![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/gillan1.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/morse2.jpg)
Airey conquers the hearts of Brittany
Another year, another Purple show. This year they had the good taste to show up in the city of Rennes a few days before an important trade show in the U.S., so me an a colleague could go watch them again (last times was Angers in 2007, way too long a wait).
We had nice seats on the balcony, so we could see quite comfortably. The opening act was European band Puggy, which was pretty good (last times we were delayed on the road an missed the opening act, sadly). The crowd liked them, and so did we. The only problem on the balcony is the crowd doesn’t sing as much as the people standing in front of the band.
As usual, there’s a break between the opening act and Purple, and we could see that while the venue was full, it wasn’t fully packed on the balconies. So we could seat together despite the non-consecutive tickets, as we bought them only ten days before the show.
Anyway, Purple took the stage around 9pm, and stayed there for about an hour fifty including the encores.
A pretty cool set-list, without much surprise in it, mostly classics & Rapture. The surprise was Hard Lovin’ Man, which frankly I didn’t recognize at first! guess I don’t know my Purple as well as I thought.
Don Airey was even more brilliant than the last time, and he knows how to please a crowd when soloing. Rennes is in Brittany, an area whose people are called Bretons ; and Don Airey played the well-known theme for an old french folk song whose lyrics goes “ils ont des chapeaux ronds, vive les Bretons!” (rough translation: “they have round hats, long live the Bretons!”), which sent the crowd wild. That was a very nice touch.
Everybody else was up to the usual Purple standard, and the venue has a pretty good sound, so I’d say it was better than the last time in Rennes in 2006 on that account alone. But maybe not quite as great as Angers in 2007, mostly because I love Battle Rages On, and in Angers we had the title track. I’ve seen Purple often enough that I prefer when they do a bit more of the lesser known stuff.
Anyway, great stuff, thanks to everyone in Purple & the support staff on tour and locally. Next time in Rennes, I’ll be there again.
* Hard Lovin’ Man
* Things I Never Said
* Maybe I’m a Leo
* Strange Kind of Woman
* Rapture of the Deep
* Fireball
* Silver Tongue
* Contact Lost (and Steve Morse solo)
* When a Blind Man Cries
* Well Dressed Guitar
* Almost Human
* Lazy (beginning with Don Airey solo and instrumental intro)
* No One Came
* Don Airey solo (featuring an extra bonus for the crowd, explained later)
* Perfect Strangers
* Space Truckin’
* Smoke on the Water
(short break to the encores, less than a minute I’d say)
* Highway Star
* Hush
* Black Night (beginning with a Roger Glover solo)
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
wondering, how many the crowd attending ?
November 20th, 2010 at 16:12I was in Rennes.
November 26th, 2010 at 00:397th time that I ‘ve seen Purple on stage.
I agree with Romain.
Better than the last year in Nantes.In 2007,better set list in Angers.
Very good and enthusiastic audience.The group was in fine form.
Jokes beetween Roger and Ian.As Ian said during the concert:”Roger is a philosophe”
I know very well my Purpler:hard loving man is a great opener.
And Don Airey is an amazing organ player.
Only complaints:the voice of Ian Gillan.Difficult for him to sing space trucking.No solo from Paicey..
Anyhow,DP is among the greatest and popular rock’n roll band.
And I love them.Great mucisians who respect their public and enjoy him.