DEEP PURPLE TOUR NOTICEBOARD
UK & IRELAND 2002 NEWS & REVIEWS

PAGE ONE: Dublin.....Grimsby.....Nottingham.....Harrogate.....Oxford.....Southend
(click here for PAGE TWO: Sheffield.....Manchester.....Liverpool.....
Bournemouth....Brighton....Cardiff...Hammersmith...)

February 4th, 2002. The Point Depot, Dublin.
Tour merchandise is pretty poor, especially the unimaginative t-shirt selection - some of us wonder what this "killer machine" shirt refers to? I wonder how many of the black strapped tops they expect to sell to an audience of mostly aging guys?! And £95 for the bootleg box set....? Some reviews claim "Demon's Eye" in the set. It isn't (yet!) but Ian does introduce "Fools" as being about "our Demons", so maybe that's where the confusion arose. Simon
Dublin set-list:
Woman From Tokyo, Ted The Mechanic, Mary Long, Lazy, Child In Time, The Well Dressed Guitar, No One Came, The Aviator, Perfect Strangers, Up The Wall, Fools, When A Blind Man Cries, Smoke On The Water, Speed King, Hush, Highway Star.
Although I've been a fan for years, it was my first time seeing them live and what a treat it was.Gillan appeared on stage with an old man's rubber mask and a walking frame as the band began with "Woman from Tokyo". It was their first time in Ireland and they really looked surprised and pleased at the reaction from the crowd who went bananas for every song. Ray Clifford

February 6th, 2002. Grimsby Auditorium.

Highlights: No One Came and Perfect Strangers, the latter given new life by Steve's incredible string bending noises throughout. Paice's drumming during Smoke On The Water (well it's something to latch on to!) and his new hair-do. The tour passes which just said Grim!

Lowlights: The Aviator - really seemed out of place. The unadventurous set-list. Simon

DP made the front page of Grimsby's local newspaper and IG did local radio on the 6th. The paper claims local TV did some footage at the gig but not much evidence of cameras on the night.
View the article & photo: here                      NY

Grimsby Review & Set List

Ian Gillan says of Child In Time: "I didn't realize it at the time but I'd made a rod for my own back because it went very quickly from being a song to an Olympic event!" NY

February 7th, 2002. Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham.        Black Night Is Back!
Mark Radcliffe played the whole of the "Machine Head" version of "Space Truckin'" on 7th February on his Radio 1 afternoon show, followed by a glowing eulogy about how wonderful DP were/are and what a stunning rock drummer Ian Paice is. He also mentioned that the band are on tour in the UK at the moment.
Nigel Young
The photo on the right is by James Spackman. Click it to see a larger version.

Nottingham Reviews & Photos



Co-incidental or ironic, the Nottingham Playhouse, opposite the Royal Concert Hall, was showing a play titled "Nobody`s Perfect"on the night of the Purple gig!!! Neil Jones

February 8th, 2002. Harrogate International Centre.         2 hours on the Nail, no Black Night

Non UK residents who might be hearing tapes of this show might appreciate the lyrics to Ian Gillan's new number which he's been adding to the set:

My Aunt Nellie has a big fat belly And tits held up with string. She sits on the grass, With her finger up her arse, And sings God Save The King

(trad arr. Gillan/copyright)


Well, after the previous two shows, it was going to be hard to top them and, for me, Purple didn't quite get there. Same setlist as Grimsby, the same enthusiasm but I think the combination of the venue (impressive, in a political party conference venue kind of way), a sedentary crowd (regular shouts for the people at the front to sit down) and some losers behind me shouting "Good one Ritchie", "Go on Ritch!" and "Did his hair go blond when he had the transplant?" showing why there is a massive problem with the band's PR.
Martin Ashberry

February 10th, 2002. Oxford Apollo.
Highlights: No One Came and Highway Star. More improvisation; 110-minute set at Grimsby extended by 15 minutes at Oxford. Jon loud and clear.
Lowlights: The vulture-like collection of ticket touts outside the venue. A seated venue, aargh!!! [Though Child In Time, When A Blind Man Cries and Smoke.. all drew standing ovations and the audience remained standing for the last three numbers.] NY

Gossip: IG has declined the inviation to join the Russian board of Penthouse but may join their advisory board.

Seen: Mike Batt! NY
(he's the man behind support act The Planets.
Jim Henderson)

Oxford Review

Oxford set-list:
Woman From Tokyo, Ted The Mechanic, Mary Long, Lazy, Child In Time, No One Came, The Aviator, The Well Dressed Guitar, Up The Wall, Fools, Perfect Strangers, When A Blind Man Cries, Smoke On The Water, Speed King, Hush, Highway Star.

The pre-Smoke guitar cadenza included: Hold Your Head Up, Turn, Turn, Turn, a bit of Chuck Berry, Won't Get Fooled Again, You Really Got Me, Le Grange, Stairway To Heaven, Day Tripper, Free Ride [Rick Derringer], Heartbreaker and Purple Haze. Speed King included: High School Hop and It's Now Or Never. NY

February 11th, 2002. Cliffs Pavillion, Southend.                Black Night Is Back....Again
Unbelievable, Ian delivered a stunning performance especially as he was clearly suffering with a cold. Child in Time, Fools and Blindman were my high points and I must mention The Aviator, fitted perfectly into the set for me. New song Up The Wall sounds promising. To top it off I didn't hear one person shout out for Ritchie, or even mention him. If this really was Jon's goodbye, and I sincerely hope it wasn't, it couldn't have been better. Had a good time, but it ended much too soon.  Dave Glennie. photo MR
Once again, an old fart and long time Purple fan, but seeing them for the first time. But what a great time. The Aviator not too well received, and somehow slightly out of place. All in all though, a good concert and I'm glad I've now seen them. Steve has his own niche in the scheme of things, making the solos his own, as well as Well Dressed Guitar and the intro to Smoke (some of which I recognised!!). Keep up the good work lads. Set list as Oxford but with Black Night replacing Hush in the encore.     Paul Coleman
I t hought the band played really well,l especially the interplay between Morse and Lord. Morse ended 'Up the Wall' one verse early (according to Gillan). I would have liked some different material, but then I've seen the band many times and not heard Mary Long or Fools live so can't complain. The venue here was good, smallish, ground was all standing so you could get close, good sound, best of all a long bar!
Bill Bass

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