![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/gillan5.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/mcbride5.jpg)
Antwerp: Good but not brilliant
“Intensive tasting and enjoying every single minute of a Deep Purple concert, because it always can be the last”. This was again my motto for the gig in Antwerp last Wednesday.
After the gig my feeling was that the Purps didn’t bring their best performance. Only Steve & Roger played with heart and passion and with flickering in their eyes. Don & both Ian’s played rather like good mechanics doing their job as usual.
Indeed, the set list was not bad at all with a good mix of new & old material inclusive the newcomers Wasted Sunset & No One Came but in terms of intensity we got a strong begin with Highway Star and a strong end with Space Truckin’, Smoke, Hush & Black Night but the middle didn’t bring the same excitment except the marvelous guitar master piece of Steve Morse.
In my opinion, Deep Purple is touring too much & they give too many concerts in a year. As a normal consequence there is too much routine coming up and the passion is sometimes slipping away. Also I saw tiredness in the eyes of Gillan & Paice.
As a conclusion we never can say that Deep Purple plays bad concerts but I missed this time the sparkling elements who gives their gigs something brilliant.
Till next time my great old heroes…
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
yea well even purple at they’re worst are better than anything out there in my opinion, be lucky to see them cause here in the states its getting kinda rare
November 23rd, 2009 at 00:33Are they reaching the end of the highway and spliting into single lanes? May be its time for every member of the group to find his own way home. The next album will be make or break and i think there is lots of pressure on the whole group in terms of direction.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:39I’ve pictures (made by my Tineke) of DP in Amsterdam :
November 23rd, 2009 at 16:19http://www.theshoppingservice.com/hmh.html
Cheers to you all
I have to agree I thought it was a rather slow night, this said, I thought Ian Gillan was brilliant, and so was Steve.
Roger was his usual self: a machine gun, fearless!
Don was a bit off, missed a couple of solos, especially in Wring that neck and Fireball.
Ian Paice seemed very tired, doing the bare minimum with the least amount of energy possible.
I was very happy to seem them again, but this wasn’t my favourite night out of the 20’s I have spent in a concert hall watching dP.
Can’t wait for a new album, as Gillan announced it on stage, that should be recorded in february.
November 23rd, 2009 at 16:51i agree they need a break to rest and re-group. as for going through the motions, all of us at one time or another do the same. remember, they’ve been doing this 40 plus years and constant traveling. i do believe they would make more money by avoiding the small venues and get people hungry to see them at larger and more appropriate places this band commands. i notice other famous bands do a handful of large shows per year and make bucket loads of jingle. wish DP could do the super bowl and be on a national stage–this band deserves something like that.
November 23rd, 2009 at 16:58The comments here about the show beeing solid but a bit “slow” and “tired” is the same as my experience at the Oslo show. Solid but a bit energyless…
November 24th, 2009 at 16:21@5
Approaching such a break, you know, the one they take every year around this time. Its all there is I’m afraid, its not like they’re going to forget that much.
November 25th, 2009 at 04:49i detest the fact that DP is not put on the level such as the stones–a-smith– led zep and the usual suspects. like it or not SOTW is a life style–not just a song : )
November 27th, 2009 at 00:53