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Perfect Strangers Live – first review
This was posted in our comments section elsewhere on the site. We decided to edit it an promote to a standalone post, so you can post your own impressions of the DVD in the comments.
I received the Japanese DVD of this show 2 or 3 weeks ago. Black Night should be familiar to most people here as it was on the Deep Purple – New, Live & Rare, The Video Collection (1984-2000) DVD.
First impressions that stand out, (good and bad): being a Huge RB Fan, Under the Gun is VERY inspired from a guitar standpoint! (My fave Track on the DVD). (Judging from IG’s reaction at the end, his as well!) I had to watch that 3 or 4 times! That song was also IG’s fave on the Paris 85′ DVD as well, prompting him to say: “Nice One Blackers”!
Lazy is played so fast that it sounds like RB wanted to get it over with… not impressed.
Strange Kind of Woman has RB and IG smiling back and forth and trading licks with very good natured attitudes that makes you think they were the best of friends during this time together.
Ritchie Blackmore’s Solo at he end of Space Truckin’ is filmed well but is the worst excuse for a solo I have EVER seen RB perform. What ever effect he used during this era sucks. It sounds like a panning stereo effect that is missing one speaker!
Speed King is my second fave track to watch. Trading licks between RB, JL, and IG. Great when one would play a motif and the other would finish it! Had me laughing as the skill and off the cuff humor in the runs is infectious!
Smoke actually sounds fresh…a good version. Sometimes I do not think I want to hear it played live ever again. I was pleasantly surprised by this version.
Once again, being a HUGE RB Fan, this period of his playing is probably a low point in his career for me personally. It is like he is trying way too hard to be flashy and play fast. He is not giving the notes room to breath, let alone choosing them as carefully as we KNOW he is more than capable of doing! For an example of this, compare this show with the new Rainbow Black Masquerade DVD… which showcases his speed, sexterity and FEEL!
The Japanese DVD Version of Perfect Strangers Live has a bonus track of Highway Star from December 13th and I was expecting an audience shot Track. Not the case at all as it is the same quality as the main show featured here. Maybe a release is possible of the December 13th Sydney show? I for one would buy it!
Scott W.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
No mention of Child In Time here has me wishing these words after some more viewing. Finding their way to what they did in America weeks later, thru’ some good shows down under is all this gamble was. Luckily they captured it and we have it to finally enjoy for better or worse all this time later. But still finding their set feet here is a fact. Too bad it wasn’t Adelaide that got the film crew, how glorious it would be. But to tear this down and blame anyone is bizarre thru’ and thru’. I would go after the blatant disregard for advertising the correct location of the concert, tho’. This is somehow inexcusable label behavior to me, worth a recall for Sydney via Melbourne. 😀 Many thanks to the whole team, except for that misprint.
October 15th, 2013 at 18:14Who is selling this?
There is no mention at eagle rock entertainment.
Wasn’t it available as download?
October 16th, 2013 at 09:25Picked this release up yesterday. Somehow it always comes down to Ritchie, it seems. Whether he plays good, not so good, is in the band or is not. 🙂 Can’t say it’s surprising though. The man is one of the definite staples of Deep Purple, in both sound, songwriting and ”image”. In some ways, Deep Purple without Ritchie Blackmore is like Queen without Freddie Mercury. My humble opinion of course.
I have to both agree and disagree with what Scott W. said. It is true that the Sydney show in some ways gives us both the best and worst of Blackmore in that period. It was indeed one of his low-points, probably a result of a burn-out and what not, but Ritchie’s low-point is still a high point compared to 99.9% of other guitarists out there, as this DVD shows. True enough, it seems that his ability to play as well as at anytime in history was still intact, but somehow didn’t manifest itself throughout the entire set. On purpose? Who knows.
On the Ritchie’s side of things on this DVD it is true, ”Under The Gun” is phenomenal. What a ”dangerous” solo. Somewhat similar to it’s studio counterpart, but bigger, heavier and crazier. Only Ritchie can do that and pull it off. But Scott forgot to mention a few other highlights.
”Strange Kind of Woman” does indeed have a great trading of licks between then friendly Ritchie and Ian. But let’s not forget Ritchie’s main solo in the song. It has all the qualities the reviewer would like, the notes breath, they are not randomly thrown in and the playing is clear, fluent and a nice small piece of inspired ”heavy-blues-rock” soloing, if we can name it. Done RB style of course.
And Rainbow’s ”Difficult To Cure” has a guitar intro that features one of the best examples of Ritchie’s classic noddlings I’ve heard. At 2 minutes, it is a very inspired piece, full of classical runs, volume swells, and beautiful fingerpicked melodies. When we compare this to something like his very messy, unfocused and almost plain bad soloing in ”Lazy”, it is clear the guitar player is a bit of an eccentric. But we all know that already don’t we?
There is great Blackmore to be found elsewhere, such as in the ”Blues” intro to ”Gypsys Kiss”, the melodic ”Knocking At Your Backdoor” and some mighty impressive runs & licks in ”Child In Time”.
But enough about that. There are 4 more people in the band. And together with Ritchie they all work as a group. And I was quite surprised by their performance. Sure, if you look for it, you can find mistakes, missed cues and songs that sound a bit unrehearsed. It is after all a very early reunion show and the band is still tweaking it’s performance (the Australian leg of the tour was considered a ”warm-up”, hence not even a stage show like in 1985).
But the power, oh my, the power. The band sounds incredibly tight, powerful and heavy. There are many goosebumps inducing moments, when the interplay between the band, the sound they create and the energy with which they play easily matches the glory of the 70s. Even Ian Gillan has a few mighty impressive screams & shouts and sings some songs better than on any reunion and Morse era recording you will find. Such as ”Highway Star”. A fantastic performance by big Ian. Sure he struggles in some songs and is less impressive in others, but overall, he leaves his mark and he does it strongly, which is not something I can say for any other Deep Purple DVD that doesn’t have a 197xx date.
Jon Lord easily matches Ritchie in instrumental prowess, dishing out those great hammond solos we all know and love (and a particularly excellent solo piece) but he is sadly a bit lost in the mix and the picture, between the dominating guitar and vocals, which seem to be the focus of the feature.
Glover and Paice are as tight as ever and Ian Paice often seems energized by either Lord’s of Blackmore’s daring improvisations and he adds his own to the mix.
This is really very much a BAND performance, instead of a one man show it could sometimes be in 1993 for example. Even though Ritchie was playing better than ever on that tour, the domination may seem a bit excessive now, compared to this release.
And the atmosphere. Such a friendly atmosphere. I own all the Morse era DVD’s and have seen them live 4 times, yet even they don’t seem like such friends as the mk2 was in 1984. At least with mk2, with all members of equal power and some of big egos (and not hired guns) you know it’s genuine. I’ve never seen Ritchie smile more, or the band play around and talk to each so much.
The ”Smoke on The Water” finale is glorious as well and with 12 minutes has plenty of playfulness and improvisation.
Sure there are a few less impressive points (Ritchie’s overblown showmanship display in ”Space Truckin” for one – though the chap does seem to have an awful lot of fun doing it) but I was overall very surprised and impressed by this DVD. The sound, picture, filming is all more than satisfactory too.
This is now my favorite Deep Purple DVD. Because it is the only one in which I can enjoy the true sound, magic and power of the real Deep Purple and in good quality.
I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.
Mike J.
October 16th, 2013 at 09:46Everyone is selling it? I believe it is on Amazon, it’s in all online shops here in Sweden. Although as a pre-order since the release date here is at the end of October.
October 16th, 2013 at 10:53I agree with a few things Mike posted, everyone seems hell bent on bashing Ritchie, yet I bet his playing,good or bad,was one of the main reasons people made that tour as huge as it was in ’84. Forgive me for saying, but I am one of the “Blackmorons” that feels that its just not Deep Purple without the his signature sound,and a little agression that fires them up. Am I happy that the current band is doing fine, sure, they are all professionals who’ve paid their dues,and deserve the success they have. It is kinda funny that the man has been out of the band for 20 years, yets is the most talked about member of the band, even now. Cheers to all!
October 16th, 2013 at 11:41I am aware that it is available as a dvd.
I thought that you could download it officially the way you could Phoenix Rising.
October 16th, 2013 at 13:08Let’s hope for more DVD concerts to come,like the one in Providence which is recorded I hear and the band was on fire !
October 16th, 2013 at 13:30It is available on Spotify, which usually means it’s available to buy as download as well. I just checked iTunes and you can buy it there.
October 16th, 2013 at 15:26Mike,
October 16th, 2013 at 16:34Thanks for taking time to review the Show further. My thoughts were just First Impressions from a RB Fans Perspective. It was a case of me wanting to Review fully, but putting it off for a couple weeks, then deciding to quickly submit a short essay of thoughts. One thing about this DVD is it’s very balanced sound. Roger sounds great and right where his Sound needs to be. Sometimes he gets buried in the Mix. (Like the Denmark Show from ’72) . Jon is Fantastic throughout though the Cameramen ignore him the most. Paice also impresses with His Technique/Feel and Soundwise is very upfront. The Documentary contains 80% of stuff i have personally seen before. Although the short bit of Footage of The “Texas Jam” Show is something i would like to see in full as maybe a Bonus on another Reunion Era DP Show Release. (Dec. 13th, Sydney perhaps?!?). It looks like it was shot from the Mixing Desk so at least you can see all that was going on, although a bit distant.
I look forward to reading others Reviews of the DVD. This IS a recommended Release and excuse me for not reviewing it fully Song by Song.
@Svante:
I am not talking about the music/cd. I am talking about the footage.
October 16th, 2013 at 17:47It’s not even featured on the website.
http://www.eagle-vision.tv/Search
October 17th, 2013 at 10:06Bigger AL @ 5 – I agree with your comments. The reason Blackmore is still the most talked about member is because he was the most successful member, both in the band Deep Purple & also outside the band, with Rainbow. Jon Lord is the next most talked about with his career & all it entailed. RIP. But also as we all know, they formed & named the band & were it’s prime movers also. As difficult & disappointing Blackmore may be at times, he makes up for it with his talent & spirit big time! That unpredictability, while it may annoy some people at times, no more so than various band members over the years, makes him what he is & made Purple & Rainbow, with other talented musicians at different times, the great bands they are! Bravo I say! Cheers.
October 17th, 2013 at 10:13Henrik, what is your point? That it’s not being advertised enough? As far as I can see, it’s one of the most visible releases in a while.
October 17th, 2013 at 10:18I am looking for a place where I officiallly am able to download the footage.
October 17th, 2013 at 12:59Great DVD. Anyone notice The banjo player was not present at any of the press conferences or interviews? He’s a jerk!
October 17th, 2013 at 16:52EXCELENT BIG ALBUM
October 17th, 2013 at 20:08Can’t pick such a good vital souvenir apart. Just grateful.
October 18th, 2013 at 06:50@12 Not forgetting his other very successful band Blackmore’s Night!!
October 18th, 2013 at 06:52Playing with George Harrison together in “Lucille”, not on this DVD?
damage !!!
October 18th, 2013 at 08:02I’m over the moon with this release. Was in tears when MKII split up (was 9, my world had come to an end) and when it became clear they had reformed I finally could smile again.
Where I live the Australian shows were referred to back then as try-outs in the music magazines. Every second day I would visit my favorite record store, in particular the card board box behind the counter, to check if the bootleg of one of these shows would be there. And it was not long before it was… expensive, but money well spent! Still have it of cause.
And now I can watch it, the exact same show with a DTS sound track. As said, over the moon…
October 18th, 2013 at 08:11I’ve watched the dvd for the second time. It’s great to see they had so much fun on stage. Blackmore and Gillan seem to get. along great.
October 19th, 2013 at 10:58The PS tour was the first time I saw DP live. Rainbow I had seen several times during all their European tour except for the last one. Except for their last one. I had front row tickets but due to a carcrash two weeks before I was still in hospital.
My point is that Gillan is/was mostly seen as the weakest link. But after watching this dvd, I have to say Ritchie is the weakest link. His solo in for instance Child in Time is really mediocre.
Don’t get me wrong Blackmore is and will always be my favourite guitarplayer, but most of his work in Rainbow was much more inspired.
But all in all a great dvd.
We should have at least one of every tour.
Listening to it now on Spotify. It’s… different from what I expected. Much looser and rawer than, say, “Nobody’s Perfect” but with a sense of playfulness that was missing in the Knebworth record, at least in the first few songs. What you can’t tell from the promo clips is that there’s a reason Gillan’s voice is a bit ragged around the edges in those clips: he screams his lungs out during Highway Star.
Can’t stand Blackmore’s 1980s tone. At least his lyricism and improvisation is there.
October 19th, 2013 at 12:35@Theo
October 19th, 2013 at 17:17you are right about a few solos by Blackers in the concert,but he is not the weakest link by all means.I disagree with your statement that his Rainbow work was much more inspired than Deep Purple.In Rock ? Machine Head ? you could say different but not more inspired .
@ I’m still hoping for more concerts by Eagle.Cannot wait for the 2014 and what’s in store for the 30th Anniversary of Perfect Strangers.I hope for some more jamming hidden stuff but I doubt it.
October 19th, 2013 at 17:19To criticize a band member in a specific show in the worlds most powerful and influent hard rock band ever is to me quite irrelevant. (As a musician or rather an artist, every single performance comes down to the daily inspiration, which differs for each live performance because of personal feel, mood, self-confidence, sound, venue atmosphere etc. That’s why it’s always interesting seeing Purple live, they never did the same show twice, they always tried new things – that’s what inspires. So, was Deep Purple as musicians more inspired in the 70:ies than the 80:ies? No I don´t think so the issues to fight for was just different – which was reflected in their playing and in many other bands).
To me the reunion was logic though – it seemed Rainbow had lost its commercial peek, which Rithie and Roger was in, Jon and Ian Paice made great albums starting up Whitesnake, later also Gary More (Paice) – not to mention Gillan band. To me it’s clear that these guys where and still are entrepreneurs creating the world’s most respected rock bands around. In retrospective, who else has succeeded with such a versatility not being gone to soon? Certainly Deep Purple – but their first love had to be reinvented to shoulder the 80:ies in terms of sound, solos and show.
The Perfect Strangers album and coming tour offered some outrageous experiences both musically and in terms of entertainment. Who could ever forget the laser show in Perfect Strangers (it became a new industry standard, something I actually miss today) or the show-start with Highway Star: all black, just seeing a laser-highway in perspective and in motion exposed on a backdrop with Ian Paice snare slowly mixed up giving the song intro a heaviness and sharpness never heard before. People where freaking out over this majestic and powerful opening, including myself – an example of excellent showmanship which became a DP-signature for the 80:ies.
To me it was certainly clear that these guys once again could be relied on delivering a show with great potential, more streamlined and focused jams still leaving room for magic to happen plus increasing the live-experience several notches from the 70:ies standard. It’s of course of vital importance that these shows is released – it’s also a piece of art or cultural history if you want that created a huge imprint and yielded a whole new level of musical inspiration, not to compare with the DP-70:ies I think – rather to other bands and musicians around at that time – once again Purple proved to be the biggest live-band around.
October 20th, 2013 at 11:18Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord&Paice……….BRILLIANT!!!
October 21st, 2013 at 11:10I’ve had a chance to watch the DVD and listen to the CDs and my opinion is as follows…
From the opening Highway Star, it’s apparent that Ian Gillian’s vocals are spot on for the most part. He was still capable of hitting the notes that only he ever could. He nearly trashes his voice early on but recovers nicely to deliver some brilliant vocals throughout. Roger Glover, Ian Paice and Jon Lord are their always consistently awesome selves and show that they real are/were the true backbone of the band for so many years.
This brings me to Ritchie Blackmore’s performance, and my only real criticisms. I realize that a lot of people who are RB purists will probably see this as heresy, but he really is the weak link here.
I can appreciate any musician who isn’t afraid to take chances and spread their wings to reach as far into the creative ether, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it’s a clusterf*ck. There are moments of Blackmore brilliance, but for the most part, to my eyes and ears, his playing is inaudible mishmash here. It appears to me that at this performance, he is more interested in posing and appearing to play fast, when in fact, he’s hitting random notes without even sounding musical. There are a few moments where his playing is momentarily inspired, when he isn’t consciously posing for the cameras and crowd.
I’ve never had a chance to see Deep Purple live in person, but have most of their albums and DVDs and have been a fan for over 35 years. I’ve never really collected any unofficial recordings of theirs to really gauge if this particular show was an off night for RB, or if perhaps he was still relearning the live performance of the material. It’s like he’s way overplaying here.
I don’t like to compare guitar players, but will do so here anyways….
As far as Blackmore versus Steve Morse, it’s like comparing apples to oranges, but have to say that SM plays effortlessly and in a modest way where he doesn’t sound like he’s trying to force himself, where RB, least on this performance had fallen back into overplaying, where if he had approached the music as he had back in, say 1969-1975, would have served the music better. I think RB’s playing is ore consistent and solid on the CD’s “In Absence of Pink”, “Nobody’s Perfect” and “Live in Stuttgart 1993”.
Overall, Deep Purple perform like rock gods on this release with high energy, even if Blackmore is somewhat distracted with posing.
A final thought….
To my ears, I like everything Deep Purple released from the very first mk I album through “Stormbringer”, feel that “Come Taste The Band”, “Perfect Strangers”, “HOBL” and “Slaves and Masters” are more displays of mediocrity (with a handful of inspired moments sprinkled throughout each), then a return to form with “TBRO” and of each of the Morse era albums, “Purpendicular” is a classic, “Abandon” is another classic, “Bananas” and “ROTD” good solid and consistent efforts and “Now What?!” one of the bands best albums of their entire career.
Don’t get me wrong. Blackmore is a guitar genius who at his best moments is legendary, but at his worst moments comes off as a poser with a chip on his shoulder.
Long live Deep Purple and may RB someday get over himself, learn humility, how to humble himself and one day, rock again like he’s supposed to. n meantime, Steve Morse is kicking rock and roll ass, so thank goodness for him keeping the “Fireball” burning bright.
October 23rd, 2013 at 20:15@25:
“To criticize a band member in a specific show in the worlds most powerful and influent hard rock band ever is to me quite irrelevant.”
Yeah, but it’s not one show – it’s where a band member sounded substantially different for nearly a whole decade. He sounds nothing like the classic Blackmore of the 70s – less melodic with much more attack and a different tone (and nothing like he did in the 90s either). That’s not necessarily a bad thing – it’s good that musicians change, but I think it’s an acquired taste & I do prefer his playing in the 70s and 90s.
I love this release, though. It’s a great show- and out of the 6 DP releases from the 80s (including 3 official Bootlegs) this has to be the best one.
October 24th, 2013 at 17:34Saw it for the first time last night. It totally blew me away. Nuff said!
October 25th, 2013 at 12:11Notice Child In time is edited in LP edition.
October 27th, 2013 at 17:26UK Music Video Top 40 – 26th October 2013
1 – 1 PERFECT STRANGERS – LIVE DEEP PURPLE (EAGLE VISION)
2 1 10 REACHING FOR THE STARS ONE DIRECTION (HIGH FLIERS)
3 2 14 GOING OUR WAY ONE DIRECTION (ANCHOR BAY)
4 3 8 RIEU ROYALE – CORONATION CONCERT LIVE ANDRE RIEU (DECCA)
5 4 151 LES MISERABLES – IN CONCERT – 25TH ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING (UNIVERSAL PICTURES)
6 5 66 THE ONLY WAY IS UP ONE DIRECTION (ENTERTAINMENT ONE)
7 7 48 JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR – LIVE ARENA TOUR ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING (UNIVERSAL PICTURES)
8 6 73 UP ALL NIGHT – THE LIVE TOUR ONE DIRECTION (SYCO MUSIC)
9 8 35 SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN RODRIGUEZ (STUDIOCANAL)
10 10 171 CATS ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING (UNIVERSAL PICTURES)
UK Music Video Top 40 – 2nd November 2013
1 NEW 1 MADE OF STONE STONE ROSES (FILM FOUR)
2 NEW 1 25 LIVE MORRISSEY (EAGLE VISION)
3 NEW 1 VIVA HYSTERIA DEF LEPPARD (FRONTIERS)
4 2 11 REACHING FOR THE STARS ONE DIRECTION (HIGH FLIERS)
5 3 15 GOING OUR WAY ONE DIRECTION (ANCHOR BAY)
6 5 152 LES MISERABLES – IN CONCERT – 25TH ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING (UNIVERSAL PICTURES)
7 4 9 RIEU ROYALE – CORONATION CONCERT LIVE ANDRE RIEU (DECCA)
8 1 2 PERFECT STRANGERS – LIVE DEEP PURPLE (EAGLE VISION)
9 6 67 THE ONLY WAY IS UP ONE DIRECTION (ENTERTAINMENT ONE)
10 8 74 UP ALL NIGHT – THE LIVE TOUR ONE DIRECTION (SYCO MUSIC)
Australia ARIA Music DVDs Chart 28/10/2013
1 1 4 1 Magic Of The Movies Andre Rieu | UCJ/UMA | 3736612
2 3 51 1 And The Waltz Goes On Andre Rieu | UCJ/UMA | 2780590
3 2 73 1 Up All Night – The Live Tour One Direction | SYCO/SME | 88691940359
4 4 15 1 Rieu Royale Andre Rieu | UCJ/UMA | 3739997
5 5 26 1 Live In Brazil Andre Rieu | UMA | 3734362
6 NEW 1 6 Perfect Strangers – Live Deep Purple | EAG/SHK | KAL3415
7 6 211 1 Funhouse Tour: Live In Australia P!nk | LAF/SME | 88697600719
8 7 78 2 Greatest Hits… So Far!!! P!nk | LAF/SME | 88691901819
9 10 7 1 MDNA World Tour Madonna | INR/UMA | 3749421
10 8 361 Happy Birthday! A Celebration of 25 Years of The Johann Strauss Orchestra Andre Rieu | UCJ/UMA | 3728094
Denmark Musik DVD Top-10 25.10.2013
October 28th, 2013 at 13:151 3 6 ONE DIRECTION I LOVE ONE DIRECTION SF FILM
2 2 73 ONE DIRECTION UP ALL NIGHT – THE LIVE TOUR SONY MUSIC
3 6 47 COLDPLAY COLDPLAY LIVE 2012 WARNER MUSIC / PARLOPHONE
4 5 99 ADELE LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL PLAYGROUND MUSIC
5 1 1 DEEP PURPLE PERFECT STRANGERS – DEEP PURPLE LIVE PLAYGROUND MUSIC
http://www.hitlisterne.dk/default.asp?list=v10
Austria Musik-DVD Charts Woche 42/2013
October 28th, 2013 at 13:321 1 3 Der Tut Nix! Ruetter, Martin
2 3 5 Live-Die Nacht Der Daemonen Aerzte, Die
3 2 2 Fire It Up-Live Cocker, Joe
4 5 12 Die 30 Besten Spiel & Bew.L.1 Sommerland,Simone/Glueck,Karst
5 – 1 Perfect Strangers Live Deep Purple
6 7 16 Keine Anhung Grammel, Sascha
7 10 7 Freddie Mercury Tribute Conc. Bowie/Lennox/Michael/Geldof…
8 – 5 Mdna World Tour Madonna
9 – 70 2 Musterknaben Gernot & Niavarani
10 – 5 Live At Sydney Opera House Adams, Bryan
http://oe3.orf.at/charts/stories/2602620/
I remember Jon Lord referring to RB as an “Recalcitrant Sod!!” Stubborn, unyielding etc. and I’ve also spoken to and played with some musicians who have had the fortune and miss-fortune (their descriptions not mine) of playing in bands with Ritchie and this description seems to fit very well with how they feel about him.
October 28th, 2013 at 17:12I saw the Sydney 85 version of KAYBD here at the Highway Star the other day and was appalled at RB’s lack of respect for his audience. That enormous audience probably dreamed of seeing their hero(s) live and saved their hard earned cash to buy tickets, T-Shirts, Programmes etc. Did it not occur to him that after all of those years of dreaming about seeing Mk II perform live again and all that time scrimping to save the money, he could at least have tried to perform the songs to a reasonable standard? Trying to garner inspiration on an off night is one thing, but to play those songs to such a low standard and with such little respect (missing cues/intro’s and generally farting around) is quite frankly deliberate and disrespectful to his audience….In the extreme!!!
What a shame that he has ruined this fantastic historic recording purely through lack of concern and compassion for his audience and bandmates.
To say that he is searching for inspiration here is laughable. He is one of the world’s greatest guitar players…He just simply doesn’t care 🙁
Ok, just got the DVD…Having watched it, I completely retract my comment @ 33. Perfect strangers is played a little haphazardly, but his playing on this is fantastic!! Sorry Ritchie 🙁
November 1st, 2013 at 08:01Jeff @ 34- Wow that is a big turnaround from your previous statement. Good to see though! Are you sure that you never consumed any of that Blackmore-Cool-Aid that Tracy mentions at the ‘it sounds like he’s not showing up’ section! Just joking. Cheers.
November 2nd, 2013 at 23:06I’ve seen the two vids on youtube at last something decent of this period, I was 15 gets kind of sad my heroes are getting on in the years. Though great to see them in their prime for one last time. Blackmore’s playing is God like I worship the guy, his music is in my dna like all the other guitar gods. But I noticed over the years his playing wasn’t what it used to be, as in the early 70s: particularly in a live setting. His live tone was not the best at times. This is my theory anyway because he went all pop, a few years earlier with Rainbow, his improvisation and instrumental prowess wasn’t quite so fantastic. He was after playing in a far more aggressive environment with Purple. There are at least two songs where I believe ( this is my opinion ) that he should have played the solos in Knocking at your backdoor exactly note for note like the album. It really deserved and deserves it, not an improvised thing that’s made up for the hell of it, really kills it. In the early seventies it was ok, but with a more decidedly intricate song structures like in Perfect Strangers album. All in all does it really matter it’s been thirty years since this concert, water under the bridge aye. I love this band I could argue all day long. Those comments about the live Under the gun very interesting indeed.
November 10th, 2013 at 09:08I just wish Gillan would have done Burn. Ritchie looked like he was enjoying getting into it during Speed King.
December 22nd, 2013 at 02:04I bought and saw this DVD yesterday….to me, there are some nice moments of music together, but overall I didn’t like RB’s sound/playing much in this one…also there are points where IG’s use of the echo effect is very bad (the first set of screams during child in time for example)… IP/RG/JL sound good….in fact they always seem to be consistant and solid…I have never seen/heard a purple recording where it sounds like IP is having a bad day/ not playing to the mark…..have to say I enjoy the Come Hell Or High Water DVD much more (in terms of their ‘more recent shows’)….
What was with RB coming in with 2 guitars around the end, and then not deciding to do anything with them (I am guessing one was for smashing around)?
November 15th, 2015 at 22:34