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Never Glenn the plumber
A short, but quite substantial interview with Glenn Hughes:
[Update May 4]: Almar, the bearded interviewer, got in touch pointing out that he also reviewed the gig itself. That show was in Brno, Czech Republic, on April 28, 2024, and here is the review:
Thanks to Metal & Rock Zone for the clips, and to Blabbermouth for the heads-up on the interview.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Good interview.
Glenn needs to talk to the Wolves about decent music to accompany their best goals – not this jingle-jangle kindergarten pop!
https://youtu.be/1NevUs0prbU
May 3rd, 2024 at 20:15I can only confirm what Almar, who seems to be a great guy, says in his review vid. Glenn was born for the stage, he’s a real natural for that environment. I’ve seen him so many times now, but he never lets an audience down, no matter in what numbers they turn up or whether he has a cold. High performance ethic there. And his band is really committed and dedicated to the music, there is a spirit of communion at work which makes you feel good watching them.
I’m seeing Glenn again on Sunday in a week from now!
May 4th, 2024 at 21:44Just back from the Glenn Hughes Show in Dresden last night I m still deeply impressed. That man is a phenomenon, seems to be in the best from of his life. He cried his soul out, hitting every note and, I have not often experienced something like this before: during his a capella passages the crowd was quit. Only listening. It was kind of magical. Whoever has a chance to see one of the coming shows: its definitely worth it, I highly recommend!
May 5th, 2024 at 07:20@3: I was there as well and also enjoyed the show a lot. Glenn’s voice is still supberb after all these years. My personal highlights were “Mistreated” and “You Keep On Moving”. The organ was a bit low in the mix, maybe because I was standing stage right. I really enjoyed the German opening band “Rook Road”, a good choice for a place full of Puple afficionados. All in all, a fine evening with some very fine music.
May 5th, 2024 at 12:28Das geht mir runter wie Öl, Wolfram!
May 5th, 2024 at 12:52In Dresden of all places, British nightly forays that leave ‘the city ablaze and the town on fire’ tend to be a somewhat thorny issue, but Glenn obviously broke the circle with his type of BUURRRN … 😎
May 5th, 2024 at 18:50Also nein, lieber Wolfram & lieber Uwe – after attending the show in Stuttgart I have to disagree. My son and me enjoyed the show and Glenn’s delivery sure was nothing to be ashamed of but we shared the impression that his voice and his performance had lost a lot of their power since we last saw him a couple of years ago when he was on his Classic Purple tour. Being the pro he is he sure did manage to get around making it too obvious but you could tell. Just as IG tries to avoid some things so does Glenn these days it seems. Once again: Nothing to be ashamed of but no comparison to former glories. He smiled a lot an talked in that Hollywood manner he has long adopted – not really of this world it seemed. “Verstrahlt” as my boy put it. But lovely anyway. And the drum solo was ace!
May 7th, 2024 at 08:04Max, I did write in my initial review that he is pacing himself more vocally and skipping a lot of vocal acrobatics he used to do – but he’s still committed to entertain.
Glenn’s voice lasted longer than Big Ian’s or DC’s but we cannot ignore how the latter toured much more often and in a lengthier manner with more frequent gigs than Glenn who was on hiatus for more than a decade and only resumed a real touring life in the 90ies. But in recent years he’s been doing a lot more gigs with The Dead Daisies and his DP revue – as regards wear & tear his voice is catching up with his DP colleagues I fear.
May 7th, 2024 at 13:26Out of curiousity, Max, are there any links you can share where the decline is noticeable?
May 7th, 2024 at 16:23That’s true I guess, Uwe. Still it was much more enjoyable in the vocal department than DC’s last show in Germany (Cologne) where the man was struggling a lot. And I may be forgiven by I had the very string impression he had a little help from outside. And I don’t mean the backing vocals from various band members … I especially seem to remember him screaming “Tommy Aldridge!!!” after the drum solo but didn’t move his mouth and didn’t even hold the microphone in front of his face … which sure did cause some confusion. But I maybe wrong here. Still his struggles were evident every time I saw Whitesnake live since around 1994. Whereas IG seems to have found a way to get along, he even sounded better on recent tours than on some before. I guess most of the songs he chooses to sing do not require as high a register throughout as the ones DC has to sing … Still of the Night and the likes where the old Cov let the crowd sing a lot of the lines. I just hope they settle on material that soothes their voices now. I sure would not mind a set more laid back as a lot of people suggest. Some of us – includig yours truely – have ear issues anyway… 😀
May 7th, 2024 at 16:37I’ve witnessed DC mime to/use pre-recorded backing tracks of his own voice at live gigs more than once. He is not a very skilled lip-syncer to put it mildly. Should take lessons from Paul Stanley.
They are not the only ones. Other singers can’t hiii-iiide their lyin’ tracks either …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ6DbH-X-L0&t=1296s
Go to 03:09 to hear Don Henley match a “live” vocal performance of Desperado from 2024 EXACTLY with a 2023 performance by him of the same song, 2023 is on the left channel, 2024 on the right, there is zilch difference between the two which is humanly impossible unless you used the same pre-recording for both.
Jon Lord would have been distraught, he really liked the Eagles.
May 8th, 2024 at 04:14Almost half a million views of that guys video & over 6000 comments exposing Don Henley’s ‘live’ vocals. Talk about upsetting the apple cart, sheeesh it is a wonder the Henley mafioso hasn’t been activated. Thanks for that, not that it wasn’t already known for many many years, but still good to see it online. As some people say, maybe these ‘cheating’ artists should print that on their tickets, ‘certain segments of this concert you have paid for are not real, or in real time’ or something similar. Cheers.
May 8th, 2024 at 06:08Very interesting, thanks. Now what puzzles me: If DC uses that technology – why does he STILL sound so weak?
May 8th, 2024 at 06:57Sadly, David’s voice is shot for harder rock, but when I saw him the last few times he still didn’t use backing tracks for most of his singing, only on some tracks like Still Of The Night (always too high for him, even at the peak of his capabilities) and in the higher parts of many chorus parts. I never believed the “the band members sing so well, they do some of the work for me”-trope. The truth is that latter day Whitesnake did not have strong backing vocal capabilities – they weren’t The Beach Boys or Queen. And there was no Bernie Marsden with his naturally melodic voice either.
With Don Henley it’s different. I believe he could still pull off a credible version of Desperado today, maybe not perfect and in a different key, but good enough to make any Eagles fan (I am one) happy. His voice has aged, but isn’t shot because he didn’t sing it to shreds like DC. But he is – and always has been – an obsessive perfectionist in regard to the Eagles sounding “just like the record” live. It’s something he drove his band mates nuts with already in the 70ies. When back then Randy Meisner and Joe Walsh threw a couple of Chuck Berry shapes on stage in abandon during one of the harder tracks of the Eagles, he took them to task backstage explaining to them that it distracted the audience from the music and that they should rather concentrate on playing faultlessly. The man is a real sourpuss.
May 8th, 2024 at 14:09DC is not miming but he has/had two lead singers in Dino J and Michele Luppi.
May 8th, 2024 at 16:30It has always amazed me as to why Joe Walsh has stayed in that band. Surely it is because of the ‘day job that pays rather well’ scenario. However as a musician I find Walsh much more interesting than what Henley & Frey became after the late 1970’s. Much more melodic & rock ‘n roll etc. Those other two are a perfect example of playing it safe, don’t rock the boat, or should I use that term ‘yacht rock’. Of the worst kind. The Eagles died in 1979. I do own the Hell Freezes Over dvd but have not watched it since then, early to mid 90’s. Maybe I should, but then again am I missing anything, Don Felder most likely. Cheers.
May 8th, 2024 at 22:14Felder is a remarkable guitarist. A lot of solos played by him are actually erronously credited to Joe Walsh in people’s minds. Those harmony guitars at the end of Hotel California? His do und arrangement. And that telltale bass intro on One Of These Nights? That’s him as well, not Randy Meisner.
May 8th, 2024 at 23:03Daniel, the gigs I saw with DC where he lip-synced were long before Dino and Michele had joined WS. Of course, I cannot rule out offstage singers at the time with a similar voice to him – after all he had no qualms using an offstage keyboarder in the Sykes/Powell/Murray line-up after Jon had moored in the Purple harbor again (that was a very poetic picture, wasn’t it?).
May 8th, 2024 at 23:13Those keyboards he had with the offstage player were horrible. Richard Bailey? What pub did he find him in? They sounded like a calliope in a circus or carnival!
May 9th, 2024 at 04:05From what I have read all these years gone by is that Don Felder wrote the music for the song Hotel California. It was his initial arrangement, riffs etc that sparked the other two to add lyrics & vocal melodies etc. Felder would have more than likely had all the guitar parts together. Walsh adding the same final duel solo’s after it was all arranged no doubt. A interesting Rolling Stone story on that song. Cheers.
https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/the-eagles-hotel-california-10-things-you-didnt-know-111526/
May 9th, 2024 at 06:11Do we have any links showing Glenn’s supposed decline? 🙂
May 9th, 2024 at 07:21Don’t be cruel to Richard, Sidroman! 😂 He didn’t have a bad pedigree having played with Magnum, Trapeze, the Phenomena project and Alaska (no doubt recommended to DC via Bernie Marsden). His sole issue was that he was neither rock royalty like Jon Lord nor “looked the part” for what DC deemed in the early 80ies a “rock star MTV look”.
https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3/0/2/3/302337_artist.jpg?2543
While always offstage in his tenure with WS, he would dress for the occasion when performing, with DC, Cozy and Sykes ridiculing him for it. Not nice.
For the kind of keyboards WS required from 1984 going forward, there was no need to be a Jon Lord, I believe Richard did technically fine on the ivories.
May 9th, 2024 at 13:17Uwe
May 9th, 2024 at 23:09I think the problem with Bailey was his equipment. His keyboards had a very thin sound to them. You being a musician can probably think of a better word for it. Especially with such a loud band, as Cozy , Sykes, Murray and DC, the keyboards just didn’t fit in with the rest of the band.
The keyboard sounds he used/had to use back then have aged badly, I agree. But don’t forget that this was around the time when DC and Sykes were on that inane “Hammond sounds suck and date our music”-trip. The same Coverdale who had lauded Jon’s playing in every WS tour program and who is busy today having his more recent back catalog remixed with additional Hammond sounds provided by Derek Sherenian – go figure!
May 10th, 2024 at 08:24Coming , next wednesday.
I love this drummer!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M321SG8tfBE&ab_channel=TheDeepPurplePodcast
May 12th, 2024 at 01:27And I‘m seeing him tonight again!
May 12th, 2024 at 13:45Awaiting your report, Uwe, and your impressions of his voice 😉
May 12th, 2024 at 18:29Melde mich zurück, Daniel. I’m happy I went, I was still recovering from a little bout of COVID I caught earlier this month (it wasn’t awful, but still kind of draining), the Missus admonished me not to go (“You’ve only just seen the ole scream queen!”, you know how cruel and callous wives can be), but if Uwe was still a bit shaky and sweaty, Glenn was vocally in noticeable better shape than in Cologne, so there were more vocal acrobatics and high notes plus he played a lot more of his idiosyncratic little runs high up the neck. I could die for those, he really was busy on bass tonight.
Set was the same and it started early (opening act King Herd dropped out due to illness of a member), but less volume (still plenty loud enough) and a better, clearer sound. Cologne was perhaps more frantic and more “wild” plus the audience was larger, but the Mannheimers made up for in enthusiasm what they might have lacked in numbers (it was also closer to home and it didn’t rain today like it did on my trip to Cologne with the motorbike).
Glenn let slip at one pont that he is “the last man standing” performing this music and also, more importantly, that “it appears that David might never sing again” (hardly a major surprise given the length of DC’s hiatus after the aborted WS tour, but still sobering and sad).
So it was even better than Cologne and thanks to the healing powers of Glenn’s falsetto screams – eat your heart out, Gregster … 😁 – my COVID hangover is magically better too!
May 12th, 2024 at 23:41Thanks for the report! How many people did he draw?
May 13th, 2024 at 17:28A couple of hundred, the Capitol in Mannheim holds max 1.200 people standing. It wasn’t sold-out, but not half-empty either. 800 perhaps? I’ve seen him with a lot smaller audiences, like on the ill-fated California Breed tour, but he never lets that get to him, he was in a good mood on Sunday, Glenn treats every audience as if they were the fucking California Jam all over again! 🤣
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o4ri2CGqWI&t=29s
May 14th, 2024 at 14:38800 is a good turnout. The big question is if he will be able to draw similar sized crowds once the DP name is dropped from the poster and he resumes solo touring next year. I hope he can keep it going.
May 15th, 2024 at 04:10Fair point. Post-DP, I’ve never seen Glenn draw as many people in Germany as he does with his Mk III revue. And I don’t see him leaving the clubs-to-smallish-halls circuit in his remaining lifetime here ever. Which is fine with me, I detest being one of several tens of thousands of fans watching, say, U2, Bruce Springsteen or Metallica. A 3/4 full club is right up my alley.
May 15th, 2024 at 10:43Just got back from the show in Zoetermeer.
Though I still use mediocre camera I wanted to share this upload by me.
Must say I d to convince myself to go because of the imho dubious setlist and my health but…
I m glad I did
For whatever its worth, I felt impressed .
A pity he still didnt do Highway Star but hey….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gIznqgV8aY&ab_channel=JonBlackers
May 15th, 2024 at 22:52I very much prefer smaller gigs & have for a long time. Theatres, clubs, pubs & halls are much more suited for intimate settings & are usually better for sound. The largest concert attendance I have been to is app 10,000 at the Sydney & Brisbane Entertainment Centres. The name says it all. Built for basketball & other sports more than music & it’s sound, although I have been fortunate there as most of the bands have been rather good. Smaller venues are more comfortable as we grow older, better seating, depending who the artist is of course. And also less mobile phones getting in the way. Although Glenn Hughes would have to reactivate that saying from the Cal Jam. ‘I don’t want to see anybody sitting down’. Cheers.
May 16th, 2024 at 08:13@ 34
I agree
I loath big arena s and such.
I m already sceptical to see DP live but would reconsider if it wasnt served in a too big place.
Glenn s band tonight is playing in a small open air theatre in Valkenburg, 1000 seater.
The weather is dubious, I hope for them the rain takes a break.
For me it would give me a lot of extra hassles going there, not owning a car, public transport stopping too early, would ve lay my old bones on a campingsite, thats been decades ago I did that!
And unlike the long gone past I dont like to go 2 nights in a row.
Yesterday already drained me out , had to be there 3 hours in advance for several reasons, but the show was excellent, aside for the minor usual gripes.
And it gave me some needed positivity!
Pity though halfway I had trouble absorbing everything going on on stage because painful knee and back started to become a depressing vibe.
There are already much better quality clips made by others
I did put up 2 more. Incl the most of the awesome drumsolo.
Damn, I really love Ash Sheehan but his drumsolo was that long that my stupid camera had to stop at the 10 minutes mark!
One of those things.
I oughtta have bought better device but ….ya know…….
And Glenn, put Dear Bob higher in the mix.
Cheers.
May 16th, 2024 at 16:59Yeah, I know but still wanted to share this
Ending of You Fool No One plus speech about members, incl Rotterdam Conservatory Bob on keys.
Hell, Rotterdam does not even have a decent clubcircuit anymore for years, such a disgrace.
Heard The Baroeg, mainly a metalvenue, I think will build a new venue.
Hopefully they ve heard of ergonomics and spreaden the appeal by inviting other fgenres as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lmv0Ak3sEA&ab_channel=JonBlackers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lmv0Ak3sEA&ab_channel=JonBlackers
May 16th, 2024 at 20:18Glad you liked it RV!!! There are a lot of jokes that can be made about Glenn, but he and his cohorts play that stuff with a swagger and raunch that belies the fact that we are listening to half-a-century old music.
And that Dutch kid on the ivories … If Don should ever wish to decide to takes things a little easier, they know who to call then …
Speaking of our neighbors to the Northwest and their well-known musical abilities,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzEOvyDcVas
here’s a bunch of Holländers I really like and which should warm the heart of any upstanding DP fan …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqHLldQubps
Fantastic band. As if Rare Earth and Deep Purple had great sex together and spawned an illegitimate child. 😎
May 17th, 2024 at 01:44“Glenn treats every audience as if they were the fucking California Jam” …
Well Uwe as I noticed you mentioned that fact several times now it makes me wonder what bad experience made you underline Glenn’s dedication again.
When I attended his shows he was professional and adressing the crowd in that California smile style, repeating mantras like music is the healer and telling us – hand on his heart – he came to see us instead of us believing we came to see him… not too surprising for a LA based rock muso and nothing wrong with it. The other US based famiuliy member DC act very much in the same vein …well plus the good old mic stand routine of course. (GH seems to avoid every kind of sexual innuendo anyway …lyrics and habits… very un-rock’n’roll … and un-funk too :-D). I don’t think he stands out. Look at IP who is really dedicated, friendly, down to earth and funny when on tour with Purpendicular, no V.I.P. tickets or Hollywood behauviour. Same goes for Don Airey and or Roger Glover who indeed is “easy to drink beer with” as he said once. Can’t really see that with GH (and no not because of the alcoholic beverage) … I’ve even seen IG in a small club and he he acted and sang like his life depended on it.
May 17th, 2024 at 07:00Max, I’m not criticizing Glenn for the California Jam approach to every audience irrespective of size – I LAUD HIM FOR IT !!! It shows commitment and makes the audience feel important. Of course it’s all entertainer schmoozing, but it’s part of his job.
For club/small hall gigs, Glenn’s stage demeanor is OTT, it’s all a little too grand, like seeing Paul Stanley do a club gig. But I wouldn’t want it any other way, Glenn works hard at giving the illusion of a major 70ies heyday rock event when he gigs in more humble surroundings today. All power 💪🏻 to him. It’s like having an orgasm feigned on you, who’s to complain if it’s skillfully done and shows some devotion to the trade? 🤷🏻♂️
I never thought Blackmore’s habit of letting his moods out on the audience as a sign of professionalism or “great tortured artistry”, but as a friggin’ lack of self-discipline and a bad work ethic.
May 17th, 2024 at 13:39I agree with Max that these extra moneygrabs , the meet and greet for VIPS or whatever they name them suck.
But I dont think Deep Purple stayed away from these practices.
Very possible if you re lucky to meet some without that BS but still…
I met Glenn backstage and a venue after a show years ago without it.
No problemmo.
I always like to see someone s eyes. I dont know why some people wear sunglasses all the time.
But, ok, there are bigger things to nag about.
I ve read NEXT YEAR Glenn will tour his whole body of work.
Maybe he needs to clone himself because I ve been told by himself he wants to do BCC shows as well.
On top of that that, he seemed tp promise us he ll be the one who will continue to bring the DEEP PURPLE tracks as well.
Besides repeating he thus seems a bit illogical to me.
Still , I heard not much wear and tear .
May 18th, 2024 at 20:41I haven’t detected wear and tear either. Maybe Glenn simply had an off night when Max saw him.
May 19th, 2024 at 04:41@39
Ah… just me trying to make myself understood in a foreign language…. Uwe I know you lauded him and just wondered why. What bad experience you made with other players makes you herald Glenn’s routine?
Because I have seen IG, IP, JL, RG and even DC do small shows with similar dedication if not more. In fact they were performing very professional and enjoying themselves, signing stuff afterwards, chatting and so on. Nothing special here with Glenn. You are right about RB of course. And that orgasm thing sure made me laugh.
May 21st, 2024 at 07:22Spirited gig in Rome last night, worth watching in full: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkMkI33g3Nc&pp=ygUWZ2xlbm4gaHVnaGVzIHJvbWUgMjAyNA%3D%3D
May 22nd, 2024 at 20:58Max, I’m not saying that other Purple members don’t care, they do. But if Ian G or Ian P do a club show, they try to create a cozy, informal atmosphere with the audience. Glenn goes the other way, he summons all his flamboyance to create the illusion that every gig before an audience of 200 or so in Shithölehausen is a major 70ies rock grandeur event. That’s his shtick, you can of course smile about it, but it also shows commitment.
May 23rd, 2024 at 13:091:13:40 into the Rome show (link above), Glenn lashes out at current DP. Are there legal affairs going on behind the scenes once again?
May 23rd, 2024 at 19:48It certainly sounds like Glenn is miffed about something. His comments are still unfortunate though, especially as the current line-up (or the ones preceding it) never set out to replicate the idiosyncratic Mk III sound just like Glenn and his band do not attempt to sound like Mk II. Deep Purple is a conceptual umbrella and there is room for sounding like Mk II (or Mk IX) or Mk III.
And there are three more aspects to consider:
1. Any band featuring Glenn is always gonna sound wilder and more “get ready to rumble” than one featuring Roger – just like Glenn couldn’t replicate Roger’s elegant smoothness and swing. Same goes for his singing whether you like it or not, Gillan paces himself more (and there is nothing wrong with that).
2. Glenn’s band consists of much younger players than three of four current DP instrumentalists, there is a difference to how younger men play rock music to how senior citizens do it, that’s just a fact of nature.
3. Lest we forget: Glenn is only reenacting past glories with his Mk III revue (and he does that excellently!), playing a whole evening long songs from half a century ago – there is more new and newish material even in the current DP’s MH-laden set list.
Glenn and his men do an exceptional job bringing the Mk III vibe (lamentably sans the twin-lead vocal attack of yore) on stage today, nobody does it better and they are much superior to what DC attempted on the WS Purple Tour where not only DC couldn’t do the old songs justice (the whole band failed). But it’s not any “more Purple” or “less Purple” to what is happening in the capable hands of Messrs Airey, Gillan, Glover, McBride & Paice. They both simply shine a celebratory light on different eras of DP and to me they both sound considerably different. Even without any vocals I can immediately tell within seconds whether I hear an Mk II, III, IV, VII, VIII or IX version of SOTW.
Live and let live, Glenn should have remembered that in Roma.
May 24th, 2024 at 15:47A PR stunt if ever there was one from Glenn Hughes. Cheers.
May 24th, 2024 at 23:12I think Fridzema sounds more like mid 70s Lord than Airey does, in the way he just approaches the keyboard. There is that percussive quality that Lord had. Glenn’s current band with Paicey replacing Sheehan would have made the authenticity factor go through the roof. Paicey’s swing is the foundation of all things Purple, so when you take that out of the equation and replace it with a straighter approach, while still good, it can never be as good. Glenn’s “attack” is a little surprising still. Sounds like more than sour grapes somehow.
May 25th, 2024 at 04:28Similarly, Airey and McBride cannot improve on what Blackmore and Lord once did with the Mk 2 numbers, so in a way, the exercise of revisiting the past is futile for both Glenn and current DP. Which is why I hope DP will revamp their setlist after having played the same one, with few changes, for the last 15 years. It is likely the last chance of it happening. It will also be good to see Glenn resume his solo touring next year in support of a new album. You’re never as good as your last album. Hopefully he will tone it down a bit and get back some of the soulfulness. It’s not a coincidence the best moment of his current DP show is the “I’m going down” bluesy segment. Imagine if he showed more of that side instead of the constant falsetto screaming. He’s only scratching the surface of his potential.
May 25th, 2024 at 10:08