[ d e e p P u r . p l e ) The Highway Star

Purple rocks Darien Lake

What a triple bill!! Purple was at their finest last night with a great, energetic set that blew away the crowd. A couple of acoustic guys started the show and played a pretty decent five-song set. Then Uncle Ted came on, loud as hell, and got the throng rockin'. "Cat Scratch Fever", "Stranglehold", and "White Buffalo" highlighted the set. The bow & arrow at the end was pretty entertaining. Ted, was....well, Ted.

Then Deep Purple took the stage and kicked ass with "Woman From Tokyo". The band sounded sooooo tight. "Lazy" and "Highway Star" showcased Ian's great vocals while Steve made you forget Ritchie Blackmore in a heartbeat. His "Riff Raffs" leading into "Smoke On The Water" was awesome. The crowd went absolutely nuts during the final three song of "Smoke....", "Hush" and "Highway Star". The boys seemed to be having a great time on stage. It was interesting to see how many pessimistic Skynyrd fans suddenly turned into Purple fans. The set was simply awesome.

LS also played a great set which include standards "Gimme Three Steps", "Call Me The Breeze", "Saturday Night Special", "Sweet Home Alabama", "Freebird", etc... The only glitch in this set was some asshole who threw a water bottle at Ricky Medlocke during Skynard's second tune. Van Zant then threw beer on the guy before the cops tossed him.

But, Purple stole the show, NO DOUBT. This was a great triple bill and an excellent variety of classic rock tunes.

Bill Emanuelli


[ reviews | the highway star ]