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

The most laughing band in the world

As the ferry went in to the port of Helsingborg I was looking down at the scene on the other quay, and I could see that the first row at the fence had already turned into purple, and there were 3― hours until Deep Purple was on! (Manfred Mann was on before DP). Well, I was lucky to get a place at the left side of the fence anyway.

To the show, the set was the same as in Skanderborg except for "Black Night" which was not played here. The show in Skanderborg was fantastic, but with that show as a reference you could see that they were a bit more relaxed here, (a couple of times too relaxed, but nobodyīs perfect) particularly Don, who was smiling and improvising a lot more here.

I found out that the song I thought was called "The Well Stressed Guitar" was in fact was called "The Well Dressed Guitar", or maybe itīs two different songs because it didnīt sound the same as in Skanderborg. [You'd have to ask Ian Gillan - he's been naming this song all kinds of silly things since Steve first brought it out on the European Albert tour in 2000. Rasmus ]

Roger's solo was even better this time, and Paiceīs was longer and much more racing. Gillan started his duel with Steve coming in singing the one about the girl who sits in the grass with the finger up her ..! and then directly into "Itīs Now Or Never", but he hit the wrong key and changed the last line quickly to, "... my key wonīt change!" Steve answered with a "ha ha ha ha ha" on the guitar, and they both burst into laughter. Then "The Highschool Hop" and a discussion about walking the cat or the dog, (like they did in Skanderborg, but there I didnīt get a word of it).

In Steveīs intro to "Smoke On The Water" he went through several more rock classics than in Skanderborg, and when he came to "You Really Got Me", Ian Gillan, who was standing behind him, started singing and Steve turned around and looked like: "what the .... is going on?" and they turned into laughter.

Well, yet another great concert from the most laughing band in the world!!!

Ole Andersen


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