![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/mcbride1.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/paice2.jpg)
Ladies and gentlemen, in the blue corner…
Back in November 2003 Deep Purple played a gig in Basel, Switzerland, about 60 minutes of which was broadcasted on Swiss TV, and became known as the Avo Session (after the name of the programme). Many a moon later, the Avo Session has become known as the Baloise Session, and a few days ago they have posted the complete concert, cleaned up and upscaled to the latest advances. Here it is for your viewing pleasure, with our heroes doing it tonight, a few years younger than they are today.
00:00:00 Highway Star
00:06:40 Strange Kind Of Woman
00:11:37 Silver Tongue
00:17:49 Knocking At Your Back Door
00:23:50 House Of Pain
00:28:02 Lazy
00:34:46 Bananas
00:40:14 Contact Lost
00:43:43 Doin’ It Tonight
00:47:40 Space Truckin’
00:53:30 I Got Your Number
00:59:57 The Well-Dressed Guitar
01:07:10 Keyboard Solo
01:12:24 Perfect Strangers
01:19:00 Smoke On The Water
01:27:40 Hush
01:33:50 Black Night
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
I love all the songs, but ‘I got your number’ is very very very good 🤩
Thanks so much for the link 😃
October 26th, 2025 at 09:57Oohh, forgot completely: Hush is ADORABLE 🥰 😍😍😍
October 26th, 2025 at 11:15Thanks ! I love that era and that concert is very good even though the mix isn’t spectacular (Gillan’s voice especially). Nice to have Doing it tonight as we already have Haunted from the Berlin show (if my memory serves me right).
I still hope they’ll release a remix of Bananas (I know many of you are with me about that), now that the great ROTD is done.
Would also be great if a dvd version of the 2002 gigs with Child in Time, The Aviator and Fools was released some day (I don’t even ask the 2 former to be played again but I know some of us would love to hear Fools again one day…considering that songs like Fools or Never Bofore, Maybe I’m a Leo, Haunted, Wasted Sunsets would suit Ian’s voice nowadays).
October 26th, 2025 at 15:05what a treat
this was recorded two weeks before I saw the band for the first time
I remember getting this on a dvd, sourced from either a webcast or a vhs-tv recording perhaps?
This is obviously a major upgrade. I hope we can get an official release from the Bananas tour. This one, coupled with the Berlin webcast? Or Montreux 2004?
October 26th, 2025 at 15:10Were any other gigs properly filmed in 2003/4 ?
Too bad Morse and Blackmore’s age and arthritis have caught up to them to the point where they can’t play more than a few shows at a time. But I’m thankful they can still do that and their music will also be on vinyl and video.
October 26th, 2025 at 17:16Doin’ It Tonight is one of my Top 5 songs from the Morse era, how I wish Purple would have explored similar atmospheres more.
4 songs from Bananas in the set list, that was also an album that the guys enjoyed live performance.
October 26th, 2025 at 17:27I all for EU but still Bananas is such a great number.. 🙂 I wonder if big Ian is still for Brexit..?
October 26th, 2025 at 21:14Great show! An official release would be amazing – the same goes for the Montreux 2000 show.
October 26th, 2025 at 21:54Lovely, thanks so much for posting this.
October 27th, 2025 at 00:04Good energy, DP are better in smaller venues, good setlist.. and two of my favorite songs from Bananas, first
October 27th, 2025 at 11:07.”I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid”.wicked “Silver Tongue”
I guess I’ll do it tonight………. oh yeah… “Doing It Tonight ”
country-samba-hip hop-hard rock song …genius mix. I love that “small-unimportant” song in the entire history of DP, but…for me that guitar riff always rocks me, Big Ian is brilliant
and yes…Steve’s intro in “Space Turckin” I recognize the Chicago Band classic “I’m a Man” tribute to Terry Kath…super
#6 : 5 (or even 6 with Contact Lost) tracks 😉
=1 had 6 tracks played live last year too and I could feel that they LOVED performing those, more than the one from Whoosh or even Infinite maybe (and both had less songs played all at once). Just like the Bananas, Purpendicular or Rapture days yes.
I’m with you, great track Doing it tonight (even though Haunted was more spectacular live)
October 27th, 2025 at 11:12#11 Peter:
Haunted is perhaps the most beautiful ballad of the entire Morse era, Sometimes I feel like & Don’t make me happy are more complex and more dramatic, but I prefer the general atmosphere of Haunted, more poetic.
I don’t know why but next to Haunted I see All the Time in the World even if it’s a semi-ballad.
#10 Ivica:
exactly, Doing It Tonight is a salsa base on a 2-3 son clave rhythm.
a crazy groove,
and unfortunately I’m ignorant on the subject, but I would like to know some South American rock groups that use their rhythms in their songs….
even if (Karin mode on) I don’t think there is anything better than Doing It Tonight in South America!
I’m joking, eh?
https://youtu.be/Sv3jZjeHhgg?si=xqmrsB0N0sATkepw
October 27th, 2025 at 22:04Not a big fan of the Bananas era but this show, and video, are fantastic! Ian Gillan sounds a bit hoarse on HS but he sounds much better from the second song all the way through. Great video work, the band sounds tight, this is a SUPERB video release.
October 28th, 2025 at 00:35My favorite Hush version is coming from Steve Morse era. He improvised it a lot from the very 1st second, that guitar intro. And the guitar-keyboard battle with both Lord and Airey, I think it was fairly close to the Blackmore-Lord duel in Speed King.
I heard the 2022-2023 live version of Hush from Simon, hmm I’m not really captivated by it, sounds like the original performed live on stage
October 28th, 2025 at 14:48All those fans gathering around Ian Gillan joining in singing Hush, Karin would be envious wouldn’t she, he he he. It’s ok to dream Karin. Cheers.
October 28th, 2025 at 22:06@15
No MacGregor – not envious, and I wouldn’t scare the living daylight out of Ian while singing so he could hear it 😄
But I do love to see he is not wearing shoes!
October 29th, 2025 at 06:30He did that for the longest time, not wear shoes on stage I mean. He had his own carpet (and I can actually understand him, ever since the pandemic years I have grown so accustomed to being barefoot even in winter – floor heating helps! – I now find wearing shoes of any type a chore, I’m now like one of those poor women who return from a function kicking of their high heels with a moaned My feet are killing me! 🤣). It was pretty much around the time when he would still do his little dance routines too.
He said in one of the recent interviews that his feet have become numb with age and he can no longer feel them – that might explain the return of shoes for better protection.
Karin, I don’t believe you one bit, you lie about your voice. All great Danes can sing!
https://youtu.be/tduXU9Q5kHU
October 29th, 2025 at 12:33@ 16- so you would have to be careful not to tread on his toes then Karin. Bopping up and down singing, na na na nana na na na crunch……………Cheers.
October 29th, 2025 at 21:41From what I have read, Steve Wilson always performs barefoot apparently. He has a large carpeted area to wander about on. Probably a Persian rug or something. All these rock stars, trying to get back to their primordial lands. Wearing quality Ugg boots is good for indoors, especially with extra thick quality wool, nice and soft and warm in the dim and dark winter months. Now I am starting to sound and even feel a little feral. Rock ‘n Roll eh. Cheers.
October 30th, 2025 at 03:49@17
His feet has become numb 😨
Ohh that’s not good. Oh man I would like to take a look at him! As a homeopath of course.
Yep! The Great Dane’s singing! That sums up pretty much how I sound 😂
But I’m good at humming and whistling!
Funny you mentioned bare feet! I do the same! Walking on bare feet. It’s rather therapeutic you know! So many acu-pressure points in the foot sole that get activated!
And when it’s freezing instead of using shoes, I put on two pairs of socks! See, now you got a free advice from me 😃
I accidentally heard your all-American girl the other day Uwe!
Do you really appreciate her latest album?
I would rather paint one wall at a time and sit – WITHOUT ANY COFFEE – to watch it dry than listen to her…
Or: peel all the skin at my legs at put it on again!
Or: put my wet fingers in an electric socket!
Or: chase a gigantic spider and learn him sign language!
– well I think you know what I mean! 😝
How can an intelligent and intellectual man as yourself, who btw enjoys Purple, JP, even Pet Shop Boys, stand to listen to that whining? 🤔
October 30th, 2025 at 05:11Well, live and let live 😃
(It was actually nice to start the day harassing TS a bit 😁)
@18
Of course I wouldn’t do that MacGregor!
I would rather be tiptoeing around him so he didn’t notice me at all…
And wouldn’t be singing either, no reason to ruin his nice mood 😃
I love this concert. It must be available in dvd, I mean it’s a professional recording!
October 30th, 2025 at 05:18But as a 58 yo (as he was at that concert) woah what a voice! What a voice 🤩
I seem to remember IG saying something to the effect of “no shoes, no tie, no dye, no jewelery, no tatoos, no wig, no underwear …” Well, those of those we can see in public it looked like he didn’t lie.
Another remarkable difference between Big Ian and other DP singers.
October 30th, 2025 at 07:13@22
“Another remarkable difference between Big Ian and other DP singers”
– you’re right Max!
Ian is completely amazing! (Perhaps not the ‘no underwear’-thing, but who am I to judge?!)
Read the other day in a Danish newspaper that soon it will be more extraordinary not to have tattoos than to have them…. Who would have thought that?
He is an honest man! I like that 😃 what you see is what you get 🙏🏼
October 30th, 2025 at 09:08Karin, I gave a review of Taylor’s album for you (since you keep pesting me about it) in another thread already a while ago, but although I kept it short Nick – obviously not a TS fan – intercepted it and apparently deemed it un-publish-able. So you have to ask him!
“His feet have become numb 😨
Ohh that’s not good. Oh man I would like to take a look at him! As a homeopath of course.”
He said that in the interview with the many wimmin you drooled over here in another thread, didn’t you watch it? Tsk, tsk, tsk …
You and Big Ian’s feet? That automatically conjures pictures in my mind, Karin Magdalene …
https://i.pinimg.com/222x/ff/2b/1f/ff2b1f72447814f6ab0ebb4f24bd5177.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS2nX4fuzqc
You’re all too young to remember who invented barefoot singing btw, it was Sandy Shaw in 1967, but I remember seeing it on TV at the time!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y0R3vN7ym4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCR8Pk0zsxg&list=RDXCR8Pk0zsxg&start_radio=1
Sandy’s predicament, it has to be said, was that she wore a UK size 7 1/2 (US size 9 1/2, European size 42) which in post-wartime protein-starved UK was apparently considered outsize large and hard to get in her hometown Dagenham. And rather than dying a death on stage in too small shoes she one day decided to simply do away with them for stage work.
In 2017 she was awarded an MBE for services to music. And those famous feet?
Back in 2007, Sandie revealed that while she would never have plastic surgery, she had had corrective surgery on her feet: “I have always wanted beautiful feet. My husband says that, when I was being created, the design team did a great job until they got down to my ankles.
“I couldn’t wear really nice shoes. And now… they’re lovely. I love my feet.”
https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/music/1572778/Sandie-Shaw-75-age-barefoot-feet-1960s-icon-Eurovision-songs
Needless to say, Sandy started a trend …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ew43u2gS0Y
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Now, what would you guys and gals do if you didn’t have me to put things in a historical perspective? ☝️🧐
October 30th, 2025 at 16:56@24
Nick is a very very clever man!
Well, Uwe, I’ve got a new iPad, and unfortunately safari, where TheHighwayStar lives, has been quite a challenge! And unfortunately I have lost most of the threads, and yes I know they are in here, but I had them lined up so I could check everyday, but that’s not possible now 😭😭
Maybe we can ask Nick together to post your words of wisdom!
“He said that in the interview with the many wimmin you drooled over here in another thread, didn’t you watch it? Tsk, tsk, tsk …”
– see my answer above!
“Now, what would you guys and gals do if you didn’t have me to put things in a historical perspective? ☝️🧐”
– cry myself to sleep every single night Uwe!😂
I like Sandy Shaw! Didn’t know about her feet, but how sad she was ashamed about them.
October 30th, 2025 at 19:42How tall was she? If you’re a tall person you need to have bigger feet not to be blown away in a storm! – just saying!😃
Uwe @24:
I have nothing to do with moderating your offtopics.
October 30th, 2025 at 22:10@24
As I was reading your post, this started playing in my head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpCB-0d42-g
October 30th, 2025 at 23:05“Nick is a very very clever man!”
Oh, so you were just goading me, Karin, and not really interested at all? I’ll never answer one of your questions again.
https://bilder.deutschlandfunk.de/f5/dd/c5/3d/f5ddc53d-e302-4e4c-a8df-b2e9abef81cb/charlie-brown-peanuts-100-1920×1080.jpg
Sandy Shaw was with 175 cm height actually on the (even very) tall side of an English woman born 1947, but sometimes small people can have really big feet too (and tall ones rather small ones). Just think of the guys that populate Herr McGregor’s favorite serious history book “Lord of the Rings” which he so avidly pushes as appropriate lyrical content for all sorts of music for grown-ups!
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRpry9fN6DvC5nic0o77uCaMbLBrHNZQZD1IA&s
October 31st, 2025 at 10:45@27
My poor brain is collapsed…
October 31st, 2025 at 12:21Why did you think of that song?
😃
@28
“Oh, so you were just goading me, Karin, and not really interested at all?”
– I am indeed very much interested! (Psst: I just tried to butter up our beloved admin guys so they don’t stop us going off-topic! You see: I’m not just a stupid blonde 😂)
I am always interested in people’s opinions in all kinds of music.
Have you btw seen Elizabeth (with the cute nosie) hitting hard on heavy metal?
“I’ll never answer one of your questions again.”
– 😨😓 please do Uwe 💐
“Sandy Shaw was with 175 cm height”
October 31st, 2025 at 16:43– ok I’m 174 cm and my feet are quite normal, I wear a European size 40, I really don’t think size 42 is alarming in any way. But I know that a problem only existing in one’s own mind, can grow to abnormal proportions.
Right on Russ, one can never have enough BÖC! They were scientific proof that playing inteligent hard rock and being American is not mutually exclusive. 🥸
One day I’m gonna get punched for my loud mouth. And will deserve it.
October 31st, 2025 at 16:44“I’m all for EU but still Bananas is such a great number … 🙂 I wonder if Big Ian is still for Brexit …?”
That the EU ever regulated the allowed curvature or minimum size of bananas is an urban myth (and a non-sensical one to boot because EU-bananas from French territories in the tropics are smaller size than the Chiquitas we generally know). Nonsuch legislation ever existed and a former English Prime Minister with a Russian first name and unruly blond hair is credited for coming up with the lie as a spoof when he was still an EU correspondent for an English newspaper. Big Ian fell for crap.
Yes, he by now regrets having voted for Brexit – a sentiment shared by many Britons -, he said as much in a more recent interview, pointing to the fact how it harms smaller bands touring. Not a mega group like Purple who keeps its own comtinental backline and PA in storage in Germany all year round so that they can tour all EU countries at any given time with it. But I only read this week in an interview with Bernie Shaw that Uriah Heep will stop doing consecutive tours in a sequence of different EU Countries due to BREXIT reasons too, because the amount of paperwork and fees to be paid for them as a UK entity to get from one EU Country to another is killing them and costing them money and efficiency. There is no point for them to, say, tour The Netherlands or Denmark if they are already in Germany just because of the geographical proximity, each and every time they will have to start again anew to cross the border.
https://www.iqmagazine.com/2025/07/data-shows-post-brexit-touring-decline-for-uk-acts/
Bernie surmised in the interview that he as a Canadian citizen could not understand how you could “shoot yourself in the foot like that with your biggest market right before your doorstep“.
Easy! If you’re Jacob Rees-Mogg you don’t care for rock music and its exposure to other countries in any case.
https://bilder.deutschlandfunk.de/FI/LE/_9/ee/FILE_9ee46a4c07e559eced9e734e253e5157/london-123924770-jpg-100-1280×720.jpg
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Re the AVO/Baloise Session: I had forgotten how good, sprightly & spirited DP were on that tour promoting Bananas. Great show – even before a seated audience. Never mind how Perfect Strangers in its original key was getting out of his range in a painfully obvious way.
October 31st, 2025 at 19:22@29
It was after watching Uwe’s video of Sandy Shaw…
October 31st, 2025 at 19:49@31
“One day I’m gonna get punched for my loud mouth. And will deserve it.”
Yeah, I have the same problem. I’ve always been one to say whatever is on my mind. The guys in the preeminent Motorcycle Club back home had a saying: “Don’t let your tongue get your teeth knocked out.” I don’t see myself as some sort of tough-guy. I know full well what the consequences of my words & actions could result in. But I will always stand by what I say and do.
On a lighter note… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfaVui1sMDM Sorry for the poor sound quality…
November 1st, 2025 at 00:30