I heard my favourite band in Spodek once again. Actually it was my third concert of DP.

The support band was SBB, polish rock dinosaurs. They warmed the audience quite well. The drum duet solo at the end of the performance was excellent. But of course everybody was waiting for the main dish.

The Purples started at 9 pm. I stood near stage so I saw clearly all details. On both sites of stage there were put 2 screens, in my opinion a little bit too low. But the idea was very good. As usually during current tour they began with Pictures of Home. It wasn’t a big bang opening track like mostly played on previous concerts Highway Star but enough well to introduce the right atmosphere.

The setlist was similar to other concerts playing on this tour. There were no surprises. The tracks from ROTD were accepted by the audience very well. Wrong Man and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye sounded very powerful. It was seen that band eagerly plays a new material. Other songs from the new album included title song aren’t big hits and sounded very heavily even sleepy. I don’t know why DP doesn’t play Money Talks or Clearly Quite Absurd. Lazy was a small dissapointment, too short, limited solos, I heard many better performances of this song. Perfect Strangers was played without striking refrain. Maybe I miss Lord’s organs. [Excuse me? – Rasmus] The concert’s impulsion were Steve Morse’s solos. The performance on Contact Lost was brilliant. His fingers were flowing on guitar’s strings.

Ian Gillan dedicated this song to casualties of disaster in Katowice when the roof collapsed. It was a very pleasant accent for us. At the end of concerts Steve played some rock standards for example Stairway to Heaven. It looks that he had got a big willingness to play more. Im a little bit dissapointed of Ian Paice’s solo playing at the end of bonus track Hush. Ian looked a little bit tired. Don Airey’s solo was very similar to previous polish concerts: of course Chopin, polish anthem and Star Wars themes.

Maybe it would be better to develope cosmic parts remaining tracks of Vangelis. The greatests performances were: Ted the Mechanic when the audience gathered in Spodek loudly sang TED! TED! TED! and closing classic track: Black Night. Roger Glover was raising on stage showing his acrobatic skills. Steve Morse leaded a guitar dialogue with singing people, that was a magnificent finish. I’m sure it wasn’t the best concert of DP, but nobody regrets that Purples came again.

Advantages: Steve Morse’s solo, Ian Gillan palying harmonica, Ian Gillan’s short talks, strong bass of Glover, funny introduction of concert when on screen were showed members of band coming out of box and going to a stage.

Disadvantages: short drums solos, some tiring songs, polish accents, lack of ballads like Sometimes I feel like screaming, no surprises.

Przemek Zarubin

The performance was spotless. It was loud. The band is in a class of its own.

The Purps started about 9 p.m. But before Them we could hear the polish band SBB. With all the respect to Jozef Skrzek and the rest of musicians their performance wasn’t what I expected.. The sound was poor. Skrzek’s voice wasn’t clearly audible. The highlight was when Apostolis Anthimos changed the guitar to the drums in Walkin’ Around The Stormy Bay. It was nice to see the two drummers jamming together Last year in Plock it was far more better. That was the end.

The best was about to happen in fifteen minutes time. At 9 p.m. the lights went out. On the video screens some familiar guys were coming out from the big case.

They opened with a classic one. Pictures of Home. The audience gone completely mad what gave the positive vibes to the band. All the classic tracks were performed glamorously. Living Wreck was so passionately played. It was a real surprise to my father. I could see him spellbound when he heard the first note of it. Highway Star with a new intro shows that within DP there is always a place for changes even in the obscure stuff. Mary Long my beloved from WDWTWA was divine. What else can I write about such classics as SMOTW or Perfect Strangers? Maybe it would be enough if I write that they are refreshed and sound very well in comparison with the stuff from the new album.

Finally we move to the ROTD tracks. They sounded AWESOME. I love the new album and I wanted to hear as many as possible from it. Playing Things I Never Said during European tour is a fantastic idea. Many fans weren’t familiar with the song so now they may get a bit closer to it. It is a typical melodic DP which we all like. All the tracks were far more heavier than on the album and performed with such intensity that I felt like flying musical high. Wrong Man sounded like a thunder. The title track with Before Time Began are a good couple. They bring about this spiritual message. The songs are bound up by this spiritualism that is tremendously expressed by the mixture of music and words. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye was just terrific. We could hear a couple of the greatest riffs in rock history.

We have Ted The Mechanic back in the set list. Both with Wrong Man they create unity.
Boys ended up with Hush and Black Night. Superb, but I’d rather have heard Speed King instead of Hush.

Now the musicians. I’m not a musician so I’m not supposed to tell anything about the music itself. Their performance was very good. It really appealed to me. A tear appeared in my eye when Ian dedicated Contact Lost to the victims of the collapsed trade hall in Katowice. The worst disaster in recent Polish history. Don played a bit of Polish national anthem and he brought the audience to sing along. He got an enormous response. I love Paicey and seeing him in such a good shape made me extremely happy. Roger was all the time smiling and playing well. He’s my favorite bass player. The development of rhythm section owes him very much.
Nice to see your Rickenbacker coming out for Smoke, Rog!!! Steve’s playing was tremendous. His a fantastic guitar player. I feel he could blow away many other guitarists. Don found himself really well in Lord’s place and he played with his own identity. And finally Ian Gillan. Fantastic form, great voice. Number one rock singer. Maybe of all times? Who knows?

What struck me as odd were the people talking: “It wasn’t a good concert. We didn’t hear Child in time, Into the fire etc. Paicey’s solo was to short” and many more silly commentaries. Such things were said by people who didn’t come to contemplate music but to see the show. So I told them that if they want to see the show they should go and worship The Rolling Stones or some heavy metal clones. And in the reply to Paicey’s solo and Ian’s voice I exclaimed that when those “fans” reach sixty they won’t be able to walk properly not to mention singing.

The bunch of musicians, our band, are truly artists. There is no mark of empty stardom in their behaving on stage. The way they play takes me into a sphere where I’ve never been to. When I hear the guys I always discover something new. That music enriches my spirit and I feel closely connected to it.

Spooked was almost full. The audience was incredible. The band was warmly welcomed, as they are always in Poland, it reflected in the smiling faces of the Purps. I ‘ve never seen such happiness coming out from playing music. I feel that this is the best reward for being almost forty years on stage.

All in all, the gig was the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. It was one big musical orgasm. See You next time. Hopefully in a while.

Marcin Rybacki

Was mir sehr gelegen kam waren die beiden riesigen Videoleinwände am Bühnenrand, so daß ich mit meinem Handy ein paar Fotos machen konnte!

Auf fiel mir, daß Steve Morse mit neuem Gitarren-Equipment spielte. Er fiedelte auch nicht mehr so wie früher von Anfang bis zum Ende, das tlw. recht anstrengend war. Er klang wesentlich härter als sonst. „Pictures Of Home“ als Opener, danach folgten 2 Titel der neuen CD und völlig überraschend als Titel 5 „Living Wreck“. Ich möchte den Titel als „Living Wreck 2006“ bezeichnen. Völlig anders, sehr modern gespielt. Gillan der diesen Abend stimmlich tadellos beisammen war, hatte doch ein wenig bei „Living Wreck“ Textprobleme. Ich hatte auch den Eindruck, daß sich Morse schwer tat hier das Richtige zu spielen! Danach folgten wieder 2 neue Titel. Morse bei seinem „Contact Lost“ und „Well Dressed Guitar“ viel wieder in seine alte Fiedlerei zurück.

Für mich ist Don Airey immer wieder für Überraschungen gut. Wenn ich es richtig ausnehmen konnte war bei seinem Equipment auch der neue Mini Moog dabei. Überhaupt spielte er viel auf den Synthesizern. Die Hammondparts klangen allesamt wie man es von einer Hammond gewohnt ist, ziemlich satt und bärig. Ein irrer Sound. Seine Spielerei beim „Perfect Strangers-Intro“ fasziniert mich immer wieder. Don Airey ist ein gewaltiger Musiker mit viel Spielwitz und Kreativität.

Roger Glover kommt immer mehr aus sich heraus je länger die Show dauerte. Knallharte Baßtöne, die vom Trommelwirbel des Ian Paice begleitet wurden, der sonst nicht sonderlich in Erscheinung getreten ist. Gewohnt präzise. Mir persönlich fehlten die musikalischen Duelle. Das Konzert an und für sich war gut, doch wie bei der letzten Tour wird es wie schon bei der letzten Tour heruntergespult wie ein Uhrwerk. Insgesamt fehlte mir der Witz der Spaß. Es gab auch keine besonderen Gillan-Quatschereien. Einfach rauf auf die Bühne, rann an die Instrumente und nach fast 2 Stunden abtreten.

Meiner Schätzung nach dürften etwa 5.000 Fans den Gig gesehen haben. Je öfter ich mir das Konzert im Nachhinein daheim in Ruhe anhöre, desto mehr kann ich mich dahinein versetzen.

Pictures Of Home
Things I Never Said
Wrong Man
Ted The Mechanic
Living Wreck
Rapture Of The Deep
Before Time Began
Mary Long
Contact Lost
Well Dressed Guitar
Lazy
Don’s solo
Perfect Strangers
Junkyard Blues
Space Truckin’
Highway Star
Smoke On The Water
Hush
Black Night

Gerhard Jahnel

Here’s some pics from the shows in Munich (incl. a jam with Alice Cooper Band) and Zurich

Daniele Purrone

We enjoyed this perfect band in Linz, where Airey, Gillan, Glover, Morse and Paice held the audience for about 2 (!) hours. The concert started at 9 p.m. with a video-sequence. The members of the band came out of a box and entered the stage. Nice!

The sound was very good, clear and powerful from the first moment on. Don, Steve, Roger and Paicey were as excellent as we know them from earlier gigs. Ian Gillan – it seemed – had more problems with his voice as on the Bananas Tour. But the performance including the light effects totally was okay and all the members of the band gave their best!

The set-list was a little bit different to the other reviews. The audience had great moments with Wrong Man (sounds better live as on the Rapture-Album), Mary Long and Space Truckin’ (both songs performed very groovy!), Rapture Of The Deep, Before Time Began (it gaves us creeps and it is also the best track on the Rapture-Album, with wonderful lyrics and a perfect mood), Solos of Steve Morse (“He is God!” – conclusion of Sandra) and the “Master of the Keys” Don Airey and also Highway Star with an gorgious intro of Roger and Steve.

Smoke On the Water and Black Night (final song) made everyone of the band part of the audience and everyone of the audience a member of the band. There were “no strangers” in the hall!

This band is a living legend – in deed! Hope we see them again.

Robert Wagendorfer

Here’s a short review of Steve Morse’s guitar clinic in Walldorf on Feb. 17. A few notes in German and some nice pictures.

Gerald Heinrich

Das kann man wörtlich nehmen. Ausverkauf ivon DP in Mannheim. So ein schlechtes Konzert habe ich nie gehört. Was mutet DP den Fans in den oberen Rängen zu.

Ian Gillans Gesang war nicht zu höhren. Die Instrumente klangen wie bei einem illegalen Mitschnitt. Von dem Schall der immer zurück kam ganz zu schweigen. Die schlechteste Akustik bei einem DP-Konzert, veranlaßte mich frühzeitig zu gehen.

Ich bin seit 1974 Fan ( erste Platte Shades of Deep Purple, einige Konzerte und fast alle CD und LP). Jedoch wird dies mein letztes Konzert zu sein. Wieso ist DP nicht in der Lage die Halle ordentlich zu beschallen? Queen hat es in Frankfurt auch geschafft. DP sollte sich dies als Beispiel nehmen.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Stephan Dick

Am 18.3.1973 sah ich Deep Purple zum ersten mal im Hallenstadion in Zürich. Unzählige super Konzerte von Deep Purple fanden Jahr für Jahr in dieser Halle statt. Nun wurde das Hallenstadion modern umgebaut und hat Platz für 13 000 Fans.

Es ist Sonntag Abend 19.2.2006. Der Weg zum Hallenstadion versetzt mich natürlich in die Vergangenheit. Viele schöne und unvergessene Musikalische Leckerbissen und Stunden durfte ich schon mit Deep Purple erleben. Wie wird es Heute sein?

Vorweg! Es war wiederum ein Musikalischer und Optischer Leckerbissen. Deep Purple sind nun mal eine Live – Band.

Die Halle war sehr sehr gut besetzt – aber nicht restlos ausverkauft. (genaue Zahl kenne ich nicht – und ist schwer schätzbar) Als Support Act gastierte die sechsköpfige Schweizer Band mit der Sängerin Gigi Moto.

Eine Frau mit einer Kraftvollen stimme und nicht nur mit einer Cover Version von „Purple Rain“, hat die Band die Zuschauer auf Deep Purple sehr gut eingestimmt und eingeheizt.

Der Bühnaufbau von Deep Purple überraschte mich sofern, dass Videoleinwände zu sehen waren. Im Hintergrund das Cover von Rapture Of The Deep. Das Konzert begann mit einer originellen Videoeinspielung.

Deep Purple stiegen einzeln und der reihe nach aus einer Kiste. Den Weg zur Bühne konnte man mitverfolgen. Es war aber ein Videomitschnitt – da die Band sich schon auf der Bühne befand und sich auf den Paukenschlag von Ian Paice und der Band vorbereitete.

Dieser Paukenschlag hiess Pictures Of Home. Wie gewohnt ein Meisterwerk von der Band und natürlich Ian Paice. Das Drum Intro fasziniert mich immer aufs neue.

Wie gings weiter.

– Things I Never Said
– Wrong Man
– Ted The Mechanic
– Living Wreck
– Rapture Of The Deep
– Before Time Began
– Mary Long
– Contact Lost
– Steve Morse solo
– Well Dressed Guitar
– Lazy
– Don Airey solo
– Perfect Strangers
– Junkyard blues
– Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
– Space Truckin’
– Highway Star
– Smoke On The Water

Zugaben:
– Hush – Drum Solo von Ian Paice
– Black Night

Das war wieder einmal „ LIVE.„ Die Band war wie immer in dieser Besetzung, gut gelaunt und bei bester Spiellaune.

Überraschungen für mich: Living Wreck – Mary Long – und „Grüezi wohl Frau Stirnimaa „ welches von Don Airey in seinem faszienierendem Solo kurz eingespielt wurde.

Don Airey, für mich eine grosse Überraschung. Er geht seinen Weg mit der Band – und der Zuhörer merkt, dass auch er Impulse und eigene Ideen in die Band mitbringt.

Alle anderen Bandmitglieder – man ist es sich schon gewohnt In Topform. Die Setliste hat es sicher in sich. Der Besucher musste sich relativ lange gedulden bis die Purple Klassiker gespielt wurden. Ich persönlich finde es von der Band sehr mutig und auch sehr kreativ.

Auch wenn man bemerkte, dass nicht alle Besucher die neue CD „ Rapture Of The Deep „ man fühlte, dass es für alle ein weiteres Ereignis war und alle Zufrieden und Glücklich waren. Ein Highlight mehr Deep Purple Live mitzuerleben.

Oder wie meine Konzert Begleitung Sandra, welche Deep Purple noch nie LIVE miterlebt hat, sagte: Deep Purple DIE LIVE BAND. Freuen wir uns aufs Jazz Festival Montreux 2006. Deep Purple werden auch am Genfersee wieder zu hören und zu sehen sein

Die Band Lebt nach wie vor.

Denis Zürcher

I saw Deep Purple live in Helsinki on the 1st of February… The concert venue was the icehall of Helsinki. The place was full. There were only like twenty free spots in the hall. I don’t know the exact size of the audience, but I think there were about 7.000 people.

The warmup band Crazy World played about thirty minutes. They were ok, but nothing special. They played few of their own numbers and a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song…
Purple’s set lasted a little over two hours. The last time I saw them live was in Tuuri in Miljoona Rock outdoor festival and they played only about 1 hour and 35 minutes. It was a pretty big show and it attracted over 10.000 people. (It wasn’t an actual “festival”. It was mainly a Purple gig with some Finnish warmup artists)

Anyway, back to the actual show. There were two big video screens in the both sides of the stage, though I couldn’t see them too well because I was standing just in front of the stage (actually I was just in front of Morse’s pedals and Engl amps). Suddenly all the lights were off and we were all standing there in the dark.

Then we saw the Purple members on the video screens making their way to the stage and then, bum! All the Purple guys were on the stage. They started the show with a powerful version Pictures of Home, RG doing his classic bass solo. They were in very tight shape, and the show was just great musicianship from sart to finish. All the members had many great solo spots and IG’s voice was great (all the screams were there and he was very energetic). Morse was particulary awesome.

The show continued with Things I Never Said, a bonus track from the Japanese version of ROTD. It was the only song that I hadn’t heard before. I think it worked very well live, as did Wrong Man from ROTD and Ted the Mechanic from Purpendicular. It’s great that they have taken Ted the Mechanic back to their set. A shame that they didn’t play Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming from Purpendicular though. They played it on their first few European ROTD shows, but decided to drop it from the set. Don’t know why. Imo it’s one of the greatest Morse-era songs.

After Ted they surprised us with a great version of In Rock classic Living Wreck. If I’m not completely wrong, this tour is the firts time that the track has been played live by any lineup of the band. Great guitar work from Morse.

Then two new ROTD numbers, the title track of the album and Before Time Began (one of the best Morse-era songs imo), both worked well live. Mary Long from the underrated Who Do We Think We Are album was also very nice… Then it was time for Morse’s big solo spot: Contact Lost and The Well Dressed Guitar plus some improvisations. It was just unbelievable to be standing there right in front of one of the best rock guitarists in the world. It was one of the show hilights for me. It got mighty applauses from the audience (including me). The applauses of the audience weren’t even faded yet when they kicked off Lazy.

After that it was time for Don’s solo (based on Jean Sibelius’ Finlandia… mighty applauses again) which lead into an amazing version of Perfect Strangers. Junkyard Blues from ROTD. Kiss Tommorow Goodbye with a unbelievably loud drum intro from Paice. The song was one of the best working live songs from ROTD imo.

Space Truckin’ continued with Paice’s loud drum work. Highway Star had an extra long intro. It was one the best performace’s of the night. The video screens were showing cool zooms of Airey and Morse doing their solos. I didn’t see them (the screens) very well though… Smoke was Smoke… Audience went bananas. Everybody were singing along loudly. After Smoke they left the stage quickly and IG wished us all good night.

The audience was actually shouting for more even before all the Purple members had left the stage, and the encores followed quickly… Speed King was very powerful and had great solo spots from every member, including the organ-guitar duel and Paice’s drum solo. The last song of the night was Black Night with a long intro and the audience singing along… Then it was over.

I had a great feeling. It was clearly the best gig I have ever witnessed. I was very tired because I had been jumping and shouting for over two hours… Still, it was a very satisfying experience… The sound quality was good and well balanced, though IG’s voice was a bit unclear (probably because I was standing so close the stage and in front of Morse’s amps).

If they will visit Finland again in the future, I’m definitely going to see them. They were in so good shape that I wouldn’t wonder if they will continue playing for many years… Oh, I almost forgot. I bought a Purple t-shirt with the cover art of Machine Head in the front side and big “Smoke on the Water” text in the back.

Rami Koskinen – a 16 year old Purple fan

This is the most professional show of the new line up and it features the best balanced set they have ever played. (I think I can say that, as I have seen the band on all their tours in the last 10 years.) If you have the chance: Do yourself an immense favour and go and catch a show!

Most evident is, that there are two huge screens left and right of the stage. The show starts with a short film (it’s very funny, so I’m not going to spoil your fun!). During the concert they show mainly the particular protagonist who’s doing a solo. There even is a picture of Frank Zappa at a given moment (what do you think, in which song?).

Next thing is, that there are 12 upright spotlights (how do you name them?) behind the band. During the show they are flashing in all different colours. The third new element are two digital screens on stage. During the songs they feature different impressions and visions (For example, you can see notes during Don’s solo). As I said before: Everything is very huge and professional. Big Ian has introduced a new gimmick: He is playing Airey-Keyboard…

Now to the show: The set list has been told in other reviews, so I won’t repeat it here.

Things I Never Said is a very good tune with a catchy chorus. I heard it the second time tonight, because I have also been in Stuttgart a few days earlier and the melody still is in my head. If it were on the new album, it would be one of the best songs! I have to get the special tour edition of the album just because of that song alone! I can’t understand why they didn’t include it on the European version of Rapture Of The Deep. It’s a superb live song, it really is!

It is very nice to have another oldie in the show, that has never been played live before – Living Wreck. Don’s organ howls just like Jon’s organ on the In Rock album. Unfortunately the song doesn’t work so well as a live song, so I think that they will drop it sooner or later.

Rapture Of The Deep is a classic in the making! It has almost the potential of (for example) Perfect Strangers. Arguably the best song of the new line-up since Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming, maybe even better. Before Time Began is a nice song but doesn’t work so well on stage. How about including Money Talks instead?

I witnessed in several shows now, that Steve’s Well-Dressed Guitar is a crowd-pleaser par excellence! The cheers in the crowd never reach the level again for the entire show. That happened several times now, so I guess, here we have another classic.

Junkyard Blues was dropped (as it was in Stuttgart), so I guess it is out of the show now. IMHO the song is the weakest number on Rapture Of The Deep, so I think that’s O.K., but I read in other reviews that they played the song very well and did a lot of solos. So who knows? Maybe they release a live album of the tour, so we all get a chance to hear it.

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye is a good song but I’m sure it will be dropped at the end of the tour. It sits uncomfortably between Perfect Strangers and Space Truckin’.

Highway Star kicked off with a very nice duett between Roger and Steve. I just gets faster and faster. They didn’t play Speed King (like they did in Stuttgart), but replaced it with Hush. Both songs are nice and both songs feature little Ian’s drum solo (one handed drum roll included), but I just prefer Speed King. It featured longer solos and big Ian’s nonsense part, where he even started to recite his self written poem My aunt nelly’s got a big fat belly and tits tied up with string. She sits on the grass with a finger up her arse singing help God save the queen.

Black Night’ was the last encore and the 1 hour 45 minutes show was over.

Deep Purple seem to get better and better! It’s as simple as that

Harald Liesk