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Scott Dubose's photos w/Joe Satriani

Warfield, San Francisco, California, USA
February 11, 2004

Silver Tongue
Woman From Tokyo
I Got Your Number
Strange Kind of Woman
Bananas
Knocking At Your Back Door
Contact Lost
Well Dressed Guitar
Perfect Strangers (intro - Don Keyboard solo)
Highway Star
Maybe I'm A Leo
Pictures Of Home
Never Before
Smoke On The Water
Lazy
When a Blind Man Cries
Space Truckin'

Hush
Hit the Road Jack / Black Night (with Joe Satriani)

I reached the Warfield at 4:30PM to stand in right up in front of the stage, and it worked - I was #7 in the queue.
While we were waiting, Roger Glover walked up, to inform a lucky guy in line that he was all set for backstage passes. I seized the opportunity and offered him a bunch of CD sleeves for him to autograph, which he did. The first sleeve was "Snapshot", and Roger joked and said, "I see you have good taste in music". I was also lucky to get "Accidentally on Purpose" (a favorite album) autographed by Rog, and then a few.
Roger mentioned that Joe Satriani was going to be at the show, but didn't know if he would get on stage with the band.
After doors opened, the rush to get a good spot was on, and I got to be in the first row, a little left of center, between IG and RG. Fantastic place from which to see the band.
Thin Lizzy opened and played an energetic 45 minute set. Having only a passing familiarity with their music, I liked their set, but couldn't wait for them to wrap up. A half hour after they were done, Deep Purple strode on stage to a huge roar from the crowd.
I thought that “Silver Tongue” worked really well as an opener. They did a fantastic job on the song, although Don was a little low in the mix. The crowd response was good for the newer songs, and excellent for the classics. I won't go into details - the playing throughout was crisp. Probably in the interests of fitting in so many songs into the set (19 in all), solos were a casualty. But although the songs sounded great, I don't remember a single standout solo. For me the highlight of the set was “Knocking At Your Back Door” - last night's version was outstanding.
Right after Hush, I saw Satriani in the wings, getting setup with one of Steve's guitars. He walked on stage to a big welcome from the crowd. A jam followed between Steve and Satch, then IG joined in for Hit The Road Jack. Joe, Steve and IG were clearly having a great time, smiling and laughing the whole time.
There was more jamming during the solo breaks; Steve and Joe were having such a ball that they didn't want to stop, so the song must have stretched on for over 10 minutes or more, before RG and Paicey brought the song to a close. The jam was a perfect end to what already was a superb evening.
IG stayed back to sign autographs, and I managed to get his autographs on "Accidentally on Purpose" and "Bananas". After the show my buddy and me headed out for a quick pint or two of Anchor Steam, to help with the after-show debriefing. ;)
Rock on!
Mahesh Srinivas

Not a full review, except to say I saw my first DP show last night, and I'm now a confirmed fan.
I came to DP through Steve Morse's career, having first seen him in 1978, and many, many times since. Last night was my first time to see him in full Rock God environment, and it sure was great to see.
I thought the band was very tight, full of energy, and nowhere near dinosaur status as people would believe if they haven't kept up with the band for the past ten years or so.
They played great versions of Bananas tunes, and leapt into Machine Head with energetic, fresh renditions while staying true to the great tunes that they are.
Topping it off was a visit by Joe Satriani during the encore, who did an extended jam with Steve on Hit The Road Jack/Black Night, including some tasty riff tradeoffs...
Scott DuBose

I flew up here the day before the show and I got off the freeway to get to the hotel... I turn down the street and pull up to a stop light..The Bananas album is on the CD player in the car, and the Bananas song has just started. I come to a light, look to my left, and see a restaurant called Banan's complete with banana imagery. Now, is that wierd or what? I swear I ain't making this up.
I had mixed feelings about seeing DP for the third time and first without Jon. I suspected Airey would cut it, as I am a long time fan of his too, being a keyboardist myself.
Don was fantastic, I loved seeing his smile and he had more interaction with the crowd than in recent years. Jon didn't seem to have that because he always hid behind those dark sunglasses like Ian does.
Don is a very worthy replacement, and the old innovative Don was very present during this show, although he isn't too innovative on the album. His solo was just totally brilliant, featuring excerps from the Star Wars movie, sequences that he played over, great classical piano playing and even a bit of his solo from Ozzy's Revealtion Mother Earth!
The only thing missing was that cool Jon and Steve interplay on solos.
I also had reservations about Ian's voice, but it was fantastic. It's such a shame that there exists albums like Come Hell or High Water and videos like Paris 1985, where Gillan sounds like crap, because the three times I've seen him in '85,' 98 and now he's been right on the money. His voice sounded great, and those screams he does in between songs are also cool. No hoarseness all night, right there.
This was a very vibrant charismatic band, everybody looked healthy, the mix was excellent, if only the drums a bit too low.
While it was great to hear the Machine Head album in it's entirety, I think the show lost momentum by doing so. I still enjoyed hearing it, but that meant nothing from Purpendicular Abandon. No Haunted or anything from THOBL or TBRO. I'd rather hear more Morse era cuts than the whole Machine Head album.
The imagery when they played that album behind the band was also cool, as was the footage of Montreux that illustrated all the words of SOTW.
The great surprise was having Joe Satriani come out for the encore on Hit the Road jack and Black Night, how cool to hear him play through Steve's equipment, but he still sounded like Joe, proving that it's the player and his fingers, not the gear that makes the player.
It was worth flying up from LA for this. Don't miss this show, it's totally worth it.
John Harjo

This is the first show of three that I am attending during this tour.
As mentioned by previous reviewers, this is one show that you truly must see. Two hours of Deep Purple is a rare and glorious treat!
If there were sound problems in the previous two nights up in the NorthWest - those problems were resolved on this night. Thin Lizzy put on a energetic set that set the tone for the evening. I was just right off center stage and I could hear every band member clean, clear and loud. Rock'n Roll! Although they didn't do a encore they delivered a performance that was worth of one!
A quick note to all of you who haven't yet purchased Deep Purple's newest release, "Bananas". Get your head out of the "Classic Rock" corporate ass and get on with the new! This release is fresh and worthy of great praise and showcase.
The tunes performed from "Bananas" tonight were outstanding especially the title track. Kudo's to Roger for trying to please the promoters by having the band perform the whole of "Machine Head". Without a doubt this is one of the greatest albums of all time, however, this material has been played to death and in my "dream set", I would have opted to play the whole of "Bananas" and then thrown in some of the older material.
The Steve Morse era is a creative one and deserves to be hightlighted. A fantastic album like "Purpendicular" should never be ignored when planning a setlist.
With all that said, the boys still played with the enthusiam of younger men and that love of performing was evident throughout the evening.
The added treat to the evening's show was the extensive jamming between guest guitarist, Joe Satriani and Steve Morse. The two of them were par excellent! I went home thrilled to the bone and can't wait to get to LA to catch the next show!
Victor Martinez

It was One Magical Evening!
We arrived at about 3:30 to ensure that we got front row "seats". We were there about 15 minutes when a cab pulled up, and out stepped Roger Glover! He was very gracious, "chatting us up" a bit and signing our CD sleeves. I even got my picture taken with him!! (sigh). Thanks, Roger! So I was in "seventh heaven" before the show even began!
Starting with "Silver Tongue", the next two hours were pure pleasure. The band is happy to do what they do so well, and it shows. Smiling, joking around, making faces, it's good to see that they have as much fun playing as the audience has listening.
Ian Paice has a "style" that is so his own. I especially enjoyed the intro to "Never Before". His amazing contribution to Purple's sound is not to be denied. Great show.
I throughly enjoyed Gillan's performance, and loved singing along on all the songs, (especially the "Bananas" ones, and "Never Before"). During the time when he wasn't singing he was doing something that I think would best be described as "interpretive dance". Swaying his arms, strutting around the stage, making faces, and using hand signs. What a character! I found it marvelous! He's entertaining even when he's not singing.
The Bananas numbers were solidly played, flawlessly fitting in with the rest of the set. The "Machine Head" portion of the show seemed so fresh and new, and brought back fond memories. I especially enjoyed "Never Before"!
All too soon, it was time for the encore. Ian announced, "If there are any former members of Deep Purple in the audience, please come to the stage now." Out steps Joe Satriani! [Only just beating Rod Evans to it... ;^) Rasmus] The crowd went nuts!! Then, as if it hadn't already been a great show, Steve and Joe proceeded to give the audience an example of what truly gifted musicians they both are! It was a shredfest! Both guitarists pushing each others boundaries into the stratosphere! It was astounding! A perfect end to a perfect evening!
After the show I was lucky enough to get Ian Gillan to autograph my "Bananas" CD sleeve...
Afterwards we were "bone weary", but it was a good kind of tired. We had just witnessed the greatest band in the world doing what they love doing... making great music!
Rich & Lucy Franz