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Time For Bedlam on The Strip

Deep Purple live at Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan (Las Vegas, USA 2017-08-12)

I managed to catch the first two nights of the tour. Vegas was great,my wife and I were front row on Steve’s side.The guys came out firing on all cylinders with 3 killer tunes then Uncommon Man drops the energy level from the crowd.Hip Boots would go over much better in this spot,that tune is taylormade for America.Heavy and bluesey.Lazy was really strong,Steve getting into it with a great lead in to the familiar riff .The Surprising works well on stage,a classic track. Perfect Strangers followed and was epic.Morse really working the whammy bar and bending the strings wrenching out those siren sounds.His son was watching from the wings and bringing him different guitars through the show which was cool to see.Space and Smoke were fine,cool lighting and images on the big screen for these two songs.Time For Bedlam absolutely kicked ass,so damn heavy and agressive.The best song of the night for me. Hush wound things up to thunderous applause from the audience.Gotta mention,Paicey looked and played great.He was a joy to watch,still got those quick wrists to whip out those fast fills.Gillan struggled with Fireball a little,not even getting all the words out during the verses.Maybe that one is too fast to sing now.Judging by the t-shirts, the crowd looked to split pretty evenly.For me it was great to see two of my all time favorites up close and personal.

review by Steve Hunt



11 Comments to “Time For Bedlam on The Strip”:

  1. 1
    Blackwood Richmore says:

    Age shall not weary them…

  2. 2
    John Schmidt says:

    I also was at that concert in the front row very close to Steve Morse (seat 4). Being in the front row made this the concert experience of a lifetime. So if you see any front row seats available, sell the girlfriend’s jewelry or the boyfriend’s motorcycle, just do whatever it takes and get that seat. You won’t regret it. The energy of this concert kept me on my feet most of the time, so for those people seated behind, I sincerely apologize but I couldn’t help it.

  3. 3
    Adel says:

    Spread the positivity but I can’t understand why people are complaining about DP show length. They are sharing the show with AC so it’s equal time on stage. 70 min each show that’s 140 min of combined AC and DP. How lucky can you get.

  4. 4
    mike whiteley says:

    The set-list for the first few US shows has been out there for a while.
    Disappointing,completely expected,and the exact reason why I’m skipping the only Canadian show..
    As soon as the North American shows were announced as a 3 band bill,I knew DP would have only about 75 minutes on stage.North American audiences only want the hits,so,minimal new stuff…..and you don’t get much more minimal than 2 songs.Putting Bedlam as first encore gives it even less chance of being heard,as lots of folks will head for their cars after Smoke On The Water.
    I truly hope Deep Purple comes back to some smaller venues ( ie:Toronto’s Massey Hall ) before they finish for good.
    With IG turning 72 today,I know that’s highly unlikely.
    Happy Birthday Ian !!!

  5. 5
    Maybe I'm A Leo says:

    I was at the Las Vegas concert. Deep Purple played their shorted set ever in my decades of seeing them live since the early seventies. Ian Gillan looked like he had just woke up with his hair messy on one side. The show lasted just over an hour. I was dead front center of Paicey’s drum kit, front row. Even the meet and greet was quick. My third meet and greet, very disappointed, lasted about ten minutes. A quick autograph, handshake and photo we were whisked away. Was a little disorganized too. Ian Gillan also looked like he didn’t want to be there. His vocals were terrible, missing many lyrics and sounding off key when you could hear him. Most of the 2,500 sold out seats, people were sitting down the entire show. First day of tour jitters? I don’t expect that from a band that constantly tours. As a fan since 1969, I really think it is time to retire. Absolutely not the energy they once had.
    Set List;
    Highway Star
    Fireball
    Strange Kind Of Woman
    Uncommon Man
    Lazy
    The Suprising
    Don Airey Solo
    Perfect Strangers
    Space Truckin’
    Smoke On The Water
    Encore
    Time For Bedlam
    Hush

  6. 6
    Scott says:

    I agree – Paicey was on fire. Just full of energy. It was a fantastic show. Still don’t understand why they didn’t do One Night in Vegas, considering they were in Vegas as Io think that song would transfer to the stage very well. Apart from that, fantastic night and I wanted another hour!

  7. 7
    Tommy H. says:

    @ 5:

    At the concert I attended, the people kept sitting down throughout the show as well, me included. The fact that this will be the last time to see them seemed to hang like a cloud over everyone. I tried to cheer and smile but I had a lump in my throat. To say goodbye to one’s heros is hard to digest.

  8. 8
    jeff says:

    Thankfully they released that Perfect Strangers DVD a few years back…One last glimpse of the band with darkness, energy, and the randomness that made them special. Morse is great but Blackmore had the magic and Lord was there toy with it.

  9. 9
    NWO says:

    @ ALL – Welcome to concert goers of Classic Rock Bands. The sea of Blue Hairs! Leaving before the encores – Typical of old concert people. Beat the traffic!! lol! All meet & greets suck (Hi, Handshake, Picture, No Autographs – Get Lost!). If you don’t get up and cheer the band, then complain they had no energy? Where were they going to get it from? They are too old to get up on their own and have done most of the set list 1000’s of times.. Nothing makes me laugh more than concert goers who sit and stare and then expect energy from the band! LMAO! Especially at this stage of DP’s career. No energy from the crowd will equal a boring show. Especially since they get so much energy from fans back in Europe. DP knows the North American market is gone for them…That’s why the triple bill. Otherwise it is Casinos and 4-5 thousand seat venues and there aint enough money in that and it weakens your market strength to come back to Arenas once you do those types of shows. Also you want to talk about no energy, Casinos and small venues are catered to have everyone sitting on their ass!! One time IG said at a small venue, “those seats must be really comfortable, The band and I were sitting in them earlier and we can see why no one wants to get up!” LOL! – BTW – everyone got up for the next song, I think it was Lazy but I don’t remember…

    They opened up the lawns here in Toronto so that should help get get kids in. Groupon has tickets for $25!! Hopefully that will add some energy to this venue..Hoping for 16000 at the Molson Amphitheater (oops sorry – The Budweiser Stage now!! LOL!)

  10. 10
    Scott W. says:

    @8 I agree with your comments about the perfect strangers DVD. I saw them in San Francisco two weeks after the show filmed in Australia for the DVD. It was fantastic! Richie’s playing on under the gun on the DVD is out of this world! Great solo, great showmanship!

  11. 11
    Antonio Segura Lopes says:

    13/12/2017 Arena Palmeiras (Allianz Parque) Brasil. Please SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE SCREAMING. Don’t forget

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