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Alive and creative in São Paulo
Deep Purple have headlined this past weekend the Best of Blues and Rock festival in São Paulo, Brazil. This marked their first public performance since November 10, 2024. The hiatus, previously explained in an interview by Ian Paice, stems from the intention to take the live performances easy this year, playing “a day here, three days there”, with touring to resume in earnest in the Fall.
Our man in Brazil Marcelo Soares reports from the festival:
Deep Purple’s only show in 2025, before November, was an open air gig at the Ibirapuera park, in São Paulo. The stage was at an auditorium designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer, with the white walls serving as a screen for the live images that also were used behind the drums and organ.
The organizers of the Best of Blues and Rock festival had announced one day before that they had sold about 85% of the 15,000 maximum tickets — which means nearly 13 thousand tickets sold. There was room for that many people. Even the rain that insinuated itself in the morning made room for a beautiful sunset.
No new songs were played. We had pretty much the same set of the German tour in October, but three =1 songs were dropped to fit the festival duration. Otherwise, the running order was the same. The three new songs played in Europe but not here were Portable Door (!), Now You’re Talking and Old Fangled Thing.
Purple hadn’t played together, at least onstage, for seven months, so this was their first show this year. Their playing was as sharp as if they had played together the week before. It might have helped that they did some rehearsals in a studio in the city before the gig.
The three =1 songs included in the set (A Bit on the Side, Lazy Sod and Bleeding Obvious) were not well known by the crowd, but they were not shunned either. It’s more a factor of the record industry than anything else, indeed. Lazy Sod had more people singing along, because of the video. And the energy in Bleeding Obvious is a very strong high point for the show; even if few people sing along, most will dance.
It’s important to have this nice share of new material. The band is alive and creative, and all the press reviews of the concert made a point of noting that.
About the band themselves, what original thing can one say, having followed them for so long as we have? My wife, who saw them for the second time, got very impressed at their competence, energy and high spirits. I never cease to marvel at that also, but then I have witnessed it time and again since 1997.
Roger is energetic as always, with a shining smile. Seeing him jump onstage, you can almost forget he turns 80 in November. Wish I had half his knees. (He, too, or so a wise man told me.)
Gillan never leaves his wit at home. After When a Blind Man Cries, people kept shouting his name and he cut it all with an “enough of that already!”. He also announced he gave up on explaining what Lazy is about.
Don quoted some bossa nova and Aquarela do Brasil. For the encore, he wore a Brazil soccer team jersey, in a move to reclaim the jersey last seen at the Madonna gig in Rio.
Simon was acclaimed by the crowd. Before Smoke on the Water, when there was a seeming mix-up on what he should have done (in Germany he did a solo at that time), the crowd chanted his name. He has the chops and the swagger.
Paice seems to do with less effort, in his 70s, what he had to be an athlete to do in the 70s. He is a master of his craft, like all his colleagues.
The two opening acts were far better than I expected, especially Judith Hill — a family act, with her mother Michiko Hill on Hammond and synths, her father Pee Wee Hill on a funky bass and a voracious drummer. The older Hills met in a funk band in the 70s, and the rhythm in the show was simply hypnotic, in a great mood. I didn’t know her before, and now she has two new fans at the same address.
Before Judith, we had the Brazilian rock band Hurricane. They were very excited to be in the same bill as Purple, and their keyboard solo showed younger musicians are still listening, learning and practicing what Jon Lord and his contemporaries did.
There are musicians able and willing to carry the kind of music we love for at least as long as Purple’s career so far. It’s great to see all those generations in the same stage.
Setlist:
- Highway Star
- A Bit On The Side
- Hard Lovin’ Man
- Into The Fire
- Guitar Solo
- Uncommon Man
- Lazy Sod
- Lazy
- When A Blind Man Cries
- Anya
- Keyboard Solo
- Bleeding Obvious
- Space Truckin’
- Smoke On The Water
Encore:
- Green Onions
- Hush
- Black Night
A few pieces of video evidence:
Thanks to Marcelo Soares for the review, and to mfg05 and Bruno Capelas for the video clips.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
nice to see Anya still in the set, also Bleeding Obvious. When I watch big Ian and also Roger Daltrey recently, I begin to worry a little more than I should. Anyway, brush off a few cobwebs and see how things go………..Cheers.
June 17th, 2025 at 02:32“My wife, who saw them for the second time, got very impressed at their competence, energy and high spirits.”
You made a good choice with her Marcelo! 💃
June 17th, 2025 at 02:43IG, IP and RG are still delivering the goods but the lack of improvisation from DA and SMB has become an albatross around the band’s neck. Their note for note renditions, staying the same from night to night, has taken away the incentive to go and see them.
June 17th, 2025 at 05:09Thank you for this nice review 😊
June 17th, 2025 at 05:47@3
Amen to that, Daniel!
My biggest regret. What a Shane. iG doing more improvisation with his singing than the two leading instrumentalists.
Thanks God we have Roger and Ian on too of all.
June 17th, 2025 at 06:51Je ne vais plus voir DP depuis 1994 car l’âme du groupe a disparu….
June 17th, 2025 at 07:11@3. Totally agree.
June 17th, 2025 at 07:32As a long term fan (approaching 60 years) my only criticism of DP is their need to repeatedly include songs such as Hush and Green Onions in the setlist. The space could be put to better use with songs from their own vast catalogue. Neither of the covers are better than Joe South or Booker T, so why bother.
June 17th, 2025 at 07:36Come on big Ian, have stab at Burn or Stormbringer – now that would surely excite us all.
Thanks for the review, Mr, Soares, very well written !
I doubt they’ll tour more this Autumn, I’m afraid it’s going to be Dubai and Tbilissi and that’s all, unfortunately.
Let’s hope they will still be on top form next year… The past few years have been incredible on stage : great setlist, Gillan and Paice still impress everyone and the Airey/McBride duo is exceptional. Roger if you read this, you know how good you are ahah
I still hope for some oldies like Never before or Fools to be mixed with the great new stuff (Lazy Sod or Portable Door work like classics !), I’m a bit tired of Hard Lovin Man, Into the Fire, Uncommon Man (though I understand it’ll stay because of the JL’s tribute theme). Roger’s playing is fantastic on those songs (Fools and Never Before)
June 17th, 2025 at 10:36@6: On sait. Tu l’as dit un million de fois. Pourquoi ne pas passer à autre chose et t’en tenir à tes anciens albums ?
June 17th, 2025 at 10:38