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Nothing short of magnificent
Sonic Perspectives has a review of the opening gig of the North American tour on August 14 in Hollywood, FL.
There’s no point in wasting lines to explain why Deep Purple is one of the most revered and genre-defining rock n’roll bands of the last century, that has been said time and time again. But what still needs to be said is how these music legends remain relevant and very much at the top of their game after more than 5 decades in the business. And such a remarkable feat was in full display earlier this week, as they took the stage at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, to kick off their “= One More Time” tour.
The crowd erupted as the band appeared, immediately launching into a high-energy rendition of “Highway Star”. Ian Gillan’s vocals, while bearing the marks of experience and the passage of time, retained the raw power and emotion that have captivated audiences for decades, and as the performance went on, his vocal acrobatics grew even more mesmerizing. Classics cuts like “Hard Lovin’ Man” and “Lazy” sounded electrifying, with the rhythm section of Glover’s fatty and thunderous bass lines – they were perfectly audible in the mix –, and Paice’s precise drumming adding the backbone to their energetic stage presence, injecting such classic tracks with renewed vigor, one that was truly surprising to behold when one considers four quarters of the gentlemen on stage are well into their 7th decade of life.
Continue reading in Sonic Perspectives
Meanwhile, The Sentinel newspaper out of Pennsylvania reviews =1:
The new album captures the essence of what made Deep Purple icons of rock while demonstrating their continued ability to innovate and inspire. For both longtime devotees and newcomers to Deep Purple’s music, this album offers a compelling listening experience.
Grade: B+
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
I wish I could see them (again) Aug. 22 at Michigan Lottery Amphitheater in Sterling Heights. I’ve never been to that particular venue, which is relatively new. I think Purple made the right decision to continue on. This latest album is more straight ahead rock and roll than any since A-Band-On circa 1998. Notice, I didn’t say “better.” Steve Morse is too good to make that claim. But Simon aligns better with the more traditional Purple sound, which I generally prefer. But I’m putting a major asterisk/caveat on that, because much of the Morse music with DP was absolutely sublime. This band hasn’t had any weak sisters in the lineup since 1968. I even think Rod Evans and Nick Simper were outstanding. Evans’ voice was phenomenal, but pop rock was being pushed to the side by hard rock by the late 1960s. So, they made the right choice (obviously). But even Ian Gillan will tell you he was a fan of the original Purple lineup.
August 16th, 2024 at 22:16I hope this was recorded for a live album!
August 16th, 2024 at 22:21That review should appease the mighty Uwe. Although it may end up frustrating for him as his concert in Germany was marred by sound issues, especially in regards to Glover’s bass. I would think they will be back to Germany before he knows it, so hopefully the sound guy or the gremlins in the works will get it right. Cheers.
August 16th, 2024 at 23:35We saw them last might in Tampa and I got to speak with them at the Meet & Greet. Stunning personal moment for me when Ian shook my hand again after the group photo and looked me straight in the eyes as he said “It’s great to see you again, my friend”. It was as genuine as I’ve ever received from personal friends.
I’ll always remember it as that genuine, and smile every time.
Thank you Ian, for that. Never forget it. In case you’re reading, I’m the guy with the black and white photo of my boys Ian and Kyle, sleeping around the time I first met you in Boston back in 2011.
August 17th, 2024 at 01:31Hang on, I have just cottoned on, a bit slow in Tasmania this morning. The Sentinel?????? Hmmmmmm, as if we don’t have to put up with enough here & now a imposter emerges. B+ is probably what our Sentinel gave the new album, something going on here me thinks. Although this review isn’t THAT long, so maybe it isn’t Uwe after all. I sincerely hope that the newspaper doesn’t instigate legal proceedings, they won’t stand a chance in hell. Cheers.
August 17th, 2024 at 03:03Bleeding Obvious is fast becoming my favourite song. Uwe rolls his eyes & says,’typical proggie’. I always liked the music & watching a live clip from one month ago & it cooks. Wonderful changes in it & the middle vocal is sublime from Gillan. The good thing about the live online version is Gillan’s verse & chorus vocals are lower in the mix, so not as dominant. Progressive rock indeed. Great ending played live too. They should have opened the album with it. That opening rap song Show Me I never liked. I start the album at song four Portable Door. Anyway as I said a while ago, 5 -6 good songs in all gets the album over the line. Cheers.
August 17th, 2024 at 07:53Can’t wait to see it. I heard Steve Howe’s Yes opened with Machine Messiah, Billy Sherwood did a surprisingly good job filling in for Chris Squire on the Royal Affair tour a few years back.
August 17th, 2024 at 10:37I already have a ticket for the autumn tour, no worries. 🤗
I go to so many gigs (so far this year it has been DP, 2x GH, 2x JP, Nick Simper, Rod Stewart, Element of Crime, Cherie Currie and Tool), there is always gonna be one with issues, a technical glitch or an ill band member. That doesn’t perturb me unduly.
August 17th, 2024 at 14:54Is it me or are more and more sites asking you for coffee and at the same time killing us with commercials?
August 17th, 2024 at 19:28“Asking you for coffee” ??? – and I thought the only adult dating site you frequent was this one here, RV! 🫢
August 18th, 2024 at 14:45“That opening rap song Show Me I never liked.”
Your definition of Rap is interesting, Tasmanian, I though you had a percussive instincts, no? 😎
All Gillan does is sing in synchronicity with the riff during the verse on Show Me, something he habitually does since In Rock with either verse or chorus riffs. It’s actually part of his trademark style to be
– either very close to or even identical to what the ‘Gorgan’ is playing
– OR totally removed from it.
He’s extreme that way and hardly ever develops a conventional vocal line. No One Came, No Laughing In Heaven, Zero The Hero, Ted the Mechanic, Any Fule Know That are all songs were Big Ian employs rhythmic/percussive vocal lines.
But Rap (unless any form of rhythmic vocalizing is ‘Rap’ to you) ??? Grandmaster Gillan & the Furious Four? 😉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PobrSpMwKk4
August 18th, 2024 at 22:28Uwe @10, you reminded me of a particular scene in a Steve Martin movie.
August 19th, 2024 at 02:35Deep Purple add a twist Simon McBride to their music, & now everybody else wants some as well!.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqqXCiPJTXE
It’s down to the new guitarist.
August 19th, 2024 at 05:47Now they sound like they should and write songs like they should.
Morse never could cut it.
Generalising again Uwe & yes Bloodsucker indeed. Cheers.
August 19th, 2024 at 07:35@ 12 – a funny chap is Mr Steve Martin. Thanks for that, classic comedy. Cheers.
August 19th, 2024 at 09:38“Morse never could cut it.”
Whenever a new guitarslinger appears with Purple, the conventional wisdom seems to be either “the new guy is crap” or, alternatively, “the old guy was crap and the new guy is so much better”, that happened with the transition(s) from Blackmore to Bolin, from Blackmore to – via Satriani -Morse, or now from Morse to McBride.
But in reality, Purple have always kept an extremely high standard of guitarists and each one has contributed significantly live and in the studio. I don’t understand that guitarist-tribalism according to which the current contributions of a new guitarist have to eclipse the achievements of his predecessor or why anything the new guy does is met with disdain along the lines of “so-and-so did this better and without him DP wouldn’t even be …”. You can like Come Taste The Band without taking anything away from In Rock’s, MH’s or Burn’s iconic status and =1 musical muscle doesn’t put a dent in Purpendicular’s or Now What?!’s rightful status as milestones of another kind in the Purple oeuvre.
Morse led DP into a new era creating wonderful and lasting new music. He will always be the Steve Hogarth to Blackmore’s Fish (in Marillion terms) or, if you like, the Tom Hanks to Ritchie’s Clint Eastwood, but that doesn’t diminish any of his vital musical contributions during almost three decades.
So Steve did very well “cut it” during his tenure, even if not everything was gold (it wasn’t with Ritchie and it isn’t/will not be with Simon going forward either).
If you had time-teleported copies of Burn, CTTB, Perfect Strangers, Purpendicular, Now What?! and =1 into the In Rock recording sessions in 1969/70 and told the musicians toiling there: “And this is the music that will be released under the name of DP in
(1) a few years from now,
(2) one-and-a-half decades from now,
(3) 25 years from now,
(4) more than four decades from now, and
(5) more than half a century from now,”
the two Ians, Jon, Ritchie and Roger would have looked incredulously at each other and said: “Wow, we’re in for some musical journey, aren’t we?”
That should be the spirit when listening to DP – of any era – today as well. More musicology, less tribalism! Enjoy the ride. 😉
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/static/article/news/6/164796_0_wide_ver1713551226.jpg@1200
(Looking at the pic of all three of them I realize that Simon straps his guitar lowest and Ritchie had it highest with Steve somewhere in the middle! 😊)
August 19th, 2024 at 14:21@13 Henrik…
“And then I fell upon
A stroke of luck
That led to my good fortune
And then I fell upon my knees
And gently kissed the ground
You walk on”
Enough said, I think.
August 19th, 2024 at 18:3028 years =Whoosh!
August 19th, 2024 at 23:07Gone never forgotten!!
In Blackmore’s younger days he had the Strat lower. I noticed the higher position upon his 2016 gigs appearances. Maybe he has had that higher position for a while, back problems perhaps. Maybe just for more control, comfort etc. Cheers.
https://www.treblebooster.net/bsm-tonezone/ritchie-blackmore
August 19th, 2024 at 23:28@19 Or perhaps due to some weight gain? 😉
August 20th, 2024 at 11:10I don’t mind guitarists that sling their guitar higher, Hendrix
https://cdn.artphotolimited.com/images/5c2e191bd96b2e012e7a7fc5/300×300/jimi-hendrix.jpg
Yngwie Malmsteen
https://mikeladano.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/scan_20211130.jpg?w=1200
(albeit apparently mostly so to prevent his Strat from getting wet, must have something to do with the amount of Swedish precipitation …),
Uli Jon Roth
https://guitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Uli-Jon-Roth@2000×1500.jpg
and Glenn Tipton
https://c8.alamy.com/comp/R0T00W/glenn-tipton-judas-priest-performing-live-in-concert-at-acer-arena-sydney-australia-130908-R0T00W.jpg
all do/did it too.
But I’m fine with the “kneecap protection look” favored by, inter alia, the ‘Joan, Johnny & Keith-Brigade’ as well.
https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/photo-of-runaways-and-joan-jett.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Johnny_Ramone_1983_c.jpg
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/wiggles/images/a/ab/KeithRichards.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20211229194405
Slinging it lower is more a rhythm guitarist thing as positioning it that way is not exactly great (or ergonomic) for upper register fretboard access unless you have the arms of a gibbon.
August 20th, 2024 at 15:32That guitar tech link re Blackmore gave nerdism (nerdity? nerdness?) new meaning with its over-detailed rich contents (you could tell the author was a Kraut, these guys just never know when to stop until the Russians come knocking at the bunker …), but was a great read nonetheless Herr McGregor, vielen lieben Dank!
I’ve always appreciated Blackmore’s utilitarian approach to guitars, they are tools to him. In an era where everyone said that only pre-CBS Strats are worth anything, he was the contrarian who said “There were good and bad Strats made pre-CBS and in the CBS era.” He never went for that elitist brand and vintage voodoo that permeates electric guitar (and to some extent also bass) culture. Blackmore can pick up any halfway workable electric guitar by any budget brand, play a note and – voilà – you know it’s him.
That said, he sure does look weird with a Les Paul! 😁
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/static/article/news/9/75079_0_wide_ver1526123820.jpg@1200
August 20th, 2024 at 17:03I guess that messrers Blackmore and Morse would give a listen to this record. I wonder how they take it.
August 20th, 2024 at 21:54@ 23- and why would those two fine guitarists & composers with their history go & do that Attila? Cheers.
August 20th, 2024 at 22:36@15, thanks for appreciation! As I’ve read that you’re from Tasmania, I’ve found something a little more of the Aussie bush & closer to home for you…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9zkAHiPLpE
This should help you recover from the shock…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztoW9PNt-Yk
August 21st, 2024 at 04:21@ 25 – thanks for the links. As I have been to many concerts in Brisbane this last 40 years. I was interested in that Tommy Bolin solo & the DP gig was played at the Milton Tennis Courts venue. Festival Hall in the CBD was where concerts were usually held to my knowledge, but that is not to say I am aware of all venues. In the 1980’s the government who were very red necked & old fashioned, deliberately built the new Brisbane Entertainment Centre out in the wetlands, in the bush. To get rid of all the riff raff & their ilk. It seems that the original Festival Hall concerts from the heyday were ok, big band jazz & orchestras etc, but as soon as those feral rock bands turned up in the 60’s & 70’s it was a different story. Have to laugh. Thanks again. PS, just in case Uwe reads that I may be FROM Tasmania, I only moved here 8 years ago. Uwe is so pedantic with facts & figures & I don’t think he will ever let me forget it if he thought that I did actually hail from Tasmania. Luckily for me in more ways than one, a New South Welsh man I am. There is a difference apparently, although the longer I reside here I am starting to get concerned even more than ever before. Cheers.
August 21st, 2024 at 07:46John, I increasingly adore your twisted, juvenile mind! The Amanda Palmer vid first had me confused because she has obviously an American and not a Tasmanian accent. But then … lyrical insight, a short urban dictionary research for what ‘Map of Tassie’ truly means and, yes, a glance at the geographical outlines of Messrs. MacGregor’s and Gregster’s natural(ly grown) habitat … it all gives new, deeper meaning to their description as “men from the wild bush”!
Thanks for the enlightenment with your smutty stream of consciousness, John, I bow to you! Tasmanian Devil finger-lickin’ good that was …
https://media.tenor.com/BontYEYsyn8AAAAM/tongue-out-devil.gif
August 21st, 2024 at 14:10Out of pure curiosty, especially, Steve. Maybe this is only me, though.
August 21st, 2024 at 15:10“@ 23- and why would those two fine guitarists & composers with their history go & do that Attila?”
Easy, out of sheer curiosity what music people are now making who you spent great parts of your professional/musical life with perhaps? Personally, I’m always interested in what bands/musicians do I once played with. And get along well with all bassists who have replaced me. But perhaps bassists just aren’t as competitive as guitarists and – dare I say – drummers?
Not just with the Deep Purple Family, but with musicians in general I have a habit of at least casually following them around through various bands and forms of music to see what they do, rock family trees intrigue me. When Nuno Brettencourt of Extreme toured with Rhianna as her guitarist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyOnsgv8B5M
I thought that just as fascinating as Joe Lynn Turner/Glenn Hughes repeated projects collaborator Nikolo Kotzev (Brazen Abbot) becoming the musical director of, wait for it!, Robin Gibb, you can see him here strumming along.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JojZ6nZb6_A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnRGVbRbaQk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lZLHVpC3sA
When I saw your countryman live (my wife is a Bee Gees buff) a few years before his lamentable passing, it took me the better half of the concert to all of the sudden realize who that very good guitarist was and why Robin Gibb’s (very proficient) backing band looked (and moved around) somewhat “heavy metal’ish” on stage. I remember saying to my wife “these guys backing him, the way they move, look and play, even the pop and disco stuff, I bet they are a heavy rock band in real life” – and I was right!
To put our younger readers into the picture, Nikolo Kotzev is of course this guy here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lZLHVpC3sA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXgayvHycxg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep43TBO51ok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7xaQ6E96Nw
Doesn’t stuff like that interest you, Herr MacGregor? Is there something even more seriously wrong with me than I initially thought? 😐
August 21st, 2024 at 16:47Steve will listen to it out of polite interest when it feels right for him to do and even download =1 (if Roger didn’t send him a copy already) and Ritchie perhaps if Candice rubs his nose on it: “Have you heard this, honey?” And why not. It’s like looking at an old postcard for him. I’d like to believe that there is little or no emotion involved, neither jealousy nor gloating about how awful it all supposedly is.
Blackmore never panned Tommy’s or Steve’s work with Purple and Steve never said a bad word about Ritchie so why start now with Simon.
August 21st, 2024 at 23:06@ 29 – “Doesn’t stuff like that interest you, Herr MacGregor? Is there something even more seriously wrong with me than I initially thought? 😐The jury is still out on that one Uwe, he he he. Seriously though, if a musician leaves an ensemble, how many of them are still interested in what they were once involved in? Well of course that would depend on the individual & their outlook on that. Some wouldn’t care at all & move on & some may still have a sense of curiosity & dare I say it, loyalty. We do hear both sides of that conundrum over the years. Speaking as an observer & a listener of certain music, yes I have & still do in some cases listen to what becomes of certain artists. DP for instance & a few others. Some I do not listen to at all, it depends on the scenario & why I would or should do that. In regards to Ritchie ever listening to DP these days or since 1993, who can tell. I couldn’t imagine he would be or ever has. But having said that, who knows what he gets up to in his castle with wifi access & a computer. Hang on, Ritchie with all that modern technology, in a castle or anywhere else? Hmmmmm, perhaps not. Cheers.
August 22nd, 2024 at 01:32I was at the Hollywood FL concert. First time I’ve seen them doing so many new songs this side of the Atlantic Ocean.
August 22nd, 2024 at 02:38I have to say that most of the new songs are more appealing live than on the record. I enjoyed the new setlist
@30: Looking at a postcard, perhaps. Or as Gillan said, “like seeing your wife in bed with another man”.
August 22nd, 2024 at 06:21– Or as Gillan said, “like seeing your wife in bed with another man”. –
That seems to be very much a Gillan ‘hurt feelings and bearing a grudge’ sentiment to me. Ritchie never got fired from DP, he left both times. DC didn’t get fired, he left. So did Gillan first time round (though he probably realized that he could at that point not win the inner-band battle against Ritchie and drew his conclusions from that). And Gillan did win the third and final round of the battle against Ritchie after all. Had Joe Lynn Turner stayed in the band, I don’t think Ritchie would have left in 1993 (though how much longer Mk V would have continued to exist is anybody’s guess).
To stay in the picture, if you separate from your wife who didn’t cheat on you, what reason is there to not see her happy with someone else? Add to that how cheating is more often than not just a symptom of a decaying relationship rather than the core cause. I guess Ritchie “cheated” DP with Elf on the Rainbow debut, but by that time he had become alienated from Purple, he wasn’t “seduced” by Dio and his men, rather he was looking for a new foil (—> Dio) to start a new band with.
I believe Ritchie was always competitive vis-à-vis Purple (especially in the early Rainbow days while Mk IV still existed), but I don’t think he ever wished them ill or despised what they did after him. And these days I would imagine him relaxed, i.e. neither consciously seek out what they are doing now nor avoiding any confrontation with it at all costs. He always admired and recognized Steve’s command of his instrument, and with Simon I could see him give an appreciative wry smile re the latter’s young man’s gung ho attitude.
August 22nd, 2024 at 13:04I am not sure why some people get into a ‘guitarist v guitarist’ mode. It isn’t that & has never been that. It would or could be that it is all the other ‘baggage’ that comes with a past relationship, that gets in the way or on people nerves etc. The same as a failed domestic, business or whatever else relationship, it doesn’t necessarily have to be just one thing. Blackmore just simply went his way as others do in life. Move on & travel a different road & leave the past where it is. Cheers.
August 22nd, 2024 at 22:49I incedentally bumped into a 93 Poland performance of Highway Star with Blackmore
August 23rd, 2024 at 13:18. Full of energy, heavy, and all. But that perruque… all wrong and self parody. He said he was always self conscious. You can play in a chapel bold silently.
I was never a fan of Ritchie’s hair augmentation over the decades. I liked his thinning hairline (approaching a widow’s peak) in the mid-seventies, it gave him something mean and nasty, even villainous, it fitted his image. That 1977 Munich gig where he came from detention in Austria? That was actually the first time I saw him with his “new” hair, I was standing on his side before the stage, just a few meters away, immediately noticed the change and thought WTF?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM7PG4CA-2E
BRAVO teen magazine, true to form, featured an article a week later where they revealed “Ritchie’s new hair transplant he had done in America”. 😁
https://www.rockonstage.org/classics/rainbowliveinmunich/rainbow02.jpg
That hair then underwent an evolution over the decades, it became fuller and fuller, curlier at times, a few grey streaks were at one point added to feign realism, but for the last twenty years or so the contrast between Ritchie’s natural aging and the more or less static nature of his hair has become glaring. But somehow he’s still caught in that 70ies image according to which a rock guitarist needs to have long hair. Candice should have had a word with him long ago. Or maybe wordlessly slip him a then & now pic of Peter Frampton over the table during a family dinner!
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a6/d6/ec/a6d6ec1ce5b73fda00fc0de1b9d51d4a.jpg
Frampton once said in an interview that he found it a relief when he noticed that he was going bald. As a member of 60ies teen heartthrobs The Herd, Humble Pie (Steve Marriott balded early on) or in his Frampton Comes Alive!-heyday, he explained, his pretty boy looks had to his chagrin always overshadowed his abilities as a guitarist and musician: “Now they can at least no longer say that people only buy my records because of my looks!”
Which is of course nonsense, Frampton has a handsome and inviting face with or without his curls. And he was always a tasteful, musical guitarist and fine musician even while Frampton Comes Alive! suffered from over-exposure.
August 23rd, 2024 at 22:21Yo,
@27…I’m a Victorian Leiber Uwe, & Tasmania became home for a number of reasons, & these being in no particular order apart from #1 & 2…
1. It was the only place that has an internationally recognised Maritime College Certification, but in truth, it was far closer than the other places that only offered national recognition of Certification being NSW & WA…
2. It’s the furtherest English speaking place away from Fukushima that I could find to live & its ongoing bollox (Shhhh)…
3. The roads here were par-excellance for motorcycling, but massive increase in road-works & traffic in the last 10-years mean its not-so-good anymore, plus the increased Police activity.
4. Apart from food-stuff & gasoline, it’s also affordable living since most people move-off to the mainland for work & the much warmer weather.
Though the natives here remain natives, & your always a mainlander to them, it’s still OK living.
I hope that RB appreciates the fact that DP are No1 in the charts in many places around the world, so proving R & R is certainly not dead !
Peace !
August 24th, 2024 at 00:19Wigs must go, this is more serious business
August 24th, 2024 at 21:01@ 37 – It is a fine line indeed Uwe, all that hair or no hair at all. An overblown wig always looks ridiculous on anyone (including Blackmore back in the day), while a shaved head suits some, however many don’t really have an option, it is the way of things. When we were very young at school our parents were into having us males in the family sporting what I believe is now called ‘a number one’. It reduced the possibility of nits & was more economical. However we were hassled big time about it as no one else in the school of about 400 pupils had the same ‘hairstyle’. Even though I have receded heaps & have been that way for decades, I still have a’mane’ of sorts, I guess I am still rebelling about those school days. Also being a ‘Ranga’, It gives me that sort of Viking look in some ways. Or even a crazed Scotsman appearance or both of those two rather nice races mixed into one! People seem to be more cautious around me at times, so I am staying with it for a while longer. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Cheers.
August 24th, 2024 at 22:31Watching that Rainbow song Kill The King from 1977 and the wig looks ok there. It is that 80’s & into the 90’s over blown wig that looks ridiculous. However as we all know & most of us still cringe at the 80’s ‘hair metal’ look & Hollywood also, such is life in vanity lane for so many. Blackmore looks better in the last 20 years or so, more in fitting with his appearance as he ages. Ian Paice did away with his wig in the 90’s. Maybe it fell off during a drum solo or something & he just booted it! Cheers.
August 24th, 2024 at 23:40If Blackmore is smart, he realizes that the current Purple and the line-ups before have kept his rock back catalog alive while he is prancing with the Renaissance fairies in tights. There are more people going to a current DP gig for a first time and then maybe buying In Rock, Made In Japan or Machine Head out of curiosity than there are first time BN viewers doing the same. You know, it’s quite a stretch from liking Under A Violet Moon to digging Fireball. Current Purple is earning him royalties, because they are playing the music he no longer wants to play (nor can), simple as that.
August 25th, 2024 at 01:26@ 42 – since when does someone who creates or helps create a legacy of sorts, not allowed to move on from that. No retirement, no different path, no change in career, nothing. Hmmmmmm, a tad naive & negative Uwe to criticise someone for doing what they want to do, no matter what that is. Don’t change your life in any way people, keep doing the same thing that you did when you were younger otherwise it is deemed a wrong thing to do. Bizarre. Oh & by the way, many people who buy some of the Blackmore era Purple albums & don’t bother with todays DP concerts or albums, does that make them guilty of aiding & abetting the dastardly Blackmore in his post DP career. Where does this malice begin & where does it end? Cheers.
August 25th, 2024 at 10:19Lieber Gregster, so MacGregor and you are doomed to remain “mainlanders”-social outcasts on Tasmania for the rest of your island-dwelling life? Can’t you at least pick up an accent or marry into an indigenous tribe and gain some kind of Kevin Costner “Listens-to-Deep-Purple” honorary savage status?
August 25th, 2024 at 15:10@ 44 – apparently Tasmanians have two heads & any newcomers eventually grow an extra head after a while. At least I did hear that all the time on the mainland. I have been asked by certain friends plenty of times, ‘has it begun to grow yet’? It is a worry, however disembarking to the mainland can be done rather quickly, although if the second head starts appearing, will it be too late & then I will be immediately sent back the the netherworld. So many things to worry about in this life. Cheers.
August 25th, 2024 at 23:56I see endless opportunities for you, Herr MacGregor!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU-21b0-pc4
August 26th, 2024 at 00:12But I have no malice towards Ritchie whatsoever, Herr MacGregor, after years of service, his voluntary discharge from the world of heavy rock in the mid-90ies (after his Rainbow rejuvenation attempt had commercially failed) was entirely honorary. I just find what he does with Blackmore’s Night largely musically complacent, repetitive and shallow.
I never had issues with Jon’s solo career after he left DP, I went avidly to his solo gigs and while Jon’s music in all its pastoralness could sometimes border a little on kitsch/romantic soundtrack music too, he was still striving for something and not selling himself short.
If Ritchie played undiluted, authentic folk or integrated folk elements into electric music like Jethro Tull once did, I wouldn’t say a word and defend his decision to do so at all times. But I find it difficult to detect lasting substance in most of Blackmore’s Night’s oeuvre. BN have been going for almost 30 years now, where is their legacy?
August 26th, 2024 at 00:37Yo,
Herr Uwe stated…
qt.”Lieber Gregster, so MacGregor and you are doomed to remain “mainlanders”-social outcasts on Tasmania for the rest of your island-dwelling life ? Can’t you at least pick up an accent or marry into an indigenous tribe and gain some kind of Kevin Costner “Listens-to-Deep-Purple” honorary savage status”?…
I can’t speak for Mr.MacGregor Leiber Uwe, but it’s actually quite good to have people leave you alone…Say one-thing to anyone, & the whole island knows about it, so there’s certainly some fun to be had…And I’m personally quite happy in semi-retirement, no need to get tribal with anyone. DP gets played quite often as it always has, & I graffiti the bus-stop windows when I walk past with the DP logo in the colder months when they frost / fog-up…Free advertising is good down this way for the band yo !
And as for the “two-heads” comment, that’s actually quite true, since strangers to the island are met with one-face, & once gone, they’re talked about with the other face among the natives. Another way of putting-it is Red-neck-ism…And this news came from a native, so it has to be true.
I’ve adjusted however, & my mindset was always to spend the 3-summer-months here, combined with 3-winter months in Queensland, & the other 6-months away at sea a year, but COrona VIrus Disease 2019 ensured that my career stay dormant after Chevron refused to pay taxes back in 2015 or so, which closed many projects down, certainly in the oil & gas industries where most of my contracts came from.
This means I’ve had time to rediscover the most important things in life, & playing selected DP albums is among those ideas, though that’s always been the case, along with Little Feat, STP, SpaceHog, RUSH, Died Pretty & a whole plethora of music. The difference today is that the music gets a proper chance to be listened to, rather than simply being played as your favourite background noise.
The invasion of privacy at sea with technologies invading your workspace & computers + phones, makes semi-retirement a wonderful opportunity to enjoy, especially before the Fuku-fall-out takes its toll…( Shhh)…
Peace !
August 26th, 2024 at 01:22@37 Uwe, we know that Ritchie had hair loss in the 1970’s, & that he eventually sort a solution in the form of hair plugs. Hair plugs aren’t always successful in the long term. Then, after GB left the band, RB got JLT into the band, who we know suffers from a hair loss condition, that in those days made wearing a rug a safe choice. I guarantee you that it would have taken RB less than a hot minute to find that one out, with lots of information exchange taking place about it. Then there seemed to be further change in the appearance of Ritchie’s hair… still long, but thicker & all curls like Gabe Kaplan in Welcome Back Kotter. I could be wrong, but I think that might be when RB started wearing a rug. If not then, it had to be within a few short years of it. If a billionaire such as Jeff Bezos cannot find an answer to baldness, then nobody can. So bravo to JLT & Ritchie!.
Speaking of Ritchie, here’s something quite interesting. This channel (Mgalbu), is dedicated to replicating RB’s 1970’s guitar sound, & this certainly has been one of the most successful attempts that I’ve seen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hpNGGWerUQ
As for the two antipodean, island hopping Gregs in this column of comments, I would suggest that if you’re gonna suffer from any sort of mania, then I guess there are worse things out there than Tasmania!. Cue the banjos…
August 26th, 2024 at 02:40@MacGregor. Paicey has had various wigs and he is still wearing one. Look at how much less hair he has during the Perfect Strangers photos compared to now. These days he sports a kind of Norman Bates mother’s hairstyle, better than say around the ‘helmet’ of 1999, gut still a wig nonetheless.
August 26th, 2024 at 02:53Yo,
@49, thanks for the link to the early RB sound video, the player was spot-on, & so was the sound, more-or-less. I didn’t watch all-of-it, as I learned decades ago (being a guitarist) that you’ll never get that sound for a great number of reasons, though you can approximate it.
I’m not going to write a book here, but I have discovered that the correct tubes in the pre-amp will get you in the ball-park. And by pure-luck, I replaced the tubes in my amp initially for diagnosis purposes, & found “that” sound…The tubes are New Old Stock 12AX-7 replacements made in USSR / Russia, labelled as “Vostok Rocket 6N2P-EV” circa 1969…These sound near identical to the ‘Mullards” used in RB’s amps circa 1970.
My amp is a Tube-Works RT-2100 4 x 10, Made in US-of-A by B.K.Butler that had originally fitted European made Telefunken long-plate ECC-83’s. All the same materials & original equipment is used in their making, they’re just made in Yugoslavia instead of Germany. These are the most revered tubes on the market apparently, & they did sound fantastic, but the Russian tubes mentioned above have the early DP Mk-II sound for sure, & I won’t be changing them-out. I even bought a pair of “JJ 5751″s to try out for the heck-of-it, & they sound more like the OEM Telefunken’s, though with much less initial gain, but tube-sag is still obtainable, & they’re a very likeable & useable tube too. I guess I’m well covered here as far as pre-amp tubes go.
The next step is an original Fender Stratocaster, followed by probably 0.010 gauge strings to sound more like RB. D’Addario’s sound better than Dean Markley or other brands. The thinner gauge strings offer more funk & spank that you here RB play with.
The other “thing” we need to remember is that what we hear on the albums has been recorded & processed, so it will never be the same as what you hear in the real world with real amps & guitars. The Machine Head sound happened over 50-years ago now, though it’s always good to keep searching to find it. And it’s the same sound found on “Fireball” plus some tunes on “In Rock”.
Boss also make great sounding “Amp-modeling” effects that really do get you the “Burn” era sound. So there’s lots of options & solutions.
Peace !
August 26th, 2024 at 10:28@ 42 – I have no qualms Uwe as to your comments re BN. I am talking about the royalty payments & that Blackmore aught to thank his luck stars that DP are still gigging playing MKII & a little MKI. And because of that he should be grateful. Yes anyone would be wouldn’t they, keeping those fingers in that pie. Royalties can spin from many directions of influence though & whatever he receives he is entitled to one would think. Printed media, radio, television, internet, record companies & other artists as you pointed out. “If Blackmore is smart, he realizes that the current Purple and the line-ups before have kept his rock back catalog alive”. If the current or recent since 1994 DP didn’t exist, Blackmore & the other members would still be receiving other royalties. Current DP possibly add a little to Ritchie’s pension fund from live performances, well we would think so, maybe not, who knows. “Current Purple is earning him royalties, because they are playing the music he no longer wants to play (nor can), simple as that”. Yes & that does apply to many other artists who haven’t sold their rights to their past music. They all deserve it. Truthfully speaking I have always wondered why Blackmore didn’t register the name Deep Purple back in 1968 or thereabouts. He would be receiving even more royalties wouldn’t he? But Ritchie probably couldn’t give a toss about things like that, or does he. Anyway all the family members will be grateful for the success of DP. Jon Lord’s family or estate would have been receiving something since his passing wouldn’t they? They all deserve it. Cheers.
August 26th, 2024 at 11:53My point with the royalties was simply that there is no reason for Ritchie to wish current DP any ill and I’m sure he doesn’t.
If anything, the mega-press-buzz surrounding the release of =1 shows how much the current line-up keeps DP in the news. And anyone taking a more than fleeting first-time interest in current DP will eventually be led to the Blackmore era.
Not that Ritchie needs any money (he earned well and he was never a waster), I’m certain. Autumn and Rory should have ample first league college/university education funds set up for them.
August 26th, 2024 at 14:53@ 46 – thanks for the two headed beast drummers attempting to learn the fine details of drumming. I couldn’t think of which would be worst, starting out with two heads or these days, after playing for decades & then the other head starts suggesting a complete change of everything. Left right, right left & beyond. @ 50 -RB, thanks for that info. I will have to have a closer look at Ian’s head of hair from now on. I really didn’t notice that at all let alone think about the different possibilities. Maybe I could pickup a few ideas & surprise a few people who know me. Norman Bates mother hairstyle, I cannot believe I just looked that up, ha ha ha. Thanks for the inspiration. Cheers.
August 26th, 2024 at 22:43It is of absolute insignificance, but certainly a bit of a fun to jump back on this wig pourparler train; my point was that if you play (sort of) a music of centuries old, why should you do it in a late 20th century Rock God perruque. Either bald, or in a Baroque style one. To Uwe: I admire your tolerance accepting that some ossies addressing you ‘Laiba’. Just joking of cours.
August 27th, 2024 at 15:38On a much more serious note. How would a 45 years old man look at them all?
August 27th, 2024 at 18:19She didn’t hurt that fly. Norman’s mother was innocent, it was that up-to-no-good son of hers.
How does Simon look at the others? With respect and gratitude I guess. He knows that he is in for a ride with them for not too much longer, but that an ex-Deep Purple-tagged Simon McBride will command a different commercial clout. And perhaps perform Lazy as an encore at his solo gigs to the enthusiasm of the few old men in the audience that still know where that song came from!
August 27th, 2024 at 22:16