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Le Zenith, Paris, France
June 29, 2003

by Phil Voisin

The surprising thing with this set is that many people in France believed that the show was a Deep Purple one, with Lynyrd Skynyrd as a support band. Hopefully that was not the case for the LS fans who seemed as numerous, if not more, than the Purple ones. I personnally would have come for any of either bands alone (even if DP have been my favorite for years). Anyway as soon as Lynyrd started playing, it appeared even to those who had never heard about the legend that they were not here to waste one hour of the audience's time.

Their set was absolutely astonishing with a massive sound and an incredible energy, totally gaining the audience over to their cause, guitars and vocals being astonishing as the standard is for southern rock but also a spectacular drumming (to which Ian's sober style could only contrast) but a piano more than often lost in the mix. After their electrifying performance all Purple fans felt somewhat doubtful of what was to come, feeling that the trap was quite wicked. When you play after such a band you can't afford to be simply good.

The break between the two bands was quite short considering the sheer quantity of gear to uninstall/install but provided almost everybody enough time to go for a drink as the Zenith is an especially hot place-made of steel and having heated all day long. They without warning or scenery effects (unlike the 1st time I saw them, but it was with Ritchie and Jon) they just walked onto the stage, thanked us for how we had welcomed LS and started with Highway Star, something you always expect them to do but i wasn't totally sure of, having seen them once open with Fireball (which is just as good, but hey! Highway Star is THE stage opener!). Year after year after year this song still does the same to me, excitement and elation growing as the drums then bass enters, air getting tense with electricity until it cracks with the two chords and Gillan enters...

Took me back years ago to my 1st Purple concert (hum, which was my 1st ever concert by the way). Some kind of too good to be true feeling. I must say that this is one of the songs in which i really think that Ritchie was unrivaled, even if Steve does brilliantly. The organ chorus also demonstrated how well Don had managed to integrate into the band, his skills are great and he has the kind of "witty" style that goes along perfectly with DP, even if he might lack charism, a certain aura that Jon had (but maybe it's just to my eyes). Roger also was great with a huge sound a perfect tempo, and as the show went he proved even more from song to song that he was the man of the show (once again that is subject to personal taste...). But what proved how rock solid they were to be that night was the 2nd song, Knocking at Your Back Door, which really burst and blew the place after its intro. Pure hard rockin' sound, perfectly grooving and every single chord perfectly in place...

By the way later on the set its comrade song Perfect Stranger did exactly the same, almost being the 2 most recent pieces they played (hey, if you put apart the new ones). This trend on classics was confirmed by 3rd song being Pictures Of Home, which is one of my Machine Head favourites (well... 5 out of 7 are my fav song on this album...) and provides opportunities for everyone to demonstrate their abilities, which they did. The rest of the set list was also pretty much the same as Lichtenvoorde, with (to my opinion) highlights being Knoking at Your Back Door, Pictures of Home, I Got Your Number which proved to be a great rockin' one, Lazy, Perfect Strangers and Space Trucking which was absolutely incredible, i think that piece in particular was one of the greatest performances i have ever heard by the band. Black Night also worked very well with fans immediately starting humming.

On the average of the show, Roger was absolutely incredible. Able to play zillions of notes & replacing a rhythm guitar when the song needs it or to just underline Don's and Steve's playing at other times, he really was the key to the groove Sunday night, along with Ian (P) whose play seems so simple, so sober, no need to stand and jump to deliver a great performance... That guy looks like he wants to attract people to start playing drums by making them believe it's soooo easy and soooo cool! Steve who when he started was seen as refreshing the band's ideas is now a great part of the show, even if to my taste he goes a little bit too high in his soli, does he need so much treble? But that contributes to his style which is his very own and there's no way he should his way to play if it's not totally my taste.

But apart from these soli he is a piece that really contributes to the most rocking songs. Don is a more than decent replacement for Jon, having great inspirations on pieces already heard 100s of times and great "intermissions" and really sharing his enthusiasm with the rest of the band. And eventually Ian (G), what can be said about him except Gillan is Gillan and he still can do brilliantly on pieces like "Speed King" as on more lyrical ones which seem (and are) crafted for his voice like the new "Haunted" which is a great song but might not remain as a classic in a few dozen years as it isn't really a song to be played live... I mean it's a great song, really, i love it, but rather on a stereo than on a concert hall.

On the whole, great great great night and when the Purps finished i (and certainly almost everyone with me) had forgotten the doubts they had after hearing Lynyrd Skynyrd, the best point was that they had played a huge lot of classics, the worse was they had played lots of classics leaving no room for less heard ones like, i don't know, "Anyone's Daughter" for example. And, oh yeah, my biggest fear was, "what would Child In Time look like without Jon?" which i have no answer to as they didn't play it... Don't know if it's for the best or the worst.

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