Deep Purple

Deep Purple played in the city of Puerto Montt for the first time. I spent two days in a plane just to be there to see the band. The set list was very interesting. “Highway Star” was the opening number, just like in the old days. It was followed, as I recall, by “Into The Fire”, “Things I Never Said” and “Strange Kind Of Woman”. I was really pleased to hear “Wring That Neck” live for the first time. No doubt, in my opinion, the strongest and heaviest number was “The Battle Rages On”.

I was so amazed to witness what a powerful rhythm section Ian Paice and Roger make. Ian rocks very hard but yet with style and technique. Roger’s bass playing is accurate, heavy and clean. Don’s Hammond sound was no less than I had expected: great organ technique, loud and overdriven sound, and lots of guts. To my delight, the classic big bad beaten up black Hammond C-3 organ, also known as “The Beast”, was back. Steve’s guitar playing is so much part of Deep Purple now that it’s hard to picture the band without him. On the other hand, it was not one of the best nights for Ian Gillan, given that he had some kind of throat condition which didn’t allow him to perform at his best. The encores of “Hush” and “Black Night” were also highlights.

After the show, I had the opportunity to meet Don Airey and his son Michael, as well as Ian Paice, Roger Glover, one of their managers - Kath Rallis, and Bruce Payne. They were all really kind to all of us backstage. Roger told us they do not have an immediate studio album in mind, but perhaps might produce a new live album. I wish Deep Purple would release a double live album, taken from their 2009 gigs in Argentina, Brazil and Chile. They could of course name it “Made In South America”.

review : Eduardo Avello

"The concert in Santiago was awesome. If I recall correctly, the set list was the same. I was pleased to hear that Ian’s throat infection was getting better, and the rest of the band were just incredible. “Highway Star” really shone as the opening number. I was really blown away by the performance of “The Battle Rages On”. It was so dark, heavy, loud, overdriven and progressive, almost like a cross-over between Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and ELP. Definitely tthe better performance of the two nights. This time, the encores “Hush” and “Black Night” featured long improvisations that were just extremely good."

review and photo: Eduardo Avello

"It'd been three years since I'd last seen Deep Purple play live. Though the tickets were expensive, i had to see them again, they were worth the 75 dollars price. The first show was played before a 1,000 strong audience comprised mainly of long time fans. Both the band and the crowd had a great time.

Each song had it's own distinct highlight. Highway Star made a very strong initial impression, but Perfect Strangers, Smoke on the Water, Hush and Black Night were the most joyful moments of the night."

Setlist: Highway Star / Things I Never Said / Into The Fire / Strange Kind Of Woman / Maybe I'm A Leo / Rapture Of The Deep / Contact Lost / Well Dressed Guitar / Wring That Neck / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming / The Battle Rages On / Don's Solo / Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Smoke on the Water. Encore: Paice's Solo / Hush / Black Night

review and set list: Lucas Mondelo

"A much quieter crowd for the second night. Ian Gillan, who has been suffering from a lung infection, sang better on the first night but still performed well, even though he couldn't scream as much as usual.

The setlist was almost the same, but had Ted the Mechanic instead of Maybe I'm A Leo, and included Lazy instead of Wring That Neck. Glover had a solo spot tonight, after Ian Paice's.

Setlist: Highway Star / Things I Never Said / Into The Fire / Strange Kind Of Woman / Ted the Mechanic / Rapture Of The Deep / Contact Lost / Well Dressed Guitar / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming / Lazy / The Battle Rages On / Don's solo / Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Smoke on the Water. Encore: Hush + Paice solo / Glover solo ~ Black Night

review and set list: Lucas Mondelo

"I've been a Deep Purple fan since Perfect Strangers, a time when Brazilian Purple fans could only see their favourite group in magazines. I couldn´t have imagined that 25 years later I would have attended seven DP shows spanning 1991 to 2009. Tonight the total running time was 95 min, and as usual it was a good show ! I really enjoyed the return of Ted the Mechanic and Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming , and my first witnessing of The Battle Rages On. From the old material Perfect Strangers and Lazy both received a special reception. They decided to change the set list during the show, with Lazy replacing Wring That Neck . For me, Roger was the star of the night. Ian Gillan sounded OK if a bit thin, and didn't seem to be well. I hope that he can recover the energy I saw here in 2003-2006."

review and photo: Leandro M Granella

"Was this night the end of my purple dream? I’ve just returned from the first Sao Paulo ( Brazil ) gig (March 06) and my feelings are that this could be the first of my last Purple nights. I’ll try to explain better later, but first I have to say that we Brazilians love Deep Purple – in fact, we love most of the international acts that never played in Brazil before the ‘80s and 90’s (with few exceptions like Alice Cooper in 1974 and Genesis in 1977).

I am a real Purple-hearted fan (I’m 50 years old and was lucky enough to buy their vinyl at the time of release during the ‘70s) but the band is becoming a pale shadow of itself. We had a wild audience at Via Funchal, but Gillan (my eternal idol!) seems to be suffering from something and can’t sing and be spontaneous as usual – he seemed a little bit fragile sometimes. The band continued to do their thing, but can anyone imagine Purple without Big Ian? (apart from Ritchie Blackmore I suppose!) How long will he stay as the front man? I have seen all the Deep Purple shows in Brazil since the early 90’s but was this particular night messed me up a bit.

On the other hand, the set-list was almost the same as their last visit in 2008, and Highway Star started it all. Ian Gillan was very low in the mix and instrumentals like Wring That Neck, Don's solo and Space Truckin' helped to support the show. In general, I did appreciate the show and I want more! The question is: will I have it?"

Set-list: Highway Star / Things I Never Said / Into The Fire / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Mary Long / Contact Lost / Well Dressed Guitar / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming / The Battle Rages On / Wring That Neck / Airey Solo / Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin’ / Smoke On The Water / Encore: Hush / Black Night.

review: Menotti Russo, set list: Roberto Souza

"For the second night at Via Funchal in Sao Paulo (March 7th, 2009) there was another wild audience of 3,000. Deep Purple seemed to have a really good time - in my estimation!"

Highway Star / Things I Never Said / Into the Fire / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Ted The Mechanic / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming / Contact Lost / The Well-Dressed Guitar / Lazy / The Battle Rages On / Solo Airey (playing “Desafinado” and “Aquarela do Brasil”) / Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Smoke On The Water / Encore: Hush ( Solo Paice) / Black Night.

review and ticket scan: Menotti Russo (click the scan to enlarge). Set list: Roberto Souza

Set list:

Highway Star / Things I Never Said / Into The Fire / Strange Kind Of Woman / Vavoom: Ted The Mechanic / Rapture Of The Deep / Contact Lost ~ /Steve's solo / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming / The Well-Dressed Guitar / Lazy / The Battle Rages On / Don's solo ~ Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Smoke On The Water. Encore: Hush (no drum solo) / Roger's solo ~ Black Night

Set list: Nigel Young

Set list:

Highway Star / Things I Never Said / Wrong Man / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Fireball / Contact Lost - Steve Morse Solo / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming / Well Dressed Guitar / Wring That Neck / The Battle Rages On / Don Airey Solo - Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Smoke On The Water / Southern Rock Wobble (!)- Hush - Paice Solo / Glover Solo - Black Night.

"Even though I do not support the Mk8 approach to the live shows, I certainly enjoyed their gig here in my home-town. I went with no expectation of being surprised or thrilled at all, which is in a way typical when you go to the tribute band concert. And this is certainly the best tribute band in the world. So, it was good fun, and capable of making a die-hard Purple conservative enjoy himself.

On the plus side: Wring That Neck was slightly elongated by an Airey - Morse duel, probably to help Ian Gillan, who was struggling with his voice. Nothing stunning craft-wise, but a nice reminder of shows 10-11 years ago when they improvised more within songs. The Battle Rages On was slower than normal, becoming something of a 'monstrous crawler'. Amazing, the highlight of the show. Don Airey's solo spot was wonderful, if totally predictable. A lovely portion of spacey Moog, Chopin bits on the coloured piano, some boogie, the national anthem and no Star Wars (yeah!!!). Just perfect, appreciated by the crowd and yours truly. Smoke On The Water ended with an Airey solo, which was a nice reminder of the best Purple live album. Black Night is always exciting with a great crowd of 10,000 singing along. It was a showcase track for Glover and Morse, with a lot of good playing and bits of improv - Steve even threw in a chorus from Queen's We Will Rock You, though it was only recognised by the crowd after a few bars.

On the minus side: Ian Gillan's voice, mid song banter and stage antics were below standard for him. He did his best to hide a sore throat, but it was obvious that he is in for a hard time with four shows in four days. Don Airey's solos lacked improvisation, instead to just copying Lord's album parts. The Hammond sound was also very thin, especially at the start, but luckilly improved as the set went on. The selection of material from the Morse era was appalling,  "Things I Never Said", "Contact Lost" and "Wrong Man" do not do justice to his 15 year tenure. "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming" still suffers from a slaughtered ending. Even the 1996 single version had a better arrangement. Shame.

Overall impression? A decent show if you don't have any expectations of being thrilled, excited or surprised. Could be fun for the casual audience, but nothing really to brag about for long-time followers." review and set list: Martin Karski

"A great and powerful show !! Deep Purple once again proved that they are one of the great live bands!!!.Great setlist! Great atmosphere, with everyone singing along with "Smoke on the Water". As for "Wrong Man" - the most powerful riff I’ve ever heard, it was awesome!!! All the members are in great shape!!! Unbelievable solos. The band sounded very, very fresh. And Steve Morse - the best guitar player in the world!!!

I'm very happy and proud that I was there....I'll never forget this concert.."

review and photos : Katarzyna Jakubowska

Czech Republic, May 2009

Set-list (same for both nights): Highway Star / Things I Never Said / Wrong Man / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Fireball / Contact Lost / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming / Well Dressed Guitar / Wring That Neck / The Battle Rages On / Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin´ / Smoke On The Water // Hush / Black Night

"The show in Ostrava was pretty good, but nothing exceptional. Ian Gillan was having some vocal problems, and seemed unwell. He was pretty tired, but the band were excellent. Highlights were a fantastic version of Wring That Neck, The Battle Rages On (I got goosebumps during the final part of that one!) and very good version of Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming (it was great pleasure to hear it after almost decade - it was last played in the Czech Republic back in 2000).

Next, Deep Purple in Prague... after six years. You can understand the hunger of that crowd after such a long gap! The venue was a sell-out, and the show itself was out of this world.. A huge roar at the beginning, Ian hit the first screams in Highway Star (that yeeeeeeaaaow scream at the beginning was ruined by bad sound) and I had so say to myself "where the did you find that voice in the two days since Ostrava?!" It was immediately obvious that this was going to be one of the best ever Deep Purple shows in our country. Ian was in great mood - his introductions to Fireball ("here is something from way back, that was a title track from a record back in... four three years..." - Ian Paice interrupted the introduction with.. "that´s the intro!") or his commentary to the duel in Wring That Neck ("If there is any psychiatrist in the house, would you please attend Mr. Airey and Mr. Morse after the show!"). Don Airey pleased the crowd with Vltava again and the reaction was as usual."

review and photos : Petr Čejka

"15,000 spectators came to see Deep Purple (plus support acts Status Quo, Roger Hodgson, and The Hooters) at the GREAT WIDE OPEN Festival in Mühldorf.

Staged at a horse racing track on a perfect summer day / night, Deep Purple followed a Status Quo's greatest hits set. Purple and orange backdrop lights created the right mood for the Deep Purple gig. The setlist brought little change from the show in nearby Munich last November. I do miss hearing tracks from BANANAS.

Ian Gillan -- barefoot as usual -- was fantastic during the first part of the show, but did struggle later on. The evening's winner (don't get me wrong -- they all were AMAZING) was Roger Glover, who over the years has added breaks and little solo parts to his playing and had become an entertainer -- such as his off-beat intro to "Black Night" which threw the audience off on the sing-along. All in all it was an immensely powerful gig.

Set list: Highway Star / Things I Never Said / Wrong Man / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Fireball / Contact Lost - Steve Morse Solo / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming / Well Dressed Guitar / Wring That Neck / The Battle Rages On / Don Airey Solo - Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Smoke On The Water / Southern Rock Wobble (ZZ Top riffs)- Hush - Paice Solo / Glover Solo - Black Night.

review and photo: Peter Stickler

The Set List:  Highway Star / Things I Never Said / Wrong Man / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Fireball / Contact Lost / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming / Well Dressed Guitar / Wring That Neck / The Battle Rages On / Don Airey Solo / Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Smoke On The Water // Encores: Hush / Black Night.

photos and set list: Denis Zuercher and Sandra Pensa

Set list: Highway Star / Things I Never Said / Wrong Man / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Fireball / Contact Lost - Steve Morse Solo / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming / Well Dressed Guitar / Wring That Neck / The Battle Rages On / Don Airey Solo - Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Smoke On The Water / Hush / Black Night.

"Great show with Steve doing a few bars from Michael Jackson´s Billie Jean right before Smoke On The Water." Nilkas Nilsson

"Support: HEAT and D-A-D (Disneyland After Dark). Quite a lot of people showed up, good atmosphere. The band were as happy as usual, and the perfomance was as usual..."

Setlist: Intro / Highway Star / Things I Never Said / Wrong Man / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Fireball / Contact Lost / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming / Well Dressed Guitar / Wring That Neck / The Battle Rages On / Don Airey Solo / Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Smoke On The Water // Encores: Hush / Black Night.

Martin Öberg (setlist), Robert Lundgren (photo)

Too loud in Gothenburg, 1969 and 2009

Göteborgs-Posten (The Gothenburg Post) reported on July 25th that Deep Purple's show exceeded the agreed noise level of 100dB with a maximum peak of 115dB. "When inspector Ida Jutfelt stood with the control microphone in front of the stage it registred an average of 106dB with a peak of 119dB. Colleagues positioned by houses int Parkgatan (Park Street) and Stora Nygatan (Big New Street), also registered a few decibels above the limit. The venue and promoter were informed. Result: Both peak level and average level were kept lower. The maximum level was just at the 1115dB level but the average was still too loud, 102 dB, during the last half hour of the concert."

"Deep Purple played in an arena situated beside The Bosphorus. Visually an excellent place, and the best venue in Istanbul. The city itself is a crossing point, which is why well organized groups attended the show from countries such Georgia, Bulgaria and even Iran. They were well prepared with their country's flags and Deep Purple banners. The Turks present were mainly younger fans. There were also local celebraties present such as singers, actors and writers. Total attandance was around 10,000.

The show started on time with Highway Star. They kept the solos to a minumum except for Wring That Neck, which featured an excellent guitar-keyboard duel in the mid-section. The full show lasted 100 minutes. Everyone really enjoyed the show. We danced, screamed and sang all the songs, including the riffs, which the band really appreciated. Don Airey played a snippet from Turkish song "Katibim" and that made us even more crazy.

However, there was a major problem with the gig. The sound was horrible. The worst one among the concerts I've attended in Istanbul. Only the bass and drum sound was acceptable. The guitar and keyboards were low, and Ian Gillan was almost inaudible. At least from where I stood. And we paid 50% extra for our place. But that still did not stop our enjoyment of the gig. The band mentioned that they will record a new album early next year and we all hope to see them touring it. "

Setlist: Highway Star / Things I Never Said / Wrong Man / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Fireball / Contact Lost / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming / Well Dressed Guitar / Wring That Neck / The Battle Rages On / Don Airey Solo ~ Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Smoke On The Water. Encores: Hush / Black Night.

review and set-list: Tarik Burcoglu, photo: Devrim Sahin .
Click here to see a full photo gallery from the show.

"Terra Vibe Park is some way out of Athens and the authorities had chosen this week to resurface the road leading to it, so there was plenty of time in the car to catch up with recent local rock events, such as the AC/DC gig in May. The venue is picturesque with adequate bar and toilet facilities (the latter being important owing to some Purple fans being of a certain age!).

The band came on as scheduled at 21.30 and launched straight into Highway Star. Is it just me, or do they take a minute or two to get the sound right? It was soon OK, although it could have been just a touch louder. The next section consisted of some Rapture of the Deep numbers, interspersed with Strange Kind Of Woman. Then came Fireball (Paicey rudely interrupting Ian G’s introduction), followed by Steve’s specialities, including a welcome return for Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming. This was followed by some rarer visitors to the set list: Wring That Neck and The Battle Rages On, the former including a tribute to Woody Woodpecker.

It was then Don’s turn. The local favourite he worked into the solo was Never On Sunday; this ploy was again a winner. Perfect Strangers was particularly well received and led into the usual home straight of Space Trucking and Smoke On The Water. Then the encores: a bonus of a Speed King Medley, followed by the usual Hush and Black Night.

The audience were lively and knowledgeable, however we could have done without the football that hit Ian on the arm at the start (definitely an accidental handball). The tour merchandise was disappointingly unimaginative; please bring back the tie-dyed t-shirts!

One thing that never ceases to amaze me about this band is the sense of sheer enjoyment. Here is a bunch of late 50 / early 60 somethings (sorry to keep going on about the age thing) who must have played Smoke On The Water a million times, on a pretty demanding schedule. But they act like mates meeting up for the first time in a while, having a laugh and a jam trying out new stuff. They’ve come a long way from a Wembley gig I attended in ’87 when Ritchie threw his toys out of the pram and refused to come on stage for Smoke On The Water. Long may you keep this up, gentlemen!

The grounds soon cleared and it was a quicker run back into Athens, so there was not much time for analysis, except those who a couple of hours previously had been raving about the AC/DC concert admitted that Purple were MUCH better. Enough said.

Set list: Highway Star, Things I Never Said, Wrong Man, Strange Kind Of Woman, Rapture Of The Deep, Fireball, Contact Lost, Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming, Well Dressed Guitar, Wring That Neck, The Battle Rages On, Don Solo, Perfect Strangers, Space Truckin’, Smoke On The Water. Encores: Speed King Medley, Hush, Black Night.

review and photo: James Whitworth

Rockpages Web Magazine (Rockpages.gr) have posted an English language review of Deep Purple's Athens show. According to Sakis Nikas : "We did an exclusive interview with Ian Gillan backstage where he shared some really interesting information regarding the new album. The band will record in between tours and they hope to have the album ready by the start of next year. Ian had some strong comments about Ritchie Blackmore... but you can read all about that when the interview comes online in early September."

Set list:

Highway Star, Things I Never Said, Wrong Man, Strange Kind Of Woman, Rapture Of The Deep, Fireball, Contact Lost, Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming, Well Dressed Guitar, Wring That Neck, The Battle Rages On, Don Solo, Perfect Strangers, Space Truckin’, Smoke On The Water.

Encores: Hush, Black Night.

photo and set-list:
Nikos Angelopoulos

Moni Lazariston is the site of an old monastery. A very nice place but a little small (around 3,500 people), so the show was sold out !!!

The band played really well. Ian Gillan's wasn't having the best of days. although he tried very hard to put in the best possible performance in front of a very enthusiastic crowd.

The highlights of the show for me were "The Battle Rages On" and "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming".

review, ticket scan and photo:
Anestis Ladopoulos

Deep Purple were called upon at the last minute to replace Oasis (after their latest split), headlining the Rock-am-See open air festival at the Bodenseestadion, Germany on August 29th. It apparently went very well, which lead to Purple also standing in for the Milano Urban Festival in Italy on August 30th, which was the last date Oasis would have been playing on the tour. In Milan Deep Purple headlined over The Kooks and Kasabian.

The sudden cancellation of the Oasis gig in Milan lead to the Deep Purple Italia (www.deep-purple.it) online forum being "invaded" by Oasis fans trying to sell tickets for the show. However, some of them attended the event and commented back the day after.

Francesco from Deep Purple Italia reports that Oasis fans were generally surprised by Deep Purple's performance, reportedly saying that they "kicked ass", "should have had the Oasis headline spot from the beginning", and that "they were worth every cent of the ticket price." It has also been reported that members of support bands KASABIAN and THE KOOKS were enjoying the show backstage.

Set list : Intro - 1. Highway Star 2. Things I Never Said 3. Strange Kind of Woman 4. Rapture of the Deep 5. Fireball 6. Contact Lost - Steve Morse Solo 7. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming 8. The Well-Dressed Guitar 9. Wring That Neck (with a little bit of the Pink Panther theme) 10. The Battle Rages On 11. Don Airey Solo 12. Perfect Strangers 13. Space Truckin' 14. Guitar Intro - Smoke On The Water / Encores : 15. Southern Rock Wobble - Hush 16. Roger Glover Solo - Black Night

"My third Deep Purple show, and I wasn't disappointed (except that there was no drum solo from Ian Paice). I saw a band in a great form : particularly Don Airey, who was the best in my opinion. However, Gillan had some difficulties with high notes. The highlights of the show were The Battle Rages On (slower than usual but very heavy, I like that !) followed by a superb Perfect Strangers! I also really loved the splendid duet between Morse and Airey during Wring That Neck and the powerful drumming from Paice during Smoke On The Water. The Legend is still alive !!"

review: Adrien Rouyer, photo: Guino Patrice (see also our Paris photo gallery)

The poster for the show is in our Deep Purple poster gallery.

Set list:
Intro - 1. Highway Star 2. Things I Never Said 3. Strange Kind Of Woman 4. Rapture Of The Deep 5. Fireball 6. Contact Lost - Steve Morse Solo 7. Sometimes I Feel Like Screamin' 8. The Well Dressed Guitar 9. Wring That Neck 10. The Battle Rages On... 11. Don Airey Solo 12. Perfect Strangers 13. Space Truckin' 14. Smoke On The Water / Encores : 15. Speed King - Roger Glover Solo - Ian Paice Solo 16. Hush 17. Black Night

set list: Adrien Rouyer

"I've been to many Deep Purple gigs but never felt such a warm vibe from all the crew, management and band. Something has happened, prehaps it was replacing Oasis late in the day, or playing to 110,000 in Paris.

The venue was a large bull-ring with the upper tiers curtained off, and the stage built against its back wall. The 4,000 strong crowd was largely made up of (noisy) younger fans. I have to agree with Mr. Gillan's assessment that their audiencies are full of teenagers and twenty somethings). My only gripe was that there was no publicity for the show."

Set list
New intro (Romeo & Juliet), Highway Star, Things I Never Said , Strange Kind of Woman. Rapture of the Deep, Fireball , Contact Lost - Steve Morse Solo, Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming , The Well-Dressed Guitar, Wring That Neck ( long version, with Steve and Don trading riffs), The Battle Rages On (slower and heavier than remembered ), Don Solo ~ Perfect Strangers, Space Truckin' (fast and loud), Guitar Intro~ Smoke On The Water, Hush , Black Night.

review and set list: Ian Clements

No Rapture of The Deep songs in the show for the first time since its release.

Set list:
Intro - 1. Highway Star 2. Into The Fire 3. Strange Kind Of Woman 4. Mary Long 5. Fireball 6. Contact Lost - Steve Morse Solo 7. When A Blind Man Cries 8. The Well Dressed Guitar 9. Wring That Neck 10. The Battle Rages On 11. Don Airey Solo 12. Perfect Strangers 13. Space Truckin' 14. Smoke On The Water / Encores : 15. Southern Rock Wooble (intro) - 16. Hush 17. Black Night (no bass solo)

set list: Adrien Rouyer