For the second time this year I was lucky enough to see and hear one of the greatest bands in the history of music. This was my fourth DP gig overall and I will surely see them again if they come back some day.

The setlist was no surprise – the same as during the first shows on this leg of the tour. The only difference is that there was no ‘Kiss tomorrow goodbye’. Adding ‘Into the fire” and “Fireball” was a great decision, so was ‘When a blind man cries’ – my personal favourite from the show.

A shame Steve did not play ‘Contact Lost’ – it was a special moment for me during every DP gig I saw, but instead, we had a riff parade incl. ‘Whole lotta love’, ‘Heartbreaker’, ‘Voodoo chile’ aaaaaaaaand …. ‘Sweet child o’mine’ which was a great surprise and I enjoyed ii very much, as Guns n’ Roses are probably even higher in my personal ranks than DP.

Ian looked great in his tight jeans and white shirt – better than during the previous shows. They were all in great form. The only problem was the sound. After this gig, I know every DP bass line by heart, because bass and drums were so loud in the area where i stood (that is approx. third-fourth row on Roger’s side of the stage), that at times, we could hardly hear Steve and Don. I know that this problem was non-existent for people in the back or in the middle of the standing area, but it was quite annoying for us at the left side.

Another problem was that the tickets were quite expensive for most of Poles. They were like 50% more expensive than two years ago. That’s why there was quite a number of empty seats and the standing area was not as tightly-packed as during their previous gigs with the venue being smaller than before.

I think the attendance was around 5000-6000 people. But as usual, we were very, VERY loud and I think the band liked it 😉

I thaaaaaaaaank yeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuu again. 🙂

Jakub “Bizon” Michalski

I am still under strong impressions after yesterday’s Deep Purple concert in Ljubljana, Slovenia. I saw them four times before and they were always great – and also yesterday!

In spite of their age and long lasting tour, they acted very fresh, relaxed and full of energy through the whole show.

The big Tivoli hall was full of fans despite relatively expensive tickets and the fact that they performed in Slovenia three times in the last three years. It was nice to see people enjoying the concert and singing along, there were at least three generations, from 16 to 60+.

Set list was predictable, some new songs, only one from Bananas, no Purpendicular or Abandon song, and a lot of older classics, including Lazy, Highway Star, Strange Kind Of Woman, Space Truckin’, Hush, Pictures of Home, Fireball, Black Night and of course Smoke On The Water.

The only drawback was a weak sound, but all in all I am very, very glad that I saw them again.

And I was lucky enough again to get a photo pass. Believe me, it is hard to take photos if you are a great fan, but still I managed to take some decent shots.

Thank you Deep Purple for a lot of happy moments!

Janez Pelko

Check out Janez’ excellent shots.

As a huge fan of Deep Purple I couldn’t have missed the first concert of Deep Purple in Slovakia. Apparently, so couldn’t many other people as well, from 10-year-olds to grey-haired band’s coevals – the place was pretty full.

After a lukewarm support band the Purples fired it off with Pictures Of Home, Things I Never Said and Into The Fire played without a break. The guys were relaxed, Steve smiled all the time, Ian and Roger communicating with the audience as always. Steve’s amazing solos hit the roof as well as Ian’s everlasting vocals. Don showed himself off in his traditional keyboard solo, playing extracts from Star Wars.

The show was getting better and better with each song, can’t say there was any weak point. People were enjoying it pretty much and Space Truckin’ followed by Highway Star almost made us boil.

It amazes me how these gentlemen still have so much energy after so many active years and still love to share it with people. Unbelievable performances, great sound and a two-hour gig left deep impressions in me and, for sure, in any of the audience. These guys rocked Bratislava!

Pictures Of Home
Things I Never Said
Into The Fire
guitar solo
Strange Kind Of Woman
Rapture Of The Deep
Fireball
The Well Dressed Guitar
Kiss Tomorow Goodbye
When A Blind Man Cries
Lazy
keyboard solo
Perfect Strangers
Space Truckin’
Highway Star
Smoke On The Water

Hush
Black Night

Tino Vrzba

I have been a DP fan for more than 30 years now and must admit that when talking about DP, I always had Mark II in my mind at the very top of the list. Of course I followed all other line-ups and bought all the albums but always having MKII as the benchmark. After yesterday’s performance I must admit that Mark VIII is now sharing that leading position in my ranking of favorites.

I don’t have words to describe how well the guys performed. Even though English is not my mother tongue, I doubt that in Spanish I should be able to find the exact word to express how did I feel yesterday and how do I still feel now.

The venue was absolutely packed with people everywhere, at least that was what I could see from my second row standing in from of the stage. After 30 minutes of an opening local Slovak band, DP hit the stage at 9 o’clock and the crowd went crazy. Not only “mature-middle age” people like me but also a lot of youngsters-teenagers really enjoying and chanting all songs, which is spectacular. It means that DP is much more alive than ever before… great!

I cannot remember the set list since I did not write it down, I was so concentrated enjoying the show that did not even think about doing it.

Anyhow I guess that was a wee bit different from the reviews I had read about previous shows. Three or four songs from Rapture of the Deep (Rapture of the Deep, Wrong Man, Kiss tomorrow goodbye and guess there was a 4th one but honestly don’t recall).

Into the fire was a huge and amazing surprise since I hadn’t heard that songs for some time now. When a blind mind cries thrilled me to the marrow, honestly. All time classics Lazy, Perfect Strangers, Space trucking’, HS, SOTW and Hush and Black Night as encores all of them performed in a superb way completed a marvellous and unforgettable evening.

To remark the revamped and revitalized starting of HS with an outstanding jam between Roger and Steve that really made me take some time to recognize that my all times ever favorite song was coming….gorgeous indeed!

Individually all the guys performed superbly with a lot of energy and power, the rhythm duo was extremely solid (as usual), Steve Morse incredibly robust in his role (nothing to envy to RB), Don very good on keyboards but for my taste his introductory solo to Perfect Strangers was too long (must admit am not a great fan of any kind of solos) and nothing new to say about how great IG is, not only as lead singer but also as a front-man, idol!

Final words to praise the personal and professional attitude of the guys on stage. It is amazing to see how genuinely they enjoy while performing and that feeling is transmitted to the audience and of course the crowd responds accordingly.

In short, an evening to remember forever and really looking forward to a next opportunity hopefully within shortly.

Long live DP.

Enrique Cotado

Reports are coming in that merchandise sold on the current Deep Purple tour includes a Machine Head t-shirt with Ritchie Blackmore’s face missing from the album design. And thanks to Luke Antosz we can now show the infamous t-shirt.

Now you see him – the original Machine Head sleeve with Ritchie Blackmore:

Now you don’t – current Deep Purple tour t-shirt:

But he used to be on that t-shirt! This one was sold on the last Mark 2 tour in 1993:

So what happened?

According to some, Blackmore’s current management sued Deep Purple for use of his image on the t-shirt.
According to others, the band simply doesn’t want to be associated with Blackmore anymore.

If you know, please let us know too – rasmus@thehighwaystar.com.
Continued…

Ian Gillan has kindly donated a signed copy of his yet unreleased book “Smoke This” and a signed 2006 Tour Poster to be auctioned to raise vital funds for The Linda McCartney Centre. Both items are signed by Ian Gillan, Dean Howard, Michael Lee Jackson, Randy Cooke and Rodney Appleby.
For more information, visit  Linda McCartney Centre (in the news section under the heading “The Voice Of Deep Purple”).

A charity art exhibition has been organised to raise vital funds and awareness for The Linda McCartney Centre in November. The exhibition will be taking place between the 20th and the 24th November in the main entrance of The Linda McCartney Centre based at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital in U.K., from 9am until 5pm daily. A painting for the exhibition has been kindly donated for auction by Roger Glover. For more information, visit  Linda McCartney Centre (in the news section under the heading “Charity Art Exhibition”).
Thanks to Linda McCartney Centre and Lesley Worrall for the information.

The authorities in Munich, Germany, have taken imprints of various entertainers and athletes who have performed at The Olympiahalle. When this venue was built at the start of the seventies, Deep Purple were the first band to play there (January 21, 1973). When Deep Purple played there the last time (February 18, 2006), Deep Purple stuck their hands into the wet concrete. See the picture.
Thanks to DPAS and The Aviator for the information.

Vigier Guitars has released the Excess Roger Glover signature bass. The bass features an Excess alder body with a maple top, phosphorescent dots on the fingerboard (available in rosewood or maple), phosphorescent contours around the knobs and a brand new three-band EQ electronic designed by Glockenklang amplifiers. See the photo.
Thanks to Vigier Guitars for the information.

As many of you already know (thanks for the emails), Sir Malcom Arnold died last Saturday at the age of 84. He had a long and distinguished career, but he is best known to Deep Purple fans as the main champion of Jon Lord’s Concerto For Group And Orchestra in 1969, conducting the Royal Philharmonic at the premiere at the Royal Albert Hall. He was also involved with Jon’s followup classical work, the Gemini Suite.

You can read more details about his life at:

• BBC
• Guardian
• NY Times
• Wikipedia
• Yahoo UK

Steve Morse mention a possible Dixie Dregs / Steve Morse Band tour in USA in January 2007. In his latest letter he says:
“I just talked to our Deep Purple manager, Bruce Payne, and also my manager, Frank Solomon. DP is doing lots of gigs this fall, and we’re looking at doing the Dregs/SMB tour for a little while in January stateside. I really don’t know for sure if that’s possible with all the scheduling commitments from the other guys, but that’s the very latest in the possibilities.”
Read his full letter here.
Thanks to Steve Morse for the information.