on coming here so I´ll have tp put up with it.

Purple came on Stage at 9:30 and opened with Pictures of Home – in other words, no variation on the Cardiff set. Never mind, they were (despite the venue) on fire – still smiling, still playing so well that at times I watched the video screens in absolute awe as each member of the band proved their versatility.

Gillan´s voice was still on the button; Paicey was the powerhouse he always is; Glover providing the perfect counterpoint to the fluent drums; Airey (apart from losing his temper when the keyboards failed during Hush) was able to take the Lord compositions and make them his own.

And Morse? – the man is an absolute revelation. No matter how many times I see him play, his virtuosity, humour and sheer genious complements and enhances all of the numbers. He can take a Blackmore (who?) riff or solo and pay homage to the original while totally transforming it into his own Morse code (groan!).
I have never, and I mean never, heard his solo and Well Dressed Guitar played so well. Even the Guns and Scirrosis riff didn´t spoil it.

So, the other bonuses were that they played ´a blinder´ again plus we had Bernie Mardsen join them for Smoke. Always a pleasure to see Bernie play, just a pity he doesn´t release more or tour more than he does.

The end of another tour – only two visits for me this year due to work commitments (dammit!).

Let´s hope that they come back soon (a la France) with a revised set list… Yes, they played a blinder, but I will yet again voice what so many fans want: a set list covering more than Mk2 and the odd Morse era is now needed to keep the fans truly happy – yes, we will stick by you through thick and thin, but listen to the people that matter, fellers!

Regards
Tom Dixon

My name is Jennifer Brown. I am 22 years old. I went to the concert in Newcastle Arena on 21st April.

I have never seen Deep Purple before and was not expecting to enjoy it, however the set was fabulous and not what I expected! [That´s the spirit, expect nothing and be thoroughly surprised. 😉 Rasmus] They came on and bounced the air into your ears and I´ve never heard a band like it before! It was amazing!

My favourite song has to be Clearly Quite Absurd although Rapture Of The Deep live just took my breath away…

The icing on the cake was meeting Steve Morse after the show and having our picture taken, cortousey of Peter and Margaret Howon-Brown (my mum and dad) and who by the way wants to say thank you to Roger Glover.

Hopefully they are going to be around for a long time yet as I´m just getting into then now!

Lots of love, and keep on rocking!

Jen, xxx

P.S
I have included my most treasured picture of Steve Morse and myself!

I don’t know what do they feed him in Japan, but here he is again, talking. About his school, The Outlaws, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Purple reunion, and perils of playing hard rock. I’m sure you’ve heard many of these stories elsewhere, but there they are from the horse’s mouth. This interview was taken circa 1997. Continue Reading »

Steve Hoare emailed us that he has started a petition to nominate Ian Gillan for the rank of the Member of the Order of British Empire. British citizens and residents can sign petition online at the Prime Minister’s web site. Deadline is March 4, 2008.

MBE rank does not entail knighthood, but is nevertheless a very prestigious award. You can read more about it at the Wikipedia.

One of the Styx crew members is blogging from the current tour with Deep Purple and Thin Lizzy. You get to know why Styx only played a 15 minute set in whichever town it was and you get goodies like this:

During the ride last night on the European tour front, a crew bus sideswiped a car going down the road. Freakin’ perfect. Luckily, no one was hurt, although the car pretty bunged up. Yesterday, a truck driver passed out cold on the dock (later diagnosed with dehydration), and this AM a tour catering girl mashed her hand in a door badly enough to be sent off to hospital.”

http://thisgigsucks.com/blog.html

My good lady and myself turned up really wondering what sort of night was in store for us – we were not to be disappointed!

Thin Lizzy on at 7pm … Great to hear the old standards but they were a little “thin” and never really seemed to get the crowd on their side – even though we were sworn at to do so… Enuff said about that 40 odd minutes.

8pm Styx, must say did not know anything about them – however they won both of us over after the first couple of songs – very energetic, excellent musician who typically American put on a high speed high energy show. They got the crowd going.

I was told by a fan that they had done mostly older songs – anymore than that I’m afraid I am not in the position to commment, only to say that we would go and see them as headliners if they ever come back to the UK.

Then the main event. About 9.30pm the boys appear – they hit the stage running and never stopped – this was one of the best gigs I have seen of them – they were enjoying every moment and sounded great – (for the NEC).

Not a word from Ian untill after ‘Strange Kind of Woman’ then a quick helllo, but like all the best bands they let their music do the talking – many could learn a lesson from that.

The set list was the same that has already been seen here so I will not bore you by running through that, but why oh why do they have to play the same old songs every time around? Machine Head, Machine Head and Machine Head.

I know this is personal opinion but with such a great back catalouge why play the same old standards, instead of more newer stuff? ‘Rapture of the Deep’ was excellent on the night. I would also like to hear songs from Perfect Strangers for example – for me they could do a show based on that and I would be happy. Anyway that’s that.

My good lady loved Steve’s bit – I would like to see the solos done as part of the songs – it would help the flow of the show IMHO – but he is an amazing player.

They introduced a guest for Smoke on the Water, ex-Whitesnake Bernie Marsden played along side Steve – and had a couple of solo’s, as always with that large affable smile on his face. I have always enjoyed Bernie so it was great to see him on stage even for a short time.

Of course they finished off with ‘Black Night’ – they did stay around for the applause and seemed to really enjoy the recpetion they recieved. Ian said Good night and added “look forward to seeing you again soon” or something very close to that so we all got the impression they will be back.

In summary a wonderful night of entertainment – take the time to listen to some Styx. Purple were ‘Into the Fire’ on fire. Can’t wait to the next time.

Bob & Linda Barfield

I caught the start of Lizzy’s set who came on as many were still arriving at the venue. They delivered a competent 40 minute set but there was no spark and I’m not sure what the future holds for them as a viable force.

I meant to watch Styx but the bar was too attractive an alternative.

Managed to get down by the stage for the main event where it was good and loud. The band seemed really up for it and it soon became apparent that we were going to get their best Scottish performance since the Barras in ’96.

Gillan’s voice was in fine fettle and Don Airey seems to bring out the best of Steve Morse. Fortunately, the Machine Head concept was ditched and it was great to hear ‘The Battle Rages On’ and ‘Into the Fire’.

Otherwise all the usual numbers were played with flair including a crunching version of Space Truckin’. The only small gripe was that only two songs were played from ‘Rapture’, their best album in decades. Most of the UK audience were veteran Purple fans and those I spoke to were expecting more – maybe next time.

Andy J