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Vega$!
Date: 2011-06-23
Venue: Pearl Theatre, Las Vegas, USA
A June day in Las Vegas, Neveda. 108f. Walk to the site of the show. Only 4km. Stopped and picked up 2 bottles of water. 1 liter each. 45 minutes later I have reached the Pearl Theatre. Only a few ounces left in my second bottle. Too hot to drink. Drop it into the trash. Stroll inside. As everywhere else here, a Casino. Walk past the slot machines and reach the Theatre. Seems like a small Movie theatre.
Walk back to my motel, picking up 2 more bottles of water along the way. One thing you notice. No sweat. It vaporates. The heat here is deceptive. I take a shower and change of clothes. Grab a bite to eat. Go back to my room to rest. The Doors open at 1900. I leave at 1800. Reaching the Theatre with 10 minutes to spare.
Talking to fellow fans, I am surprised at the number of fans hoping they will play songs from the bands last 4 albums. The songs I hear mentioned the most are “Ted the Mechanic” and “Sometimes I feel like screaming”
The Opening act was Eddie and the Automatics. They blew the roof off. The Sax player was a personal friend of the late great Clarence Clemons. He gave a very emotional eulogy followed by a song he played in the movie “Eddie and the Cruisers” the entire soundtrack of that movie was very Springsteen influenced. The song was “On the Dark Side”. Featured a haunting emotionally charged Sax solo, with the player, Michael “Tunes” Atunes crying as he played with all he could summon. The Lead guitar player and the drummer had been with the group BOSTON. The act ended with 5 Boston songs bring the house to their feet.
It took the stage crew less that 30 minutes to clear the stage. The lights dimmed and the Orchestra strolled out and took their seats. The first thing you noticed was 70% of them were young beautiful ladies. The Conductor took his place, tapped the stand and away we went.
The only change being the usual 6th spot and the usual 10th spot. On the US leg we have “Woman from Tokyo” then “Knockin’ at your backdoor”. As always the band played brillantly. Gillan’s voice was STRONG! The best well received portion of the show was the “Contact Loss” “WABMC” and “WDG.” Don’s portion of the evening was another highlight. “Perfect Strangers” was impressive. Then we got “Lazy”. What maded this so good was the Conductor played a Violin solo and got into a lick for lick with Steve. A win win for everyone. The next song that caught me off guard, because I feel it need’s to be put out to pasture with a few other old warhorses was “Space-Truckin”. It was a hard hitting rocker that was played straight ahead leaving me breathless. I came away with a new found respect for that number!
This was followed what has become the “Bring the house down number” around the world. SOTW. As noted by others, the band has been a little caught off guard by the lack of a explosion on the audience’s part. They tend to view it as another great song. The song that get’s the reaction the group is looking for is “Hush”. Hush was a huge hit here in the States back in ’68 and is still in most Radio Stations song rotations.
“Hush” is part of the Encore. Which started off with “Going Down”, “Hush” and another crowd pleaser “Black Night”. All in all a great show. Perfect view and sound. I had a chance to move and stand at the Stage-no security guards- I was on Steve’s side. Facing him from the 4th row. To move there would have block the view of a elderly couple that was there with their two daughters both in their late 50s. A few others had stood in front of them but, out of consideration moved. So, I stayed put. No harm. Steve looked dead at me. He was throwing out Picks. I held out my arm for the throw. It sailed wide left. He shrugged as if, “oh well”. Another personal highlight for me was Ian Gillan pointing at me. He had glanced at me,so I waved. That was when he pointed and nodded. I will remember. Of course, that was Thursday. They played last night and tonight ends the tour. Quite a few people were doing the Trilogy. All three West Coast shows. The guy sitting in front of me was staying to see RUSH in Vegas last night then DP tonight.
I got to see them. Up close and personal.
I was and I am satisfied….till next time.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
COMPLETE SHOW WITH GOOD SOUND :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPFB-9n5yZo
June 28th, 2011 at 12:03The pretty fair footage of the entire show does not argue… Rick you’re a trooper!
June 28th, 2011 at 13:49Nice review, Rick, I didn’t make the Las Vegas leg of the tri-fecta – I did do the LA and Concord shows, though. The LA gig was with the Orchestra and it went off better than I had expected, however, the Concord gig was without the Orchestra and it was killer. This band needs no filler – they are one of the greatest rock bands of all time – and they showed it in Concord. Great shows!
June 28th, 2011 at 17:00Nice review, Rick !
June 28th, 2011 at 18:03WABMC? WDG?
June 28th, 2011 at 20:24My curiosity got the better of me so I checked Youtube to see if there might be any video from the show. Not only is there a video, the entire show has been uploaded. Let me tell you, DP really can still rock the house. Previously I had written that I was never going to give them my money for shoddy product. At that time i was speaking of the last Live at Montreaux release titled Deep Purple – They All Came Down To Montreux: Live At Montreux 2006. I wrote how much I thought it was a waste of time and money, and how I thought the band were just going through their motions and really not connecting with each other or the audience. I still believe that. This Las Vegas show shows that there is still life in the live band. Right from the double whammy of Highway Star & Hard Lovin’ Man, Deep Purple show they are out to win over a skeptical audience. They don’t tour the states much, mainly because the short attention spanned audience only want to hear SOTW or HS. They sit through the rest of the show mostly disinterested. So, who can blame the band for touring Europe where the audience is appreciative. I guess they really did want to make a good impressive this time out, and the did. This show is so good, by DP standards, that if a CD appears from the orchestral tour, I would be more than glad to shell out for the disc or to pay for the download from amazon.
Good going guys. You have forced me to eat my words…and I eat them with relish. (plus tartar sauce)
June 29th, 2011 at 03:1518 of July I will come to see Purple show in Verona,hope they will replace ‘maybe I’m a leo’ which we heard so many times in Italy with ‘silver tongue’ rarely or never played here…
June 29th, 2011 at 12:43Very good review Rick…!
June 29th, 2011 at 14:48Very well worded We saw Bethel N.Y show. They just keep getting better.
June 29th, 2011 at 15:38@ 6
You can also just use freeyoutube to mp 3 converter or something like that and burn the VEGAS show for yourself : )
June 30th, 2011 at 12:35For napa ale
June 30th, 2011 at 12:42WABMC=When a Blind Man Cries
WDG=Well Dressed Guitar
I was also at the Vegas show, off to Roger’s side of the stage. Great review, Rick – you truly captured the evening in words.
I have seen the band perform live since 1985 yet I have never seen the kind of energy on stage as I did on this night. Even the orchestra couldn’t help but bob their heads when they weren’t playing.
What a fantastic evening. Thanks guys, for putting on such an amazing show!!!
July 2nd, 2011 at 04:50Great review, Rick. Man, how I envy you for being there! I know that feeling when Big Ian is pointing at you 🙂
July 3rd, 2011 at 00:58ScottH! I too, was watching the orchestra. They were having a blast. One dark haired young lady was bopping in seat. It made the evening even more enjoyable! Ian was the best that night I have ever seen him. My first show was in ’73. Vegas was my 8th thru the years. I hope they come back!
July 5th, 2011 at 14:59Lordy! The Eddie and the Mechanics should read Ernie and the Mechanics. Michael “Tunes Atunes shouls read Antunes. At least the link is correct. My face is red. My daughter’s name is Katarina. She has danced since she could crawl. She is now 17. Her name has been mis-spelt in so many Flyers, programs, Newspapers etc; My apologies to the guys. They are a wonderful band. I loved every second they were on stage. How many Opening bands have you seen that you could not wait for them to get off stage. Not these guys. High praise. Check them out. They put on a fantastic show. They had the audience on their feet most of their set.
July 6th, 2011 at 20:05My apologies to one of the better bands around. Ernie and the Mechanics. In my review titled Vega$, I mis-spelt the first name. Eddie was what I typed. Plus Michael Antunes I had a typo on his last name. Atunes should be spelt Antunes. Guess I can’t get Eddie and the Cruisers out of mind. Love the way you guys played that song from the movie. “On the Dark Side.”
July 6th, 2011 at 20:47A Fan.
RickF
Ever have a bad day? Ernie and the Automatics. Not Ernie and the Mechanics. Had some bad news and was not thinking straight. Went from bad to worse. At least the web-site was correct. Again my apologies to this great band. I even bought the Cd at the show!
July 7th, 2011 at 02:18My regards, RickF
Ernie & The Automatics is not exactly a good name to handle IMHO.
But its a great band.
Still sad about the demise of BOSTON and very very sad about the loss Brad Delp : )
July 7th, 2011 at 16:25