Unrivalled enthusiasm and vigour
Deep Purple came to Copenhagen on a typically drizzly, grey, and windy "Copenhagen weather" day. The venue was a fenced-in piece of the Amager Strandpark right next to the beach, and by the time Purple came onto the stage at around 7pm, the field had turned into a greyish mud covering the shoes and trousers of the approximately 5000 people which withstood the unfavourable conditions.
To Purple's credit, everybody forgot the miserable weather as soon as the boys hit the stage. They stormed through a set that included many classic Deep Purple pieces, but also some surprises, notably the reintroduction of "Mary Long" and "No One Came" to the set. Another surprise was "Black Night" which had been missing from the set the previous night. The biggest surprise, of course (at least for those who had not previously looked at the Deep Purple website, like me), was the man on the keyboards, Don Airey, who stood in valiantly for Jon Lord.
The setlist was:
Woman From Tokyo
Ted The Mechanic
Mary Long
Lazy
No One Came
Fools
Well-Dressed Guitar
Perfect Strangers
When A Blind Man Cries
Smoke On The Water
Speed King
1st encore:
Black Night
Hush
Highway Star
Needless to add, the set included many great solo performances and short cover versions of many famous songs, my favourite being ZZ Top's "La Grange". I was, however, disappointed that Purple had chosen to only play one song from the 80s and only one song from the 90s. For example, I was certainly missing "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming". But the songs they played, they played with their usual unrivalled enthusiasm and vigour, and I certainly hope that somebody made a recording of this concert and lets me know about it.
To add one funny anecdote: No wonder that after such a hot concert, a few fans stripped naked and jumped into the Baltic Sea to cool off (or maybe to show off?)
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