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Bratislava: Mark 8 beats Mark 2
I have been a DP fan for more than 30 years now and must admit that when talking about DP, I always had Mark II in my mind at the very top of the list. Of course I followed all other line-ups and bought all the albums but always having MKII as the benchmark. After yesterday’s performance I must admit that Mark VIII is now sharing that leading position in my ranking of favorites.
I don’t have words to describe how well the guys performed. Even though English is not my mother tongue, I doubt that in Spanish I should be able to find the exact word to express how did I feel yesterday and how do I still feel now.
The venue was absolutely packed with people everywhere, at least that was what I could see from my second row standing in from of the stage. After 30 minutes of an opening local Slovak band, DP hit the stage at 9 o’clock and the crowd went crazy. Not only “mature-middle age” people like me but also a lot of youngsters-teenagers really enjoying and chanting all songs, which is spectacular. It means that DP is much more alive than ever before… great!
I cannot remember the set list since I did not write it down, I was so concentrated enjoying the show that did not even think about doing it.
Anyhow I guess that was a wee bit different from the reviews I had read about previous shows. Three or four songs from Rapture of the Deep (Rapture of the Deep, Wrong Man, Kiss tomorrow goodbye and guess there was a 4th one but honestly don’t recall).
Into the fire was a huge and amazing surprise since I hadn’t heard that songs for some time now. When a blind mind cries thrilled me to the marrow, honestly. All time classics Lazy, Perfect Strangers, Space trucking’, HS, SOTW and Hush and Black Night as encores all of them performed in a superb way completed a marvellous and unforgettable evening.
To remark the revamped and revitalized starting of HS with an outstanding jam between Roger and Steve that really made me take some time to recognize that my all times ever favorite song was coming….gorgeous indeed!
Individually all the guys performed superbly with a lot of energy and power, the rhythm duo was extremely solid (as usual), Steve Morse incredibly robust in his role (nothing to envy to RB), Don very good on keyboards but for my taste his introductory solo to Perfect Strangers was too long (must admit am not a great fan of any kind of solos) and nothing new to say about how great IG is, not only as lead singer but also as a front-man, idol!
Final words to praise the personal and professional attitude of the guys on stage. It is amazing to see how genuinely they enjoy while performing and that feeling is transmitted to the audience and of course the crowd responds accordingly.
In short, an evening to remember forever and really looking forward to a next opportunity hopefully within shortly.
Long live DP.
Enrique Cotado
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing