Black Night from Perfect Strangers Live
Eagle Rock has posted a second preview clip from the Perfect Strangers Live DVD, which is due to be released on October 14.
Black Night:
Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.
![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/mcbride7.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/morse.jpg)
Eagle Rock has posted a second preview clip from the Perfect Strangers Live DVD, which is due to be released on October 14.
Black Night:
Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
<3
October 11th, 2013 at 20:07It reminds me of the battle rages on footage where Blackmore once again decided to play like an arse
October 11th, 2013 at 20:13Pity I’ve ordered the DVD
What is a real shame, when he could be bothered he was a master of his art
Actually I think he plays great on that tour. But I agree with u Andy. Ritchie’s slide work here is not very good
October 11th, 2013 at 20:32Hi Patrick it’s just his attitude that gets to me, I’ve experienced it during purple and rainbow days
October 11th, 2013 at 21:01You never knew which Ritchie would turn up, I think unfortunately I copped for to many bad ones
I even listen to the Knebworth gig and sometimes think it’s the excitement of the moment that made that concert appear so great
Whilst not a great recording the guitar on the cd does not seem to match my memories
Just hope the guys deliver tomorrow in Manchester for the opening night
October 11th, 2013 at 21:02Then it’s down to the roundhouse on Wednesday
Well Ian always mentioned the improvisation in DP … And he is the Master of Lyric Improvisation
October 11th, 2013 at 21:25yes, Ritchie was not at the peek of his playing, but he was at least energetic.
you have to consider this was at the very beginning of their comeback tour!
for me it’s a fine alternative to the 1985 footage from Paris, when Gillan’s voice was down and out.
October 11th, 2013 at 21:44There is nothing wrong at all with this live version! It is a good song performed ‘live’ by the people who wrote & recorded it originally, therefore they can play it how they want to! Anyone who thinks it should sound like the original has no idea! Blackmore plays the solo how he feels he should on the night, just like many other rock guitarists do. Why should it sound any different? Or is it that certain people cannot handle hearing a ‘different’ guitar solo to the original studio recording from 1970? Gillan improvisers often vocally as well with Purple, even forgetting lyrics at times, leaving a verse out here & there for whatever reason, modifying the chorus perhaps also.
October 11th, 2013 at 22:33It doesn’t matter, it is a live performance, it is what happens at that moment in time! Cheers.
Ian G. looks cute as can be.
October 11th, 2013 at 22:57like the opening…. bit of a trainwreck haha!
October 11th, 2013 at 23:19Unfortunately, Blackmore ruins it. He lost his warm bluesy sound on “Straight Between The Eyes” a few years before this, and never really played with any emotion whatsoever again (except for parts of the “Battle Rages On” tour…) Compare to any Rainbow (75-81) live recording or any Purple 70-75 recording… Or really, there’s no comparison, he was the greatest and sadly lost everything. Being such an integral part of the DP sound, I must say that an off night or two on Gillan’s side really doesn’t matter when the songs sound all wrong anyway, or maybe he got put off by someone playing/sounding this bad?
October 12th, 2013 at 21:36I mean Gillan might got put off, not Blackers.. 🙂
October 12th, 2013 at 21:37I don’t get it. When there is news about the current lineup, people complain about RB being gone. When there are news of old recordings featuring Blackmore, there are also complaints?! Geez. Just stick with your old albums then if anything that sounds different from the original recordings doesn’t suit you.
October 12th, 2013 at 21:42@13
Agree. No one is ever happy.
October 12th, 2013 at 23:38I know this is very bizarre, Purple without record for years and Blackmoron’s all over around here, they get Now What?! out and these people disperse and now you seem to read more against Blackers. Go figure, the pattern does fit. I would set it all down and watch the FULL CONCERT, so it will stay down and retraction be all there is left to this. If it’s crap I’ll be damned!
October 12th, 2013 at 23:47I guess certain people expect ‘perfection’, but nothing is perfect in this world! Anyone who is familiar with Blackmore in Deep Purple, should be well aware that he is unpredictable. Especially when the concert is being filmed, but also when he is in the ‘mood.’
October 13th, 2013 at 00:57Another aspect to his playing is that he, like so many others, sets the bar high & when he doesn’t play at that level, some people cannot handle it! Many rock guitarist’s refuse to play the same thing twice, so there will always be ‘different’ takes on famous riffs & solo’s.
Technically speaking many other guitarist’s, even if bored with a certain song or they don’t like the song, will still deliver a note for note performance of the song, but Blackmore as we know, gets bored easily! That is his prerogative! Cheers.
I rather see RB play and jump around no matter what the quality rather than pay and see a statue on stage hitting every note.
October 13th, 2013 at 07:45Ritchie Blackmore has his unique style and that is why he is my undisputed hero.
He has had a range of sounds like no one else and everything fitted perfectly for the actual thing he did.
As beeing a guitarist myself, it’s not always easy to be original without copying yourself too much.
There can be stories about him, he might be difficult person….but… Aren’t geniusses allways difficult ?
I can’t understand people who criticize other who are not going with the flow.
Ritchie does what he thinks is the best and as we know, he has huge success with it… WITHOUT doing the same thing over and over again.
RITCHIE BLACKMORE forever !!!
October 13th, 2013 at 08:45Habe das kpl. Album LP/DVD/CDs !! SUPER !!!
October 13th, 2013 at 13:55People complaining about Gillan, even from just the Perfect Strangers trailer (Svante) 😀 Simon Robinson saying Knebworth sounds better, yada yada. The featured songs on the tour were as follows: Child In Time (which will blow minds, worth the price) Strange Kind Of Woman, Space Truckin’, A Gypsy’s Kiss, Under The Gun, Nobody’s Home, Perfect Strangers, KAYBD.
October 13th, 2013 at 14:30We’ve seen one of those tracks so far from this release. Nuff said, see ya Tuesday.
October 13th, 2013 at 14:33“Black Night” from this concert has been previously released on “Deep Purple – New, Live & Rare, The Video Collection (1984-2000), together with “Knockin’ At Your Backdoor”. As far as I know, the DVD has been available since 2002. What I like best about the reunion shows: You can feel the cheerful sentiment of the band playing together again, especially regarding Ian Gillan. That happiness was transported through their energetic perfomances. I think the fact that the band had to find each other again to be the unit we all love manifested itself through some strange song endings or insecure and odd playing (in comparison to later performances). But for me that doesn’t take away the magic!
October 13th, 2013 at 15:14ritchie is simply great here .
October 13th, 2013 at 15:40OF COURSE !
but ian gillan is awfull , ian is the problem bacause singing very sad.
I’ve watched both PS and BN clips and, despite some small moments of, OOOPS, I didn’t mean to play that, I enjoy both performances and look forwared to the DVD’s arrival inmy mailbox this coming week. It’s Deep Purple doing what Deep Purple do so well. Playing hard, refusing to play it safe and pushing boundaries.
October 13th, 2013 at 15:44you gotta love PS period…
October 13th, 2013 at 15:59whats wrong with everybody there is nothing wrong with this version of black night…….this is purple improvising and having a good time thats what sets purple apart from from every one else!!!!
October 13th, 2013 at 16:14Its a good luck game,the really exciting part of Purple.You never know how it going to be,with Ritchie i mean,it could be magical,virtuous,can be crazy,but never a crap.This is what Deep Purple is all about.If you want to hear a every night solo,a squary solo,a burocratic solo,then you have plenty o Morse era albuns and dvds.Perfect Strangers is almost 30 years old,that was how it sounds for real then.
October 13th, 2013 at 16:24Few could have been as ecstatic at the news of Purple’s reformation as my brother JJ, and I. However, when this fantasy became a reality, we experienced a bit of a disappointment in that the music did not represent the MkII that we had come to admire so highly. Despite the glossy production and fabulous playing, it was neither the “same” group nor was it a continuation of where the band had left off in 1973. Too much time had passed, and Purple felt obligated to demonstrate that they could span the gap of a decade in absence. Thus, Perfect Strangers–as good as it is–was more of a turbo-powered über-Rainbow as it had more in common with Blackmore’s old band than the Deep Purple of 1973.
The clip here also demonstrates the failing of the group to capture the tone of the older numbers. Why Blackmore adopted the slide technique is unclear; however, it was not as effective as it had been in his former band. Despite this, the above recording remains historically important and deserves the treatment it receives–being long overdue notwithstanding.
Ironically, it was Mark II(c) that was at the top of its game live–if not in the studio–despite the internal strife that was occurring at the time. As evidence, I submit a hybrid of the Live in Europe 1993 that I made several years ago and recently re-discovered. I took the best versions from both the NEC and Stuttgart shows, overlapped the tracks to provide the illusion of continuity of a single show, and combined some songs to make a longer number. I was stunned at the quality of the playing upon re-discovering this CD-R that I thought I had lost. This is Made in Japan ’93.
Those shows are overshadowed by the “Highway Star” incident in which Blackmore threw a cup of water–apparently at a cameraman getting too close. Gillan may have been a target or collateral damage. But that incident and the performance on that song turned this era into a Blackmore vs. Gillan fiasco and the music itself was ignored.
Once the listener gets past that debacle, all the members were at the top of their game. Blackmore was playing incredible improvisations atop the rhythms of Glover and Paice, seguing into “The Mule” or “Hall of the Mountain King” and even doing extended jams with Jon Lord performing jaw-dropping solos in “Paint It Black”. THIS is Deep Purple. Despite Gillan’s faulty memory of some lyrics, he made bold ad-libs that worked. Both old and new numbers sounded fresh, with Ian Paice drumming at his best in using “Lazy” as his vehicle. Made in Japan indeed.
Unfortunately, it was not to last.
Svante makes the point that when something comes out with Blackmore, people complain; when it is Steve Morse, people complain. There are in fact two factions–those that favor Blackmore and those that favor Morse. Additionally, Morse is the rock of stability whereas Blackmore was “on” or “off”. Still, I would take the Blackmore of ’93 over Morse in a fantasy version of Deep Purple.
It is extremely difficult to define what Deep Purple is. To me, it is the Made in Japan era playing or the more primitive “No, No, No” clips we saw in another post. The Morse era is just as much Purple as the Bolin era–or, alternatively, neither were the “real” Deep Purple–depending upon whom you ask. I define the Morse/Airey line-ups as just another Mark complete with both advantages and shortcomings as any other version of the group.
I favor the Blackmore era by a wide margin. However, some brilliant songwriting and playing notwithstanding, the Morse era is also Deep Purple–but a “different” Deep Purple–in the same vein as Slaves & Masters. Some love it. Some hate it. But all take it as much as they can get it.
For me, the moments just before Blackmore left as evidenced on the cited recordings represent the last echoes of “classic” Deep Purple. Go back and listen to those CDs. Those are a better representation of Mark II than the nervous group that had just come out of four different bands–Rainbow, Whitesnake, Gillan, and Gary Moore. It would take time to get the “act” in order–but they eventually did.
As Gillan stated on stage at the time of the ’93 recordings, “At least this time it’s got an ending.”
And so it did. Abruptly.
October 13th, 2013 at 16:57How can anyone complain about this version of this song!! after seeing it performed in Manchester last night there isn’t even a comparison! i’m afraid it only goes to show the current line up as being very predictable, and please Steve Morse, change your solo just for one tour eh?
October 13th, 2013 at 17:22DP REIGNS SUPREME!
a very talented group. great music.
October 13th, 2013 at 18:26“Black Night” always played to live differently, simple and powerful song
October 13th, 2013 at 19:44Australia in 1984, an interesting slide solo Ritchie
its nice to see the mark two, in their element, Ian and Ritchie together on stage … while still between them and any ˇ”picture and sound”
Tuesday is my Xmas.
October 13th, 2013 at 21:13Its the complete ‘spontaneity’ that Ritchie possesses..that unpredictability that makes him so unique as a musician..you never know what you will get or what kind of solos he will play or not play. On a really bad night Ritchie is still better than 99% of guitarists out there.
On viewing both the ‘Perfect Strangers’ and ‘Black Night’ performances, I get a feeling of a jam session more than an actual concert and I guess thats natural given the fact that this was one of the very first concerts they played togther for a long time. Ya can’t really blame the guys for being a bit ‘musically uneasy’ on stage.
October 14th, 2013 at 06:59Moan, moan, moan! why don’t all live shows have a set list and sound like MiJ?! times change, so does the set list and performance, 30 minute songs and 10 minute solos are no longer cool, I prefer the 96 Olympia show to MiJ but that’s just me, if you don’t like a particular album, DVD or show then don’t buy or attend, I was in Manchester on the 12th, a few new songs(totally cocked up hell to pay)a few classics, it wouldn’t be my set list but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, born a Purple fan and i’ll die one, I was expecting to be watching this now but unexpected delays(bloody amazon)means I will have to wait, this was the reunion tour and my only memory off that tour was being knee deep in mud at Knebworth(now there’s a show where the sound was awful).
October 14th, 2013 at 13:47The level of improvisational virtuosity amongst Highway Star readers and commentors must be incredibly astounding. Every clip that gets posted here, everyone is very critical of Ritchie’s improvisations, guitar tone, etc… I would like to see Andy and Masse’s youtube pages and see how amazing their improvisations are. They have to be amazing if their happy to come here and criticize, right?
For me, the guitar solos have their nice moments, and not-so-great parts, and also for me, that’s what rock improvisation is all about – taking a chance and hitting the right notes when the inspiration hits. I’ve been to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden shows and get bored hearing the same solos from the record
October 14th, 2013 at 20:31I received the Jap. DVD of this show 2 or 3 weeks ago. ‘Black Night’ should be familiar to most people here as it was on The “Deep Purple – New, Live & Rare, The Video Collection (1984-2000)DVD.
October 14th, 2013 at 22:16First impressions that stand out, (good and bad) : being a Huge RB Fan ‘Under the Gun’ is VERY inspired from a Guitar Standpoint! (My fave Track on the DVD). (Judging from IG’s reaction at the end, his as well!)I had to watch that 3 or 4 times! That song was also IG’s Fave on the Paris 85′ DVD as well, prompting him to say: “Nice One Blackers”!
‘Lazy’ is played so fast that it sounds like RB wanted to get it over with…not impressed.
‘Strange KO Woman’ has RB and IG smiling back and forth and trading licks with very good natured attitudes that makes you think they were the best of Friends during this Time together.
The RB ‘Solo’ at he end of ‘Space Truckin” is filmed well but is the worst excuse for a ‘Solo’ i have EVER seen RB perform. What ever Effect he used during this Era sucks. It sounds like a panning Stereo effect that is missing one speaker!
‘Speed King’ is my second fave track to watch. Trading Licks are RB,JL, and IG. Great when one would play a Motif and the other would finish it! Had me laughing as the skill and off the cuff Humor in the runs is infectious!
‘Smoke’ actually sounds fresh…a good version. Somtimes i do not think i want to hear it played live ever again1 I was pleasantly surprised by this version.
Once again, being a HUGE RB Fan, this period of his playing is probably a low point in his career for me personally. It is like he is trying way too hard to be flashy and play fast. He is not giving the Notes room to breath, let alone choosing them as carefully as we KNOW he is more than capable of doing! For an example of this, compare this Show with the new Rainbow ‘Black Masquerade’ DVD…which showcases his Speed, Dexterity and FEEL!
The Jap DVD Version of ‘Perfect Strangers Live’ has a Bonus Track of ‘Highway Star’ from Dec. 13th and i was expecting an Audience shot Track. Not the Case at all as it is the same quality as the Main Show featured here. Maybe a Release is possible of the Dec. 13th Sydney Show? I for one would buy it!
Well Pobody, I’m just expressing my opinion like you just did yourself. I happen to think that Mr. Blackmore lost his unique sound around this period and therefore plays with less emotion and blues feel, that’s what made him The greatest and was so important to the DP sound, here it’s lost I think.
I didn’t know you had to have a Youtube Channel to have an opinion these days.
October 14th, 2013 at 22:46This is a place were we can offer our point of view and we all have different opinions, so what? There’s no band or guitar player I’ve listened more to, paid so much money for all kinds of stuff for, and defended against people not being in favour….. I just don’t like what I hear in this recording, and what’s the problem?
cannot wait for the Live in Wacken and the Re-remaster of Perfect Strangers next year.Hopefully will get the Rainbow stuff as well and more live old concerts !
October 15th, 2013 at 03:54Child In Time, Strange Kind Of Woman. EEEEENuff said!
October 15th, 2013 at 19:42@ 37, it’s one thing to have an opinion, but to outright claim that Ritchie “ruined” the performance, and that he “lost all his ability”, is another. To me everyone in the band sounds slightly trepidatious, and I can understand it because it’s their first time playing together in 11 years. Imagine playing together for the first time in 11 years with legions of fans expecting something great.
That’s why I’m asking to see your YouTube page so I can see how a true master plays, a true master of the electric guitar like yourself must absolutely slay it on every take, regardless of touring schedules, pressures, etc…
October 15th, 2013 at 22:09It all sounds great to me! Ritchie too!! 🙂
March 1st, 2017 at 18:57