![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/mcbride4.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/paice.jpg)
That European Purple feel
Orlando: The venue was packed. Every inch of the house: in front of the stage, up the stairs, on the balconies, and overflowing into the backstage area was heaped with enthusiastic people.
It was a truly amazing show, with a very European feel. The audience had a quality response to Black Night, unusual for North America.
Steve really shined! His sound was crisp and vivacious! Don was really hitting it hard – crunchy is the way it felt – raaarrr – sounding a lot like Jon in those ways that I really appreciate… but also a lot like himself which is wonderful – teasing the audience with the Disney anthem ?small world.?
Ian Paice gave a solid performance which is often just taken for granted. Ian Gillan was delightfully playful – poised, relaxed… yet intense as ever! And Roger was spirited and funky – always that glint in his eye!
As I gazed out over the ocean of bodies I saw a lot of dancing, grooving, moving about… and certainly a lot of love … people having SUCH a great time that they don’t mind sharing heaps of affection [ie. hugs, high fives, sometimes kisses] when they hear their favorite song played so expertly and with such passion and soul (again, it felt like Europe! There *may* be some hope for my country yet…).
Aftershow was marvelous. When I gushed to Roger about the show and the crowd, he commented that when they walk on stage and see everyone smiling, they know everything is going to be all right – the rest comes naturally. Indeed.
Suzanne Quinn
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing