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Une faune inhabituelle
Concerto for Group and Orchestra got a rare North American performance yesterday, November 21, at Palais Montcalm in Québec City. Paul Mann was on hand to conduct l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec, with Paul DesLauriers Band, and Bruce Dickinson handling the vocals. Concerto was followed by Sarabande and Bouré, and a set of Deep Purple covers that included When a Blind Man Cries, Hush, Perfect Strangers, and Smoke on the Water.
ICI Québec uploaded the video you see above, and Le Journal de Québec and Le Soleil carry reviews of the show en français (both quite positive). The latter gives credit for organizing this rather unique event to the programming director of the mostly classical music venue Nicolas Houle, who is apparently a huge Purple fan.
There will be a second performance tonight, November 22. Both shows were sold out very quickly.
Thanks to Gary Poronovich for the heads up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Thanks for this. Good to see that Jon Lord’s music is alive.
November 23rd, 2019 at 04:32By the way, here there is a video from the audience with the
second movement Andante, my favorite. Ian’s singing on that
5/4 is just perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXZnd564inY
It would be nice if they could release a video but that would probably cost them too much money.
November 23rd, 2019 at 10:20Great musician even bigger man Bruce
In besieged Sarajevo, one night a thousand people watched a concert that is still being talked about today, after 25 years.
“This is a concert that no one will ever believe happened,” he roared to the microphone in 1994 in front of 1,000 front-band members of the Iron Maiden band in besieged and devastated Sarajevo.
Just two days before, while touring Britain with his other band, “Skunkworks”, Bruce Dickinson received a call from a UN peacekeeper who told him “hey, are you gonna jump to Sarajevo and have a concert”.
Scott Trevor Gibson, who called Dickinson, had previously tried, he says, to reach “The Rolling Stones”, who turned him down, and then ” Motorhead” guys changed their minds at the last minute. But he did not give up organizing a concert that would raise the morale of the besieged city.
The British can be proud of having such a Man .. I’m glad he’s a Deep Purple fan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3MedSfD57w
November 24th, 2019 at 03:10I was at the second show and the full event can be summed up with the word uttered by an audience member sitting next to me; “magnifique!” What a wonderful experience. The reviews in the French papers gave glowing reviews and they weren`t lying. The Paul Deslaurier Band was a perfect fit for “The Group” part. When Bruce (long hair and all) sang, you only needed to do was close your eyes, and you`d be cast back to the ’69 and ’99 with Big Ian; the similarity was amazzing! L`Orchestra du Quebec rose to the occasion with energy and passion. From my seats there were smiles all around. An interesting note; at the end of Perfect Strangers when Gillan would sing out a line from JC Superstar, I swear Bruce replaced that line with the ending of the Gates of Babylon!!!. At the end of the show, Bruce alone came out a said;”we`ve run out songs to play” and proceeded to play the William Tell overture on his cheeks!…then a poem(?) from an Iron Maiden song( I`m trying to hunt that down).Fantastic night!!!!
November 25th, 2019 at 14:00Hi again – So just to complete what I wrote – Bruce ended the evening with a powerful solo singing of the opening verse (hymm) to Iron Maidens “Revelations”
November 26th, 2019 at 13:04I also was at the second concert. Wowwowwowwowwow. When you hear a live rendition of a piece of music you have loved for 50 years, it’s a spiritual experience. Everyone involved – Bruce Dickinson, Quebec Symphony, Paul DesLaurers band, keyboardist Pierre Belisle, and of course, the main Mann (Paul Mann, of course) did an absolutely amazing job. I’m guessing that, judging by the large number of Iron Maiden tee shirts in attendance, a lot of people were there primarily to see Bruce and had lesser familiarity with the Concerto itself. But it was clear that they certainly were all in on the Maestro’s composition as it unfolded. As a personal bonus, I was seated in the same row as Colin Hart, and got to talk with him during the intermission, as well as meet Paul Mann the next day at the airport. Both of them are gracious, friendly blokes! Truly an amazing experience. Most important of all : it is great to hear and see Jon’s music being kept alive. May that continue ad infinitum.
November 27th, 2019 at 20:42Well spotted, Gary Poronovich. Every bit as much a huge Rainbow as Deep Purple fan, he noticed the musical kinship between the two songs, in particular the Eastern European/Jewish/Spanish gypsy/Arabic-tinged augmented second that RB loved so much, and added his own touch to the final bars.
November 28th, 2019 at 07:17