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Deep Purple at the Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa August 19th 2026
A pleasant surprise when I arrived at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada for the Deep Purple show last night. As my assigned seat had been swallowed up by the sound board, I was upgraded to row 7 near the front of the stage. After some fine performances by Jefferson Starship and Kansas, Deep Purple opened with Highway Star. Ian Gillan did an admirable job on vocals, sometimes straining to hit some high notes, but carrying off most of that song very well. Then in rapid fire succession, the band kicked straight into A Bit On The Side, and then Into The Fire ( great powerful screams by Gillan).
Guitarist Simon McBride has really integrated well into the band. I love his raw, aggressive attack and tone. He dazzled with a fantastic, technical display of guitar prowess in a solo which morphed into Arrogant Boy. From there it was Lazy Sod, and an extended Airey keys intro into Lazy. Gillan then delivered a very strong vocal performance on When A Blind Man Cries. After that there was a bit of a jam which opened up into Diablo – during which a couple of the Jefferson Starship members arrived on stage, as well as an oddly dressed individual carrying a pillow who delivered a gift to a laughing Ian Gillan for his 81st birthday this night. Next, Don Airey did a lengthy keyboard solo which introduced Perfect Strangers – another strong Gillan vocal performance for most of the way through the song. Then came Space Truckin’, and the skipping of the usual obligatory encore exit off the stage by instead launching straight into Smoke on the Water. At the end of Smoke, Gillan proclaimed that they weren’t done yet – Simon McBride took us into Guinnessis, which then transitioned into Hush (I found the playing chemistry between Airey and McBride to be outstanding – they meshed so well together). And then that was it for the night.
This was the tenth Deep Purple concert that I have witnessed through the decades. The band is still very tight, and Gillan, even at age 81 is carrying out his vocal duties in a very competent and commendable fashion – sure there are a few notes missing here and there in the really high register from time to time, but Ian is clearly still well and able to deliver strongly on the vast majority of the songs he performs. I read and hear snarky comments about how Gillan and Deep Purple should pack it in and retire – I vehemently disagree. Purple is still a vital, living, breathing band who are writing and performing high quality music – they’re no Las Vegas residency band of has-beens. As long as the Purple men remain healthy and happy to perform, I am right there with them, hoping they keep recording new albums and touring the world.
As a bonus, I was lucky enough to receive the setlist from Simon McBride’s position on stage (see attached). My thanks to the nice roadie for that act of kindness.
Mr. Toad, Esq.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Nice review, sounds like they can still deliver. Though I am still hoping for more new material in the set when they return to Europe.
August 26th, 2026 at 19:51Perfect Strangers is on the list -> great joy 🤩
August 27th, 2026 at 04:49And I have heard Ian sing it in the past a lot more strained than here:
https://youtu.be/Xb_3hlWOV3k
Plus: Beate will – ouch! – pierce the little voodoo doll she has prepared of me as the fashion nemesis of her favorite hay farmer hunk, but I prefer how Simon plays the PS riff to his immediate predecessor. A while back, there was a video snippet of Steve explaining that he goes out of his way to play the riff in an especially stiff manner, thinking this is how Ritchie intended it to be. I’m not sure where he got that from, it’s not how I remember Ritchie playing it, he had a light, elegant touch with it. Anyway, Simon now plays it as if he was with the Rolling Stones which I find much more appealing and groovy than Steve’s chosen stiffer approach.
But then I’m the weird guy who also liked the carefree swagger with which Tommy Bolin played the SOTW, Lazy, Burn and Stormbringer riffs. Not from the Ritchie playbook at all, but with the Bolin trademark swerving groove.
August 27th, 2026 at 12:49@3
Uwe, at Ian’s fb page there is this kind – according to the photo (if that indeed is of him) older gentleman who wrote to me the other day how happy he is that Simmo (SMcB) is with Purple now, because he wouldn’t allow himself to listen to Purple when Steve was the guitarist.
I wonder if he has joined this phenomenal page here, if he has, he better elucidate (see! A precious word in my vocabulary 😁) why his feelings are like that towards Steve.
Personally I was thrilled Steve joined Purple.
Am I happy Simon is with them now? Oh boy, yes! But that does not take anything away from all the wonderful music Steve made with them.
You mention Tommy Bolin, well to be completely honest it’s not that long ago I started to listen to him (due to some immature loyalty towards RB…) and I really like his playing too.
However, no one on this green earth can ever play as RB did, like in this tune:
https://youtu.be/iAGcQy8YGeM?is=nGA4ntcN7_nXNXbm
I am BLOWN AWAY when I listen to this.
August 27th, 2026 at 16:18And should any poor soul dare to interrupt me, well, one voodoo doll wouldn’t do it 😃
There was stuff Steve played real well, some of it better than Ritchie had (like the middle part of Woman From Tokyo), but for whatever reason, Perfect Strangers wasn’t among it.
Still, what Steve played beautifully vastly outweighed where he struggled a little (not in a technical sense of course). I’m not a Steve Morse naysayer at all. Should I get this?
https://images.camaelshirt.com/2021/03/steve-morse-rock-retro-legend-t-shirt-tank-top.jpg
August 27th, 2026 at 21:03@ 4- there are so many rock music aficionados Karin, that do not enjoy the Morse era Deep Purple. Probably a few things in that, it doesn’t matter at all. Just like there are so many that don’t enjoy other versions of DP, from whatever era. Each to their own. As for Uwe’s comment @ 5 – regarding Steve playing Ritchie better than Ritchie, well comedy does come in different forms doesn’t it. Uwe may be talking technically though, except for the middle section of the song Woman From Tokyo. Uwe most probably means that Steve embellished something there live in concert where Ritchie didn’t play anything at all on the studio release. No guitarist sounds or plays DP that Ritchie was involved in ‘better’ than Ritchie, they are different, all of them. They are covering the tune, playing homage to it etc. Some people enjoy other guitarists take on Ritchie’s playing, I am not one of those. However, that doesn’t mean it is necessarily better. Each to their own again. A bit like some people saying Roger Waters live guitarist sounded just like David Gilmour, no he didn’t. Or Trevor Rabin nailed Steve Howe’s guitar parts performing live with Yes, I doubt that. Original guitarists that created the song are what we know and enjoy, others replicating, ad libbing or experimenting with that are doing just that. I agree with Uwe with the song Perfect Strangers and Steve butchered that big time. It is all about the feel of the tune, Steve wasn’t into that at all by the sound of it. Cheers.
August 27th, 2026 at 23:43I think Steve overthought Perfect Strangers with no ill will – he was actually trying to give his best, but that very Yuropean sounding mock string arrangement Blackers came up with on his Strat wasn’t up Steve’s groove alley at all so he consciously tried to play it differently in a way he normally wouldn’t have, thinking it was right for the song.
PS: Anybody notice that whenever I say something measured (as I occasionally do) like Steve playing SOME things better than Ritchie – shock, gasp, horror! – and vice versa (usually not a very surprising observation between two players requiring great debate) the Tasmanian Devil jumps out of his drum case to do his little “There is only one
David BeckhamRitchie Blackmore!”-routine and soccer stadium war dance?https://youtu.be/k6fE2wC6bA4
An obsessive-compulsive urge, no doubt, by someone who by his own admission hasn’t even heard everything Steve played with DP. 🤗
August 28th, 2026 at 15:11Whether something is ‘better’ or not is as we all know, entirely up to the listener. I have heard enough of Steve covering Ritchie to know it an’t working very well to my ears. As we are also aware, Steve is a totally different animal to Ritchie, do we need to hear anymore, or I should say do I need to hear any more. I have many of Steve’s albums, both Dregs and SMB. It is not a natural fit for him to attempt to play Ritchie things. Same as Tommy Bolin, Joe Satriani and Simon McBride. etc etc. Totally different people, approach, idiosyncrasies and on and on we could go, where do we draw the line? It is the same in regard to other guitarists who created their own music, Gilmour, Fripp, Lifeson, Howe etc etc etc. Anyone covering their guitar parts will sound not quite right. It is only natural for this to occur. Cheers.
August 28th, 2026 at 23:24It is also the same for other musicians and their instruments, technique etc. Don Airey for example, I much prefer Jon Lord’s way than Don’s on anything that Lord originally composed and performed. This is only natural. We know Jon’s work so well and in most cases we very much enjoy his performances, sound, technique etc. When we hear someone else, it is only natural to think, hmmmmmmmm, not what I really like, but still ok etc etc. Give me Lord any day and I am an admirer of Don’s playing from the late 70’s with Colosseum II and his session work on Sabbath’s Never Say Die album. Not to mention the first Blizzard of Ozz album and Don’s stellar work on the two Rainbow albums. A superb, wonderful keyboard player indeed. The same scenario applies to drummers, bass guitarists and on and on we could go. In fact we have already been there also. Cheers.
August 28th, 2026 at 23:42