[% META title = 'Tour Reviews' %]

A real privilege

This was my first time to see Deep Purple, and of the three bands I was looking forward to seeing Purple the most. I also hoped they would headline the show, since I'm not a huge Scorpions fan. But all three bands were great, and I was very impressed by the Scorpions, enough that I want to check out more of their music.

Dio is one of my favorite vocalists/bands, and this was my second time to see them. Their set opened with Killing The Dragon, and was one of three songs from the new album (the others were Rock And Roll and Push). The rest of the set included most of Dio's most well known songs, except for Mob Rules and Last In Line.

During the 'scary' part of Heaven And Hell, some jackass got up on stage right next to Ronnie, so close that we could see both of them in the red spotlight that shines on Ronnie. Security quickly got the fool under control, but as they were escorting him from the stage, Ronnie said, "It's OK, let him go," which was very cool of him, although the guy didn't deserve it. (Incidentally, the last time I saw Dio, also in Colorado Springs, a fan decided to climb onto the stage; maybe it was the same guy!)

Dio's band is excellent, and in my opinion, Doug Aldrich is the best guitarist Dio has had since Vivian Campbell. Doug's solo, as well as Simon Wright's, were great, but I do think one of them should have been dropped in favor of another song or two.

Next up was Deep Purple, and it was amazing to be able to see them in person, because they are living legends. We can't see Led Zeppelin anymore, and who knows if Black Sabbath will tour again, but Deep Purple is alive and well, with most of the classic line-up intact. That's awesome.

I've read about Ian having vocal problems during this tour, but I didn't notice any problems or mistakes. This was my first and only time to see Purple, so I have nothing to compare this show to, but all of the band members seemed 100%, and all of them impressed the hell out of me. Ian Gillan is amazing, and I felt like it was a real privilege to be about 20 feet away from one of rock's greatest singers. Steve Morse was the best guitarist of all the bands on this tour, because he showed so much diversity in his playing during the course of just 80-90 minutes. Now I understand why everybody speaks so highly of him. Roger Glover makes playing the bass look easy, and he looked like he was having a lot of fun doing it. And Ian Paice is still one of the best drummers ever. I only wish he had played a longer solo.

Finally, Don Airey seems like a perfect fit for Deep Purple (I've never seen Jon Lord live, so I can't compare the two). I did have a hard time hearing his parts in some of the songs, but his solo was very good, and the crowd popped big when he played part of the Star Wars theme. Of all the bands on this tour, Deep Purple has by far the most variety in their music. I would have liked to see them as the headliners, but at the same time it was cool to have them in between Dio and the Scorpions, which are more straightforward, whereas Deep Purple seems to have a little bit of everything in their music. It was a great performance, and I wish i could go see this band every night!

Finally, the Scorpions were very good as well. I didn't recognize their stuff, besides their big hits. They do what they do very well, and while they didn't make a huge fan of me yet, I do want to check out one of their best of collections, and find out more about them. If nothing else, they are a great live band.

Jesse Schreck

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