Saturday 25th RAH Review
What can I say? Probably the ultimate Purple gig, that's what!. Anyway, here's a run down of what happened:
Firstly the LSO came on and did a piece called "Scottish Dances" by Malcolm Arnold, and it was actually very enjoyable. It went down surprisingly well with the audience and set the tone for what was to come.
The main man Jon Lord then emerged to an ecstatic reception for a couple of numbers from his "Pictured Within" opus. The first song performed was the title track of the album, with Miller Anderson on vocals followed by "Wait a While", with Sam Brown taking the mic. Both of these tracks were absolutely spellbinding and very moving - the orchestra providing subtle accompaniment along with some great playing from Jon.
It was then Ronnie James Dio's turn to step into the spotlight for two tracks from Roger Glover's "Butterfly Ball". Eddie Hardin played piano on this one with Ian Paice on drums, Jon Lord on organ with Steve Morse and Steve Morris on guitars. Dio's voice was in fine form, and everyone was having a great time on stage, particularly during "Love Is All".
None other than Ian Gillan emerged following this (wearing an horrific gold lame jacket (sorry Ian!), which was thankfully ditched after one song!). He did one song from the Gillan/Glover album "Accidentally On Purpose", "Via Miami" and a cover of "That's Why God Is Singing The Blues" by Dave Corbett. From the moment he walked on, Gillan had the crowd in the palm of his hand, and this definitely upped the tempo a bit.
The Steve Morse Band then did a couple of songs, "Night Meets Light" and "Take It From The Top", both featuring some excellent fretwork from the man himself. The rest of the band were great too, with Van Romaine putting in some impressive drum work and Dave LaRue excelling on bass.
The first half concluded with a big band version of "Wring That Neck", including a brass section.
Then it was time for the moment we had all being waiting for - the concerto. It sounded truly fantastic, definitely the highlight of the gig. Minor alterations had been made to the score, but these were were for the better. The whole thing was played very tightly, altogether very impressive. It was marred somewhat by the idiots who decided to shout out while the piece was being played, forcing Jon to say something about it over the microphone at the end of the first movement. It was an utter disgrace from people who consider themselves Purple fans, and I was ashamed to be sitting near to them- you know who you are, and I would have kicked your asses if I was sitting nearer. They claimed to want to hear the "rock stuff", but what the hell were they doing there in the first place?
Anyway, the concert concluded with great versions of "Ted the Mechanic", "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming", "Watching The Sky" and "Pictures of Home", accompanied by the LSO. The whole shebang ended with "Smoke..." (what else), with Gillan and Dio sharing the vocals. The crowd stayed behind a good ten minutes afterwards, trying to get everyone to come back. After a while, Ian Gillan emerged to inform us that Jon Lord was "being sick in the toilet" and the concert was over.
Even so, it was a fantastic night, and everyone who performed should be proud of themselves, especially Jon - I know he had put a lot of hard work in to it.
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