![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse1.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/glover2.jpg)
Not enough new stuff – Sydney
Didn’t bother to see Swanee. They were never a band I listened to anyway.
I preferred to down a few beers across the road trying to keep my heart palpitations down to a reasonable level before I entered the Pavillion to listen to Quo and DP.
Quo used to be one of my fave bands but I grew out of them 20 years ago, and I know why. One song sounds just like the second and then the third and so on to monotony. Yes I should have stayed at the bar across the road for a few more beers. For a support band they went on far too long and I almost gave up and throttled some Quo die hard in front of me who rebuked my brother for yelling out what we all wanted to say “Bring on Purple!”
Quo They finally got off stage and took their ridiculously tight black jeans and skinny legs with them.
The Purple road crew are so professional I blinked and the next thing they were on stage belting out Pictures of Home. Was that Ian Gillan or was I seeing things. His personal trainer must have worked wonders because he looked and sounded like a 20 year old but then again I was sitting somewhere down the back. I think for a DP concert that’s not the place to be as the acoustics weren’t the best and I didn’t have the feel of previous concerts. I couldn’t believe that for a ROTD tour they didn’t play Rapture which is clearly the classic on the album.
They didn’t play SIFLS either or anything from Bananas or Purpindicular which was a bit disappointing.
Too me the whole affair seemed a bit rushed, maybe because that other band stayed on stage too long boring the crap out of me, or maybe because they wanted to start the post-concert party early.
No Steve Morse solo – very disappointing. Yeah sure he did a nice lead into “Well Dressed Guitar” after a very short version of “Contact Lost” but where was he all night?
No, this was not an atypical performance from what I consider is the best band of all time. Maybe I and many like me have been spoilt by the consistently high level of live performances by these guys. Maybe they have too much good material and they find it hard to fit in to a one and a half hour concert (way too short) by the way.
I seriously think DP don’t need a support band. They are supposed to whet the appetite for the main performance but I prefer to listen to DP for a couple of hours than allow a bunch of has-beens like Quo to drag on into the night.
Anyway, in summary, it was a professional performance from DP but not one that will win them new fans for sure. The Jimmy Barnes touch on Smoke was great and Don Airey showed why he was the only man that could fill the shoes of Jon Lord. Paicey was a bit lazy at the back and Glover was in his usual perky mood. Morse has held this band together since 96 but I think he went walkabout here. A bit too rushed and not long enough summarises this concert, but I will be there again when they return for sure.
Charles Hili
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