Deep Purple Delivers Splendid Show at Packed State Theater

Deep Purple delivered a splendid show at the State Theater New Jersey on February 11, 2023, in New Brunswick, NJ. The band was on fire, Ian Gillan was on top form, and Simon McBride projected such great chemistry on stage that it felt like he had been playing with the lads for years.

I miss Steve Morse and I was hoping that he would make a surprise appearance, especially since he will be touring the same region in a couple of weeks. In fact, I am going to see the Steve Morse Band at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, CT, on February 26, 2023. It is kind of strange that I am getting to see both DP and Steve Morse within a two-week span, but, ironically, in two different bands. Hopefully, at some point there will be a “proper” onstage changing of the guards between Steve and Simon, like what Jon and Don did. If there is one, those in the audience will surely be lucky to witness it. Steve is a great musician and such a nice human being; and Simon is an excellent guitarist, and he seems like a nice bloke as well.

Simon is a great fit for DP. He did a fantastic job and delivered a truly excellent performance. With a capacity of 1,850, the State Theater had great acoustics and was completely sold out. Unfortunately, we missed the first two songs and walked in as Nothing at All was getting under away. After a two-hour drive, we checked into the hotel (next door to the venue) and walked to a nearby restaurant where we had a dinner reservation thinking that we were well ahead of schedule. However, service was extremely slow and, regrettably, we failed to get out of there on time. The band had taken the stage promptly at 8 PM and, from what I was told, had already played Highway Star and Pictures of Home.

I went with a friend and we both brought our respective 13-year-old sons, neither one of whom had ever seen DP live before. As most kids their age nowadays, my son is not particularly into rock music. Thus, at first, I was somewhat hesitant about bringing him to the show. What if the band had an off day, I asked myself? Is that how I want my son to experience and, potentially, remember my favorite band? Thankfully, in the end I overcame my hesitation and decided to bring my son along as I worried that there might not be another chance for him to experience firsthand the magic of what I consider the best rock band in the world PERIOD.

Both my son and my friend’s son enjoyed the show immensely. I was thrilled that both boys got to experience their first ever (and potentially last) DP show with the band sounding great and in top form. The YouTube videos from people’s phones and floating around the web do not do justice to the band. The lads sound great, especially big Ian.

Our seats were fantastic. To my delight, the person seating next to me was Clif “Cooky” Crawford, who was Blackmore’s guitar tech from 1981-1988. It was great spending time with Cooky and his wife and seeing photos from his personal collection from both the JLT era of Rainbow as well as the DP reunion. Not to mention hearing some awesome stories firsthand from someone like Cooky who was not only super close to the MiB himself, but also close to other members of both the JLT era Rainbow and the DP reunion era.

I truly hope this wasn’t my last DP gig, but, even if it turns out to be, I won’t have any regrets; I got to see them one more time, this time, most importantly, with my son, and it was a splendid evening of music, indeed. Thank you, DP! You are amazing; absolutely amazing.

Albania

Delaware Daily News has a tad superficial, but without any major mistakes review of the Deep Purple gig in Philadelphia metro area:

It was about a 90 minute show on February 10, 2023, and this band could have walked through all of the radio staples they have and called it a night. They chose not to do that. They opened with Highway Star and then played newer songs that resonated well with the crowd. They also took care of business with tracks that might not have gotten a lot of radio airplay. “Anya”, is a song that has been around for decades. It starts out slow and the tempo slowly builds into a rocker.

Read more in Delaware Daily News.

Photo: Alex LLoyd Gross/DelawareDailyNews.com

Thanks to Tobias Janaschke for the heads-up.

Deep Purple have resumed their merciless touring schedule in 2023 on February 10 with a gig in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here are a couple of clips from the show, to whet your appetite.

Thanks to Philly Upstart for the videos; to Mike Whiteley and Orhun Yakin for bringing them to your attention.

Steve Morse has co-authored an instructional book Melodic Rock Guitar Concepts that was published February 1. It is 88 pages in English, plus 75 downloadable audio examples and backing tracks, along with clear notation and tablature.

Melodic Rock Guitar Concepts shows you the influences that have shaped Steve’s unique guitar style and he shares how he has adapted is favorite country licks into a rock context. You’ll also discover how Charlie Parker was a great influence, and how to recreate many of Steve’s chromatic bebop inspired licks.

You’ll also learn how Morse visualizes scales and master a set of challenging picking drills to sharpen your technique.

To conclude, Steve presents a guitar masterclass on how to create tension/resolution in your solos while adding some outside-inside interest.

The material here is taught around four original tracks, specially written for this book.

Track 1 – Teaches you dominant chord focused phrases with a New Orleans-style funky rocking groove

Track 2 – Offers major chord focused phrases over an energetic, driving rock tune

Track 3 – Teaches you minor chord focused phrases with a mid-tempo hard rock blues with a twist

Track 4 – This is a heavy blues that showcases tension and resolution and explains how Steve utilizes the Half-Whole Diminished scale

For each track you’ll learn:

• The rhythm guitar part
• A complete solo, often with multiple guitar parts
• A detailed solo breakdown taught via a series of two- and four-bar examples

The book is available in Kindle and paperback format from Amazon, and as a PDF from the publisher. Amazon also offers to check out a few sample pages (click on the Look inside logo above the cover).

Thanks to SteveMorse.com for the heads-up.

A second instalment of the Trapeze reissues will be released on April 28, 2023, via Cherry Red Records. This box set will include Hot Wire (1974), Trapeze (1975), and Hold On (1979) albums, and three live recordings: Live At The Boat Club (September 13, 1975 in Nottingham, UK), Live At Arlington (September 12, 1976, Texas Hall Auditorium in Arlington), and Live in Texas: Dead Armadillos (1981). The set consists of 5 CDs, with the first two albums squeezed onto one disk. Glenn Hughes appears of a couple of tracks from their ’75 self-titled album, and on the live set from Arlington.

The box set can be pre-ordered from the label.

Thanks to our editor emeritus Benny Holmström for the info.

Glenn Hughes is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Burn with a string of dates in Portugal and Spain this May. He will be performing the album (apparently, in its entirety), as well as other Mk3 and Mk4 numbers. His band will consist of Søren Andersen (guitar), Ash Sheehan (drums) and Bob Fridzema (keyboards).

It was 50 years ago, in the Summer of 1973, that the BURN album by Deep Purple was written at Clearwell castle in The Forrest of Dean, Gloucestershire

It was recorded in October 1973 in Montreux, Switzerland.

We all became one in this centuries old castle in the UK countryside, it felt like Deep Purple were a new band, with David (Coverdale) and I as new members, we couldn’t wait to start working on new songs. The atmosphere was electric, in such amazing surroundings.

All the songs on BURN were written in the crypt/dungeon, underneath the great hall. We worked on a new song every day, and we were in the flow. Musically we would play, and work out ideas, and David and I would come up with vocal melodies that would later have lyrics. I remember it like it was yesterday.

As you could imagine, Ritchie Blackmore was in full prankster mode, Jon had warned me, and he rigged my room one night with a speaker that was hidden, and had ghostly voices delivered to my bedside.

The title track was the last song to be written. We came back from the pub, and went down into the crypt, and magic happened.

It’s time to celebrate BURN, and I’m really looking forward to seeing you.

Further details in our calendar.

The latest issue (#2/2023) of the Swedish Rock’n’Roll magazine has a 5-page feature on Ritchie Blackmore pre-Deep Purple. The issue can be ordered directly from the publisher, with fairly reasonable shipping rates, even overseas. Caveat: naturally, it’s all in Swedish. Continue Reading »

For all the fans of lovely Elizabeth: watch her giggle her way through the masterpiece that, by our count, have spawned at least three heavy metal sub-genres, before lending the name to an obscure website. Continue Reading »

Metallica has a new single out, and at one point Kirk Hammett directly quotes several bars of Blackmore’s solo from Speed King Continue Reading »

And here are two ex-Purple guitar players jamming together earlier this year, joined by Eric Gales on guitar, Kenny Aronoff on drums, Bryan Beller on bass, and Rai Thistlethwayte on keyboards Continue Reading »