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Ripening 2 reviews

Ripening 1

Berlin special

There is always one first time... and so this was my first DP concert at the Foire aux Vins in Colmar last night.
10.000 excited fans awaiting their heroes. I had my suspicions - there are enough older rock bands around that should have stopped. But I'm glad to say DP is not one of them: Obviously relaxed and inspired by the crowd I experienced an exciting evening.
Ian Gillan seems to me a stronger singer now than let's say on the 80s albums by the band. Both Roger Glover and Ian Paice were impressingly solid and full of musical life. Steve Morse is a killer guitarist and Don Airey a more than solid organist. It was nice to see the fun these guys had and the crowd responded accordingly.
90 minutes only, but every moment worth it. Not my last DP concert...
Ralf Deckert

The good points: the tickets were very low-priced, only 16 Euros, which really makes for a change these days. Also, during his solo, Don Airey played a bit of "D'r Hans Em Schnokeloch", a very popular local Alsacian song he can't possibly know... which means he learned it the same day just to please the local audience, which is really a great attention.
The bad points: ... well, I don't know where to begin. This was my tenth DP show since 1993 and this is the first time I leave the hall so disappointed.
Deep Purple played a (too) short 90 minutes set, comprising the same old songs played routinely, without much imagination. All tracks are played short, without the improvisation parts that were still distinctive of the band in the not too far past (listen to the shows from 96 to 99), so, again, no drums solo, "Pictures Of Home" is cut before the second guitar solo, there's no more instrumental playing at the end of "KAYBD", ...
I don't know about the well dressed guitar, but Steve Morse is without a doubt the most underused guitar player. Surely the guy can play better than what he does, be more inspired than still play the solos as Ritchie Blackmore recorded them way, way back then. That was a real surprise when Joe Satriani did that in his days, now it has turned to a sad routine.
When I saw the band two months ago in Saarbrücken, they played the excellent "I'm Alone", which, along with "Haunted" & "I Got Your Number", made for three new tracks. Now they have dropped it from the setlist, and the more I hear "Haunted", the less I like it. As for "IGYN", I don't think it's a great track.
And the show went on, with the "Star Wars" theme (again, just like in June, and last year...) and Gary Glitter's "Rock & Roll (... and again, since 2001...). All the time, I couldn't help but wonder how much of the audience had seen the band these past years, because the audience really liked it and made it a feast. Was I the only one to not enjoy the show? It was not even bad, it was just.. I don't know. Perhaps it was just me. Had it been a tribute band, I would have found it great. But from the genuine article, I expect much more. Maybe too much... After the show, while the hall was emtying, the PA played "Haunted". In 96, after the shows, it was "The Aviator". I liked it better. A lot.
Yves Rohrbacher

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