The Aquarian has a report from the October 30 Blackmore’s Night gig at the Sony Hall in New York. And it was a disaster.

Many things went wrong at the concert, some very evident to the audience. A few songs into the performance, a fire alarm interrupted the performance several times. The musicians repeatedly asked for the blinding stage lights to be dimmed. No one from the venue’s production crew solved the problems.

Less than an hour into the performance, with the issues not corrected, Blackmore left the stage. Night followed. The remaining musicians continued playing, eventually walking off the stage one by one, until only the drummer remained, and then he left also. After a few minutes of silence, a representative from the venue announced that the concert ended.

Read more in The Aquarian, including a statement from the band.

Thanks to Orhun Yakin for the heads up.

Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night were interviewed for their local paper Long Island Weekly, seemingly promoting their last album Nature’s Light that actually came out in March 2021.

The mood throughout the album is one of lightness and brings to mind tankards of ale being tossed back, peasant blouses, madrigals, and the kind of fanfare you might hear in the court of a Medieval king. With the current range of fantasy-flavored series like House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power being all the rage, does the duo ever think their material might be a good fit?
“It is interesting because there are so many period pieces, whether it’s on television or films, that come out and do so well,” Night said. “The irony is that the only time one of our songs was used was in a Jim Carrey movie called Yes Man, and they used ‘Old Mill Inn’ at a party he was at.”

Blackmore added, “It’s funny, because I don’t follow that kind of thing. I’m more of a purist and want to be in the wood myself, hearing a piece of music written in the 1500s or 1600s. I’m a little bit of a musical snob. There’s only one film we saw—Elizabeth, where they actually played three real Renaissance songs played in the correct manner with the correct instruments. Candy and I were jumping up and down in our seats, at least I know I was. I was thrilled by the fact that they’d taken the chance to play it as it was supposed to be played. But it’s very seldom that you’ll hear these songs or melodies played in the correct manner.”

Read more in Long Island Weekly.

Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.

Our contributor Matthew Burbridge writes:

There’s a new app called Moises which uses AI to extract the various instruments from a mix. It is great for musicians to create a backing tracking by removing for example the guitar or vocals. They used a similar thing to extract the different instruments on The Beatles’ Revolver which was recorded using a 4 track and remixed it.

I have actually used it to separate the bass from Stargazer as it is really low in the mix, so I can re-mix it with more bass. However, I think the bass needs beefing up a bit, as on its own it sounds weak.

However, this chap has separated out the vox from 72 Highway Star and removed the vox from the video and then applied the 72 vox to the video. I have not listened to it all as IMHO it’s pointless: A fun exercise but why bother other than “because you can”.

We agree with the last sentiment — a transplant is still a transplant. That being said, we, as always, welcome our new robotic overlords.

Deep Purple live at Max-Schmeling-Halle (Berlin, Germany 2022-10-31)

Berlin. Always worth a trip. Especially when Deep Purple play in the Max Schmeling Halle. Apparently many other people saw it that way, too, as the large hall seemed almost sold out. The band was full of joy, the fans celebrated. When a brass section reinforced the boys and Ian Gillan intoned “Let the good times roll” as entertainer, the joy grew even greater. Well done, absolutely fantastic! Deep Purple — always worth a trip.

review by Tobias Janaschke

Another pioneer of rock’n’roll bites the dust — Jerry Lee Lewis has passed away at the age of 87 “from natural causes”. A very young British guitarist by the name of Ritchie Blackmore got his feet wet in Jerry Lee’s British touring band in the early 1960s. Continue Reading »

Another video promoting Joe Lynn Turner’s new solo album Belly of the Beast. This is for the track called Tortured Soul. Continue Reading »

Another audience film of a full show from the current tour. This one is from London O₂ gig on October 20, 2022. It is shot quite a bit further from the stage than the Milan offering. On the plus side, the singer is in top form right from the beginning. Continue Reading »

There is a growing subgenre on YouTube — classical musicians reacting to rock tunes, and you might be familiar with examples of such presented on our pages. What distinguishes the Virgin Rock channel from the rest of the pack is that the first listen reaction is followed by a few days later by an in-depth analysis of the piece. This week Child in Time got the treatment. Check out the comparison with Bombay Calling and Stairway to Heaven in the second part.

Deep Purple are currently touring the country where it all started some 54 years ago, and here is a selection of gig reviews so far from the UK press.

London, October 20:

The much delayed UK tour by rock legends Deep Purple finally ‘Whooshed’ into London for what looked like a sell-out show at the O2 Arena. Following a solid performance from support band Blue Oyster Cult (who did a fine job of warming up the crowd) the audience rose to their feet as Purple took to the stage and gave a performance that belied their years.

The sound was the best I’ve heard at the O2 (and possibly anywhere) with all instruments clear and distinct and the band themselves sounded like they’d never been away. Remarkable. The big change this time around of course was the inclusion of new boy Simon McBride on guitar (stepping in to replace long-time guitarist Steve Morse who withdrew from the band for family reasons). Simon quickly proved that he was up to the task, knowing when to pay homage to the original solos in classic songs and when to put his own stamp on proceedings. He particularly shone during the extended intro to ‘Uncommon Man’ which he made his own.

Continue reading at The Rockpit.

Glasgow, October 22:

The arena was full and had an air of expectation when Deep Purple entered the fray. The slow build-up in the Highway Star intro got everyone on their feet, and it wasn’t long before the first few lines were seemingly being sung by the whole room, as well as Ian Gillan.

The sound was almost perfect, each instrument able to be heard clearly and the song bubbling along on a rhythm section that doesn’t sound like it has aged at all.

Then it was time for that classic guitar solo spot, and Simon McBride stepped front and centre for the first time.

Continue reading in Metal Talk.

Leeds, October 23:

“This one’s deep and meaningful,” Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan tells Leeds’s First Direct Arena, as drummer Ian Paice grins behind his kit. The two exchange a glance, before the former adds a knowing caveat: “And mercifully short.”

He’s not wrong to clarify brevity: at this much-delayed stop in West Yorkshire, their performance is as much a world-class exercise in wig-out noodling as anything else.

There is little disputing the indelible mark the veteran group have left upon hard rock and heavy metal, even if their line-up has been reshuffled more times than England’s top-order batting partnership.

Continue reading in the Yorkshire Post.

[Update Oct 29]: Manchester, October 26:

Oh, so dramatic, the stage goes black while the speakers boom out Holst’s The Planets. The band find their places before exploding into Highway Star. It’s a big number to kick the show off with and the front man’s voice really could have done with something a little easier. He quickly get’s into and here we are. Deep Purple, three original members from ‘Mark I’ – Ian Gillan, Roger Glover (on bass) and Ian Paice (on drums), augmented by Don Airey on keyboards, replacing the late Jon Lord, and Simon McBride on lead guitar, who recently took over from Steve Morse, himself taking over from Richie Blackmore via Joe Satriani. It’s like this with these iconic rock band – keep up!

Continue reading in Louder Than War.

Perhaps this is the right place to remind everybody that you can write your own review of a gig for The Highway Star.

On October 17 Deep Purple played a gig in Milan, Italy. A fairly decent audience recording of the show has been posted for your viewing pleasure. Sure, Big Ian sounds quite rough for the first couple of tracks, but once you get past it… Enjoy! Continue Reading »