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Belgium: Fresh as a cat fish out of the water
OK, the sky is black and lightning was igniting roaring thunder. This must be a Deep Purple concert. After Eddy Grant doing a Jimi Hendrix act during his voodoo rain dance, we had to wait for Deep Purple to bring down the house.
Let me tell you that the other parts in the country got their share of floodings & lightning strucks. But now for something completely different.
This line up is so no-nonsence that it’s balanced once again. OK, perhaps they did not realize that they were playing in a Dutch speaking part of Belgium, but who cares. They came on stage with a roaring version of Fireball, without the whoooosh and kept on rocking Into The Fire. Difficult to say if the lightings came from the sky of the stage. The crowd in Belgium needs nothing more to sheer Ian towards a higher ground. And he gave all he got, rednecking.
Strange Kind of Woman was a bit over-acted but then he showed with Rapture of the Deep what he’s good at these days. Perfect like the rest of the band. Glover was having a ball. I asked my son (16) if he could imagine his grandfather on stage, powerplaying like that. I think he felt like the title of his favorite song (Screaming, sometimes,… this time).
And Ian behind the drums… ah! He chased the shadows. The old gods were mild on us and while Belgium was trembling under heavy thunder, sugar city was the roaring eye of the storm.
Paice still has the rhythm and the muscles to be this band’s backbone. An impressive athlete. And than came the Steve Morse solo. Yes. I believe he found some new fans. Steve, you can wet your chest and stand tall next to the other great Purple Players. Toothpaste Steve respectfully altered the DP classics to his likings and his talent is obvious.
And than they played “Sometimes I feel like screaming”. I thought my kid would roar now. But he did not move an inch, his eyes were capturing every detail, how ecstacy can calm the kid among a crowd of roaring Purple Fans. All respect for Morse. The kid said: “I did not realize he was that good.” Tommy (God bless) and Ritchie are in good company.
And the battle raged on. Wow, they even started to show some fun on stage though Ian seems to have less interest in Glover, but hey, after more than 35 years they need to say nothing to balance perfectly. It’s OK.
Now came the moment for Don with a kinda Lordish church music into Sarabandish boogie. Gosh. Hidden behind his consoles, performing great music, but when you get solo time… impress with what you’re really good at. I wanted to hear Don, and what I heard made me hungry to read what Lord is doing at the moment.
It was a great performance, but it seemed a solo to please the crowd. A message to Don: Don’t underestimate your fans. There was a time when Ian Gillan was not a member of the band, a time when Glover replaced Nick Simper, when Tommy replaced Ritchie and they all added something new on stage. I am hungry to hear more from you. Make us not forget Lord, but make us remember you. But hey, the sixties space ship lift-off clock-ticking gig was fabulous.
Perfect Strangers… finally. Purple reborn. The days we realized that the story was not over yet. Next came Space Truckin’ with a damn good Ian Gillan as captain of the ship. He even sang the (just below) highest notes alone, no help from Roger. Morse and Glover built a huge wall of sound, if possible better than the original. And Ian Paice got his moment of thunder. Me happy.
Finally the drums introduced both Glover and Morse into a duet. Fine fleur of the Hard Rock scene having a ball, this is when I said, damn, I must write something in the Highway Star. Breaking the speeding sound. The night was not over yet.
And Morse gave us his version of Smoke on the Water. See Don, this is how to do it. Wow, I admit that for a second I forgot about… what was his name? Oh yeah, Ritchie. (Respect.)
Than they left the scene. We knew that thay would be back because the night was black, and we were hungry for more. Hush rumbled beautifully as tribute to the old Simper / Evans days. It sounded fresh as a cat fish out of the water. They were great playing South in the sixties, and they made it their song. To blow my mind and I’m in so deep. That I can’t eat and I can’t sleep. That’s what being an artist is all about. Black Night closed the evening. Obviously.
One more pint of Belgian Beer.
CU next time guys.
What a great band.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
AT LEAST!!!
Absolutely perfect review.
Fantastic, just fantastic (as Gillan used to say at the end of show :D).
I’ve read all reviews here, and almost all of them begins with: “Deep Purple still rocks”, then comes “setlist” and then reviewer ends with: “Long Live DP”… most of them are so banal reviews.
but this one really rocks, reviewer uses some nice puns here, describes the athmosphere on the concert, in the crowd, describes how each of the musicians played and so on.
I really enjoyed reading this review, thanks to NERO. 🙂
July 28th, 2008 at 20:51Keep on writting reviews 😉
I have to say…..Finally, someone “Stole My Guitar”…. This is by far, the greatest review I have ever read. Not because I am biased by the present Purple. Because I am inspired by the overall view of a true fan. He does a jam up job of conveying his ridicule along with praising what is truly extraordinary. I have spent the time to try and express myself as this individual has done, but I have never been able to convey the overall validity to the shows I have been witness to. I experienced everything that is expressed here, but I could never put it to words as has been written here. This is a true scripture of what we are living today…..Purple at it’s best.
Thank you for going through the trouble of putting us in the presence of your experience. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Cheers
July 28th, 2008 at 22:19WOW!! What a review, couldn’t wait to read what was next, made me feel like I was there. Thank You
July 28th, 2008 at 22:57awel Nero,ik was daar ook en wat je verteld is zelfs niet overdreven…….it was amazing……superb…like Ian Gillan used to say
July 29th, 2008 at 09:03Great review!! Only someone with tremendous knowledge of the band and a grasp of story telling wrapped up by an inspired band performance could have come up with this!!
July 29th, 2008 at 12:14what??? You mean Ian Gillan wrote it?
July 29th, 2008 at 12:42Absolutely superb review – so personal and yet so professional!
July 29th, 2008 at 16:10Thanks for this different, but absolutely perfect review!
A pleasure to read!
Karl-Heinz
July 29th, 2008 at 16:21Rascal,
July 29th, 2008 at 16:52Who meant that?
Nero!
Well done….Keep up the good work,Thumbs up!!!
July 29th, 2008 at 18:08Nothing to add. Simple and perfect review, exactly as a Purple music.
July 29th, 2008 at 18:46Hèhèhè,… where do all you guys come from?
I haven’t even told my pals about the review. LOL.
Thanks 4 the comments.
Warms my heart.
yes,… I consume Purple since I was a brat.
Grew up with them ’till my fingers bled.
Though my English is far from perfect, I really like the language.
I’m Belgian, so billingual (Dutch/French). Producing English is like writing a tune. The don’t make musical language like that anymore.
Anyone in need of a writer or Brussels/European journalist?
let me know, nero AT viragoclub.com
Visit some of my websites :
http://www.nondisputandum.com
http://www.viragostarclub.com (bikers)
Do I loose friends when I say that my all-time favorite individual musicians are Tommy Bolin from the bottom shelf up to ‘Teaser’, Nick Simpers ‘Fandango’ and Glen Hughes ‘Play me Out’.
The best Purple combination imho is and will always be MK2.
Sheer brilliance. Ritchie, Jon, Ian, Ian and Roger are on my highest possible shelf. But I’ve apreciated all the wonderfull musicians that played with the institute called Deep Puple.
And don’t let anyone tell you that Deep Puple rocks.
They don’t do. They are.
Read ya all.
July 29th, 2008 at 19:20Hi
July 29th, 2008 at 19:26I have wrote this before in another forum, but Ian has screamed his heart out for the fans sake, and if he hadnt drunk a pint or three, he hadnt been the star he is. Heard the Sugargig on tube, and he can cut it on most of the songs, so keep on rockin !!
Clever review, seems a persons honest account with embelleshed humility, very well done.
July 29th, 2008 at 21:00Great Review, knowing this is only the shorthand version of this tremendous Writer,storyteller en superb
webmaster of our little growing custom bikers club 😉
Respect
July 29th, 2008 at 21:04well Nero,
CHAPEAU for this review!
July 29th, 2008 at 21:05i am still writing mine, and i must say that i agree with you on most things!
cheers
Michel
Nero… you really captured the evening there…
Seems like introducing one’s son to Deep Purple is becoming all the rage… 😉
Mine was -although tired- much impressed with the show.
Just like me.
Cheers.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:50Michael.
Thanks for the best review seen here in years, Nero!
August 2nd, 2008 at 08:05