![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse6.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/paice.jpg)
End of tour volume
Saturday night the boys of Deep Purple ended the U.S. leg of their 2007 “Rapture of the Deep” tour at the Dallas House of Blues.
The venue was a smaller auditorium that held 1625 people. I’m not sure if it sold out, but it was hard to find an empty set in the house. Down on the floor by the stage was “standing room only” which I thought gave the band that little extra feedback kick.
Fans like me were soaking up the moment. Everyone surging closer to the stage anytime one of the band members approached close to where we stood. Plowed over when a pick or stick was thrown. It was great! It was loud! Huh? IT WAS LOUD!!! It was Deep Purple!!!
Ian Paice did a one hand drum roll… Amazing! Steve, Roger, and Don were on their game, but the man behind the mixing table (whoever that is) could use some more balancing skills on the guy’s levels. Oh yes, and remember to turn on Ian’s mic!
I would agree with the San Antonio review about Mr Gillan’s health. He did look a tad sqeemish, and seemed to often be shaking his arms as if to remidy carpal tunnel syndrome. At the end of one line in “Woman from Tokyo” he was obviously out of breath… so the fans helped out.
I also noticed during a song jam Ian Paice asking Gillan how he felt? (I was lip reading – so not certain.) Gillan shook his head, yes, and said I’m fine. This led me to believe that maybe Gillan wasn’t feeling too well. But the man never held back when the moment of a song was ready for his signature screaming, and he never stopped interacting with the diverse age range of the fans in attendance.
Jeff Hutsell
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing