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Rockin’ hard at the Hard Rock
Deep Purple live at Hard Rock Live (Orlando, USA 2014-08-30)
Just got back to the room after watching a stellar performance at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando. The band was on Fire from the opening note of Highway Star to that final closing note of Black Night. Gillan sounded great tonight, Glover was solid as ever, Paicey continues to show just what a great drummer he really is. Airey was fine as always and Morse just lit the place up. He was grinning from ear to ear most of the night and the whole band seemed to feed off a much enthusiastic crowd. Same set list, so no need to repeat it, but they were just awesome. Can’t wait to see them at the final show tomorrow in Hollywood. Thank you to Ian Paice for the drumstick and to Steve Morse for the picks. My wife and I took our oldest son and his wife. My son grew up listening to Purple so he knows all the songs. We all just had a wonderful time. I hope they won’t wait so long to get back to the states for another tour. Thanks again Deep Purple for a fabulous show.
review by Del Ferguson
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Loving these positive reviews
August 31st, 2014 at 20:19A friend of mine (also a DP fan) went to the Orlando show and really loved it.
August 31st, 2014 at 21:38Was there. Airey was great! The band enjoyed the crowd energy.
September 1st, 2014 at 00:15Yet another fan-tastic review.
September 1st, 2014 at 11:12I’ve seen Deep Purple so many times over the years, but the show at the Orlando Gard Rock Live was definitely one of the best! I had planned to bring my 12 year old son, but waited way too long to buy tickets and TicketMaster’s annoying policies with “Choose Your Own Seat” meant that I had to buy 3 tickets if I wanted those available front row center balcony seats… So, I opted to bring my 8 year old as well, since my wife kindly volunteered to watch the baby… Mind you, the Orlando Hard Rock Live is in the middle of the Universal Studios complex, and we spent a full day before the show doing “all things Harry Potter”, so I figured he would be pretty tired out… The boys were more into Fall Out Boy and Miley Cyrus than Deep Purple despite their dad’s best efforts, but I figured it was worth a shot. They loved it! But then, why wouldn’t they ? The video screens and lights were definitely a step up from many of the “House Of Blues” shows I’d seen with DP over the years, and Ian’s voice was sounding great! As a singer myself I am always amazed how he is still able to sing stuff like “Into the Fire”. The crowd reaction was great too, though definitely much more enthusiastic for the “classic stuff”. I thought Vincent Price sounded great, and they did get a pretty good response from “Hell To Pay”… though my wife wasn’t thrilled when my 8 year old arrive back at the hotel singing it… It is also great to see the big smiles between all the band members…. so bobvious how much they enjoy performing live with each other! There are now two more devoted Deep Purple fans! Thanks guys!
September 1st, 2014 at 13:02Offtopic:
R.I.P. Jimi Jamison, one of my favorite singers. Sometimes it appears as if someone just switched off the light. My condolences go out to his family and everyone who was in touch or just a fan of Jimi like me!
Tommy
September 2nd, 2014 at 15:43It must have been fabulous all over the place.
September 2nd, 2014 at 18:39I never read a dissapointed customer.
http://www.guitars101.com/forums/f145/deep-purple-hollywood-fl-2014-08-31-a-178915.html
September 2nd, 2014 at 19:04Hey John Karp@5:
Are you the same John Karp I met and stood next to at the House of Blues in Orlando back in 1997? Your review below…..
http://www.thehighwaystar.com/reviews/static/us97-98/dp_reviews1233.html
My review of the show the day before in Pompano Beach…..
http://www.thehighwaystar.com/reviews/static/us97-98/dp_reviewscc5d.html
If so, how the hell are you? We just saw Purple in Biloxi on the 29th. Review, pictures and experience with Roger and Don coming soon. Still on our road trip vacationing in New Orleans now till after Saturday. Limited internet ability so it will have to wait till my return home. Anyway glad to see you are still Purpling and well…..
Ch-BeerZ
September 3rd, 2014 at 03:25Tommy H @ 6 – I didn’t recognise his name until I searched. He is the guy who should have replaced Gillan in 1990 eh? Would have been better than JLT & then we would not have had to call the band Deep Rainbow! RIP, he had a strong melodic set of pipes indeed!
September 3rd, 2014 at 04:02I went to the Deep Purple concert at the Hard Rock in Hollywood,Fla. on Sunday night 8/31, the last stop of the U.S.tour. I have seen Purple live for 40 years with every lineup except Mach 1 & I was simply blown away by the shear power of this band. They were extremely tight & its so amazing that 5 guys who are in their upper 60’s can deliver a non-stop barage of hard rock for almost two hours ! my 15 year grandson absolutley loved the concert & was impressed by the musicianship. The crowd, mostly baby boomers with a mix of youger people were on their feet most of the show were left wanting more !
September 4th, 2014 at 13:37My wife and I were also at the Biloxi gig and again, it was fantastic. This was my wife’s first time seeing Deep Purple and she, as a musician herself, was VERY impressed with the musicianship. For me, this must have been my 15th time of seeing Deep Purple and I will never tire of seeing them perform. (My first time was at Birmingham Odeon, England at the age of 16 – I am now 59.)
September 4th, 2014 at 17:04I was delighted with the set-list, which I had managed to avoid seeing in previous reviews so that I could enjoy the surprises. After the show I realized they played something from every decade of their existence – that is SIX DECADES folks! How DO they do it?
I loved each of the solos spotlights from each musician: My fellow Brummie Don Airey (I wondered if he noticed my Blues shirt as I think he may be a Villa fan!) showed just why he was brought in to replace the maestro (Jon Lord); Ian Paice’s solo was absolutely spot-on, almost inhuman! Steve Morse showed why he has now become the definitive guitarist for Deep Purple (much as I enjoy listening to Ritchie, Steve Morse is by far the more accomplished musician, and without the histrionics); and Roger Glover’s technical ability and his personality shone from his amazing bass solo. And more than ever I am wondering HOW does Ian Gillan STILL manage to reach those notes and screams!
As ever, I didn’t want the show to end, and cannot wait to welcome them back to my new home in Biloxi, MS., and maybe even get to shake their hands to thank them all for providing such SUPERLATIVE entertainment throughout my adult life.
Very much looking forward to your next album, guys. And thank you.
@ MacGregor # 10:
Yeah, that’s right. He was asked back in 1989 just after Gillan had been fired. Although he always was a huge Purple fan he had to turn down the offer because of his managers. They didn’t want him to leave Survivor in order to join Purple and Jimi was afraid of getting into a fight with them. In an interview Jon stated that the managers sort of were members of a mafia family or someting like that.
I don’t think that Jimi could have done much else for the band than Joe did. At that time I had the feeling that Purple were done in terms of creativity and it was Ritchie taking over of what was left of them. In addition, who knows if Jimi’s voice had even fitted in – it’s hard to imagine him singing songs like Highway Star although I heard him sing Smoke On The Water which sounded pretty good (although not as good as Gillan). Maybe they would have played more 80ies stuff with Jimi, we’ll never know. In retrospect it most likely was a good decision of Jimi not to join Purple because soon after he sang the famous title track of “Baywatch” which was a big success.
But anyway, he was an awesome singer with a huge voice!
September 4th, 2014 at 21:37Tommy H @ 13- yes, I guess Jimi Jamison may not have worked that well looking at it in hindsight! I just think it was a backwards step getting Turner in Purple, he was old wood so to speak, from a previous Purple related band that we had already heard before in regards to melodies etc. At least if Jimi did it, he was another different vocalist & it would have given him a blast & recognition & respect from another level of rock music fans! Although we know what would have also happened, he would have been criticised by some also. Sheeesh, he would have been pumped with that offer no doubt, I hope he didn’t regret not ever getting that Purple gig. Cheers.
September 5th, 2014 at 23:32#12 Don Airey is not a Brummie im afraid. He’s a Mackem. From Sunderland and a season ticket holder at SAFC. Red and White through and through!
September 6th, 2014 at 11:00