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Regent Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
April 25, 2004

Silver Tongue
Woman from Tokyo
I Got Your Number
Strange Kind Of Woman
Bananas
Knocking At Your Back Door
Contact Lost
The Well Dressed Guitar
Don Airey's solo (incl Sonata #3, Star Wars theme, Waltzing Matilda)
Perfect Strangers
Highway Star
Lazy (incl Ian Paice's drum solo)
When A Blind Man Cries
Space Truckin'
Smoke On The Water

Hush
Roger Glover solo (incl Norwegian Wood)
Fever* / Hit The Road Jack
Black Night

* Ian also sang some absurd lyrics that went something like "I love my dog, I love my wife, I love my little weenie" but I don't know if this is an actual song.

I have seen them many times in the past and this is one of the best times. Deep Purple up close.
The sound was incredible. At The Regent the sound they deserve gave DP their royalty like appearance. The lighting Lewis does a great job, but this time he out did himself.
Gillan's voice was magnificent. Glover makes all the bass lines look simple - but are they? They are for him. Paicey with one arm behind his back broke the speed barrier on the snare.
Don Airey is the only guy I know that could of replace Jon on the keys and get away with it. Also throwing in Waltzing Matilda on Anzac Day was all that the Aussies wanted. He won us over. He also played very close to the records, so he sounded fantastic.
Steve, the smiling guitar player! How much fun can a person and a guitar have in one night? Just watch Steve. He never missed a note - or should I say he threw in a couple of 100 extras in as well.
Thanks to everone who make Purple what they are and get this great band rocking around the world so people can see and enjoy their music. Brilliant. Also if they come to your town one day, go and let them put a smile on your face and a ring in your ear.
Let's get Deep Purple in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame where they belong.
Chris Andrews

The opening act rocked pretty hard. I have lived in Australia for 12 years and was entirely unfamiliar with Billy Thorpe before Sunday night. He played for about an hour. After Thorpe, there was a half hour break, and then Deep Purple came on stage, and started playing a song I've never heard before, but from reading previous reviews I know it's Silver Tongue.
What's surprising is that none of the die-hard Purple fans at the front seem to know any words to any of the songs from Bananas. What's even more surprising is that hardly anyone got up from their seats all night. In 2001 there were scores of people next to the stage really enjoying the music. This time they sat and listened politely.
The highlights of the night included Gillan's vocal performance. I have read many criticisms of his singing, but it was actually stronger than in 2001 and listening to Purple on Sunday was like listening to the originals from the 60s and 70s. Herein lies one of the disappointments, namely, that there was no element of surprise. Seeing Purple in 2001 for the first time in my life was unreal, I couldn't come to terms that I am actually seeing them live, but seeing them in 2004 was seeing the exact same thing again, or Abandon, or Perihelion for that matter.
I wasn't even born during Mk II, but I hear that this unpredictability is what Ritchie used to provide. Steve Morse is an excellent guitarist, his solo spot was one of the highlights of the night. His control of the guitar is superb. But in the context of Purple songs, it feels like they start playing a song, then the song stops, Steve plays a solo, then song starts again. His very tone is too funky for Deep Purple, at least the classic stuff, and his solos seem to be interchangeable and not related to the song.
Don Airey was also very good. Star Wars and Waltzing Matilda some of the highlights, and also the pleasure of hearing the Highway Star keyboard solo unchanged. I managed to catch a towel he threw into the crowd, which just left a very satisfied feeling of the whole night. Jon Lord's presence was just awe-inspiring, but with Don I knew I would hear something different, something I haven't heard before. It's a pity he hides behind his keyboards, he seems to be a bit weary not to intrude on Jon's legacy, or maybe he is just quiet by nature.
Roger had an extended solo too, the likes of which I've never heard before, but the crowd mistook it for the intro to Black Night and started singing it prematurely. Ian Paice was awesome as he always is.
One bloke jumped on the stage, hugged Ian Gillan and kissed Steve Morse, before being removed by security. He was one of the few fans who looked really into it, which is a pity. I had imagined the up close and personal billing would translate into a pub-like atmosphere, but instead it was more like a theatre atmosphere, which is not surprising with the concert being held in a theatre.
All in all, Deep Purple are still the hardest rocking band I've ever seen. To me their music is second only to that of the Beatles, and in the genre of hard rock they haven't been rivalled. I hope they come back again.
Iliya Gontmakher

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