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Aviator is flying high
This is from the recent brief tour of Steve Morse Band in February 2023. Good to see Steve in great spirits and in great form. This was recorded on February 27 at The Vogel in Red Bank, NJ. There’s more where this came from.
Thanks to Barry Krumm for the video.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Really nice performance from the best DP guitarist after Ritchie Blackmore !
March 22nd, 2023 at 21:50Great stuff !
March 22nd, 2023 at 22:00Listening to this I wonder whether he is not finally doing (again) where is heart lies most.
March 22nd, 2023 at 23:26@3 That’s quite possible Uwe, but home-is-home, & his present life circumstance, & along with “that flu thang” & its policing / travel hassle’s means he can play some shows, & still be able to get home some way, some how…
I’d be happy too ! And his old band DP is still kicking-ass, so everyone is happy for now. We should savor these moments, & perhaps that’s all Steve is doing, (especially considering IG’s wife’s passing so suddenly).
Rock on !
Peace !
March 23rd, 2023 at 09:13Great stuff!
I hope his 25 years with Purple gave him economic freedom to do what he wants!
But, it is interesting that (seemingly) none of the Deep Purple members are very into Hard Rock – they only do that when they are together – rarely for solo projects. Don’t know about Ian Paice, he have never released a solo album 😉
March 23rd, 2023 at 10:17Steve was/is a whole lot of important chapters in the DP saga. I wouldn’t want a Purple without, say, Purpendicular, Now What?! or Whoosh!
March 23rd, 2023 at 12:43@1 Right On!
March 23rd, 2023 at 14:53But they nearly all have a tendency to revert to hard rock to pay the rent when all else fails, Ole!
PAL —-> Whitesnake
Coverdale 70ies solo albums phase —-> Whitesnake
Glenn Hughes Play Me Out phase —-> Hughes/Thrall, Gary Moore, Black Sabbath
Ian Gillan Band —-> GILLAN (the band)
Old habits die hard. Ritchie went against the grain: He left a heavy rock band for even more heavy rock which he then pop’ified and AOR’led only to end up “strumming folk songs with an acoustic guitar with his girlfriend singing, managed by her mother” to quote Little Ian, who then innocently added “so I’m sure it’s all very professional”. : – )
March 23rd, 2023 at 16:38Purple where more successful financial wise with morse in the band on the road endless touring that could not happen with ritchie.28 years of steady shows because of morse.you can ask bruce Payne. Band was making more money with morse.
March 23rd, 2023 at 17:51Mr Morse has travelled full circle & good on him. He has enjoyed the best of both musical worlds in regards to what he has enjoyed & still does enjoy. I just hope he doesn’t have to carry all his equipment again after not having to for 28 years. Good luck to him. Cheers.
March 24th, 2023 at 05:03Enjoyed The Vogel gig immensely as continues to be the case 43+ years on. Gotsta dig the Ice Cakes banjo roll from the masterpiece What If, produced by the legendary Brit Ken Scott! Maestro Morse brought, as a matter of course, that banjo roll to the beginning of the masterpiece Purpendicular album song named after me (:>).
A half hour after the gig, Maestro Steve appeared in the lobby to sign stuff for a massive crowd. I rushed up to him to show my Delta Airlines patch sewn on to “It’s a Morse thing. You wouldn’t understand” T-Shirt. His smile broadened along with a laugh out loud….
Just sayin’…. :>
Peace,
March 24th, 2023 at 20:57Ted
@5 Whitesnake, Gillan, & Rainbow qualify as heavy metal bands, but the heaviest band on the Purple family tree was probably Gillan 1978-1982. All three are aguably heavier/harder rock bands than Deep Purple post-1974.
March 25th, 2023 at 02:18He does more shows with his band in April!
March 27th, 2023 at 03:19@9 Some time ago I saw it on the Web that Ritchie’s net worth was less than Ian’s. Initially, that seemed strange to me as in my book Ritchie is a much more shrewd businessman than Ian. But if you factor in the last 30 years of DP heavy touring without Ritchie, numbers do add up.
March 29th, 2023 at 12:04I think the first time Ian had a net keep was after his stint with Sabbath – that was financially lucrative for him he has always said. And then the DP reunion of course. Before that only his Kingsway Studios did well (sold at a profit), the hotel and the motorbike investment, Ian Gillan Band and even GILLAN all fell flat on their proverbial body parts commercially. And the royalties in the 70ies fell victim to bad tax discipline for which he blamed his manager and wrote a song about it —> “Money Lender” (on Clear Air Turbulence) only to sheepishly regret it later on and realize it was his fault after all.
I remember Big Ian mocking Little Ian’s tour life “who went window-shopping with banks as always”. Only to add ruefully: “In hindsight, I should have sometimes gone with him.”
I’d take that with a grain of salt that Ian is supposed to be better off than Ritchie. Blackers had less failed business ventures/bad investments and was still with Purple in 1974, their most profitable year together with 1973. He also earns from all 60ies, 70ies and 80ies plus Slaves & Masters Purple albums save one: Come Taste The Band. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he had his little side deal with the reunion record companies especially when Ian returned for the second time.
Finally, I don’t think that Blackmore’s Night is a mere labor of love, they have healthy sales and exposure in Germany alone and for decades. Plus Ritchie and Candice are the main benefactors, everyone else is on a wage. Their touring costs are negligible, they don’t have to schlepp around a Roger Waters – The Wall type stage set and show.
March 30th, 2023 at 18:34