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Museumsmeile, Bonn, Germany
June 14, 2003

I was at the concert in Bonn. It was great (and my first concert). Because I'm from Germany my English isn't good. I'm only 13 years old. I don't can write more about it, because it's incredible.
I'm afraid to do my homework.
Goodbye,
Maik Jäkel

This was my second gig on this tour after the opening at Schwung Festival, Roeselare.
I was slightly dissappointed after Roselare since they gave a very basic performance there (which still is highly enjoyable). But here in Bonn, Deep Purple was smashing as ever again! No mistakes, no moderate try-out versions - and a longer set!
The atmosphere was great, with a very nice stage set-up and huge open tent construction. Lynyrd Skynyrd warmed us up very well, and then came Deep Purple with a bang (and the smashing opener Highway Star) - they were up to the level again I had seen them the last few years with Morse!
I knew exactly what to expect since the set list does not change too often on this tour - but the renditions of Highway Star, Mary Long and I'm Alone were much tighter than in Roeselare. I also heard more of what Don Airey was doing, and I must say, he played like a Lord!
They also improvised more on stage, played with some parts of the songs, had a nice intro into the pounding drums of Pictures Of Home - I guess they just needed some time to match their great musicianship's mastery again and forge it into pure magic again!
Furthermore, I noticed that I start liking the new song 'Haunted' some more, and 'I've Got Your Number' already deserves a fixed place in their set as far as I am concerned.
A welcome extra compared to Schwung was Morse's Well Dressed Guitar and his fooling around with other great riffs from classic rock history before launching the riff of all riffs: Smoke On The Water.
The encores Hush and Black Night were just a mere party... By then me and my mate had long forgotten the four-hour drive from Belgium negotiating all traffic jams and deviations imaginable on German highways. But hey, to enjoy Black Night...it's a long way from home!
Ludo Verhaege, Gent, Belgium

To me, it was a disappointing show!
During the last years, I saw a lot of Deep Purple concerts, but I think this was the worst one.
They played the same songs like the days before, but I missed the improvisation: no improvisation in "Speed King" after the furious guitar/keyboard-solo (no bass-guitar-solo, no drum solo during the whole show!), no guitar-solo in "Pictures of Home", not even one song from "Purpendicular" (what about "Ted the Mechanic" and "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming" ?) or something from "Abandon".
For me, there where just three highlights during the whole show: the great version of "I´m alone" (Why not more old "forgotten" songs?), the good sound and Ian´s great voice, and Don Airey´s keyboard solo.
But this was all in a 85-minute-show.
I really hope the next show will be quite a lot longer with more inspiration and more ideas.
Stef Ha

What can I say? Unbelivelable
It was my fourth DP show (last year I went twice) and they get better and better. Musicaly.
The show was a bit too short. And I missed the drum-solo! I'm a guitarist and bass player, but I love drum solos, especially Paicey's. I saw the Paice and York tour and it was superb, so Iwas looking forward to Speed King and the solo. But - OK, maybe next time.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was also awsome. I love this sound very much.
So in the end I have to thank DP and LS for a supernatural show.
We will see you next year.
Nils Eckardt

The setlist was exactly the same as reported for last night in Austria. The show was good but not great. Purple have set high standards since Ritchie left the band but to my
mind, tonight sounded too much like routine.
But there are also a lot of good things to report from the show!
First of all, I´M ALONE works terribly good on stage. I was surprised about the energy the guys put into this old b-side and it was definitly one of the highlights of tonight´s concert! HAUNTED sounded a bit strange to me, very different to all other songs of the setlist, maybe more beat than rockmusic!
I´VE GOT YOUR NUMBER fitted perfectly, sometimes melodic, sometimes asskicking! I´m looking forward to hear these songs on BANANAS, will be interesting!
A few words I always wanted to tell: THANKS Steve and Don that you make this thing going on! THANKS GUYS that you give / gave us things live on stage like "Fools", "Mary Long", "Fireball", "Maybe I´m A Leo", "I´m Alone", "When A Blind Man Cries", Bloodsucker", "No One Came", songs, years ago, I´d never expected to hear and see live on stage!
See you in November for the BANANAS-Tour!
Walter

I've seen a lot of DP gigs by now and the same opinion arises every time: the best is yet to come. Although they seem to be one of the best, if not the best, live band on the planet, there's always progression in each show I've seen by now. This must be the reason I keep loving this band so much and why I take all the trouble in driving far distances to see them live.
The setlist in Bonn was almost the same as the first concert we saw in Roeselare Belgium, they only added the Well Dressed Guitar to the set list. Major differences were the extended solo's and the riff raff thing at the start of Smoke which included soloparts from Stairway to Heaven, Back in Black and I think something from ZZ Top.
From the start on it was clear that the show in Roeselare did suffer from being the first on the tour and especially from Paice being sick that night. In Bonn they were rocking like always and things were going very smoothly, especially with a crowd that was extremely enthusiastic.
They started off with Highway star, then Mary long and the much appreciated I'm alone. Pictures of home and Haunted went very well and I think Haunted was followed by The Well Dressed Guitar.
Speed king and Lazy both had a very good Airey touch in them and the new I've got your number didn't have the long guitar intro that Steve did in Roeselare, they just jumped into the song directly. It sounded very good and it still is a strange sight and sound to see and hear Steve and Roger do backing vocals.
Then Airey did a very nice intro including parts from Star Wars and classical pieces like Beethoven's 9th before going into Perfect Strangers. Very good indeed.
After the show we had a very pleasant backstage talk with the band. They were all very friendly and in answer to the question asked to all of them (my friend is getting married next year and he asked them which DP song they'd find best to start the wedding party with), Paicey and Airey went for Strange Kind of Woman, Steve and Roger for Touch away and Gillan said it definitely had to be a song from the new album, being Razzle Dazzle. Not the typical opening song of the party, but pure rock 'n roll.
Go see this band, even if it takes you a few hundred kilometers - they are definitely worth it.
And August 24 is still too far away...
Tom Verduyckt

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