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More Morse era, please
Date: 2012/2/13
: Hamilton Place
: Hamilton
: Canada
First the good stuff.
Good crowd on a cold night and a nearly full theatre. Hamilton Place seats 1,500 would say there were between 1,300-1,400 there.
The guys were on fire despite some problems for Mr. Glover during Strange Kind of Woman. (Finally back online with a third bass).
Steve Morse showed once again why he’s one of, if not the best. Great interpretation of Blackmore licks and positively stunning work on Rapture of the Deep, Contact Lost and in his solo spot.
Especially impressed with Don Airey. His keyboard patterns sounded closer to Mr. Lord’s work than what Jon was playing the last time I saw the Purps. Either that or he was higher in the mix that Jon was that 2001 show at the Molson Amphitheatre.
The musicianship was top-notch as always although Ian Gillan seemed to be struggling at times, which leads me to…
Playing it safe on the set list. Add more Morse-era tunes — please.
Could have done without Hard Lovin’ Man, Woman From Tokyo, Well Dressed Guitar and Blind Man.
Don’t get me wrong, love Hard Lovin’ Man but it really sounded as if it presented a problem for Big Ian.
So… How about Ted the Mechanic, The Aviator, ’69, Seventh Heaven, Bananas, House of Pain or even Wrong Man? Most would present less of a strain on Mr. Gillan’s voice.
That being said, Lazy was killer and it was really nice to see The Mule get an airing complete with a Paicey solo.
Nitpicking about the set list aside, a thoroughly enjoyable evening for me and my wife.
A great night from fourth row centre in a great venue.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Good advice about less strain on Gillan’s voice.
February 19th, 2012 at 20:05It’s sad that when DP just placed Hard Lovin Man in the set list, Gillan sang it very powerfully…
February 19th, 2012 at 21:58Gillans voice was good and powerful when he sang in his range. I expected Problems in Highway Star, Hard Lovin’ Man. I thought his vocal duet with Steve’s guitar at the end of SKOW was great. He didn’t try to over do it and tax his voice. He sounded better this time around then at Casino Rama last June.
I look at Deep Purple this way. These guys have done it all. Played every where and everything. O.K. So they don’t play quite like they use too. As far as I’m concerned They have nothing to PROVE to anyone anymore. We all know what DP could, and can do. And I still think they play better than a lot of artists today.
February 19th, 2012 at 23:28More Morse era please…! I think most of us here have been saying that for some time.
February 20th, 2012 at 17:28Yes indeed on “safer” song selection for Sir Ian and his 66 year old register.
And great interpretations of Blacker’s licks with the usual Morse Code of Respect and admiration for his banjo peer(s)….
Peace,
February 21st, 2012 at 14:08Ted
Gillan really does struggle with a lot of passages, but everything in the mid range is still strong. I really have to hand it to him. He just keeps soldiering on year after year and I’ll take a little struggling if the alternative is retirement. We are at a point where we need to savor what we have left. You really have to figure this new album will be the last. You know musically it will be strong.
February 21st, 2012 at 20:55Well said purpdawg!
February 22nd, 2012 at 16:13I too am just glad they’re still out there making music! Can’t last much longer though. But still at times i find myself embarrased for Ian when he struggles with a particular vocal passage. I certainly don’t take glee from those moments… I hope the band can make the next (last?) album as strong as Purpendicular was!
Ummm.. Well Dressed Guitar is Morse-era. And one of the highlights of the set.
February 22nd, 2012 at 16:29Blind Man and Well Dressed Guitar are some of my favourites live, so I would be very sad, if they stopped playing them! (I saw in December 2011 with orchestra). Besides that, Well Dresses… is from the Morse era 🙂
February 22nd, 2012 at 18:25I’ve seen over a dozen Purple shows in North America and Europe over the last few years. How can we not appreciate that these fellas continue to offer what is probably the most virtuous performances of any band touring today? Though I read criticism about Ian’s voice periodically, which I too have heard, even taking the occssional lapses into account, the Band’s performances are simply amazing examples of what talented musicians can honestly present. There is no fanfare. There is no hype. There is no reliance upon distractions. They are incomparable artists at their crafts–all of them!!! We should appreciate what they have done, and what they are doing. We will never see anything like it again. Thank you Ian, Roger, Ian, Don, and Steve. I still hold every Deep Purple show close to my heart, and every one was special for its own reason. We fans should simply be thankful that we have had the opportunity to be inspired, and, hopefully, continue to be inspired, by our beloved troubadours. Everyone–have a great day!!!!!
February 23rd, 2012 at 01:32PurpleGuy, Mads. Thanks for the comments. Yep, I realize WDG is Morse era. Just would rather hear other tunes…
February 23rd, 2012 at 04:20Where are
The Purpendicular Waltz
Rosa’s Cantina
Hey Cisco
I m Not Your Lover
???????????????????????
February 23rd, 2012 at 13:55Si sería bueno que toquen en los conciertos más canciones de epoca de Steve Morse.
February 26th, 2012 at 04:30@12
Fully available on your copy of Purpendicular and there they should stay.
OTOH, where are Ted The Mechanic and SIFLS? Those are streets ahead of any other Morse-era song and better than many “classic” Blackmore-era songs. I’d also like to see them play A Touch Away, SSMG and Fingers to the Bone. But I suspect I’ll be making do with my CDs as well…
February 26th, 2012 at 23:48What does OTOH mean?
I like Ted too.
February 28th, 2012 at 12:36http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Otoh
February 28th, 2012 at 12:41@15 I think there are better songs from ‘purpendicular’ than the ones you selected…the worst one is “The Purpendicular Waltz” followed by “somebody stole my guitar”…not bad songs but the rest of the album is a masterpiece…
February 29th, 2012 at 13:30Looks like you’ll be out of luck!!!
March 1st, 2012 at 17:13I saw the Ottawa show. It was great. But it would be nice to hear some more Morse-era songs like Silver Tongue, I Got Your Number, Doin’ it Tonight, Fingers to the Bone, the Aviator, Ted, Screaming, Wrong Man, Clearly Quite Absurd, Things I never Said…. I know – they can’t please everybody and we all have different favourites. Can’t wait for the next album.
March 2nd, 2012 at 02:48Svante,
your sense of humour keeps me going, as it always has!! Thanks!!
S.
March 5th, 2012 at 00:14I think it’s hands down here with the actual Purple fans and followers that MK7/8 tunes are lacking in the LIVE concerts. I really do hope to see at least half the setlist devoted to our present Purple Line-up tunes when they reconvene on tour after their recording session this summer. There should be a tune from each of the 4 albums plus a batch from the new record. That’s ‘Dangerous’ as Roger loves to throw around…..
Cheers
March 6th, 2012 at 02:35The opener…..’Sun Goes Down’…. Too dangerous? I dare ya!
Long overdue.
Cheers
March 6th, 2012 at 02:46In your Purple Dreams? : )
March 20th, 2012 at 21:27Btw, I recognised this picture below from something else.
I think the DPAS used it to introduce ABANDON to the fans?
http://hearrockcity.blogspot.com/
March 20th, 2012 at 23:28I m sorry.
It is the pic with the guy in a chair blasted out of it due to listening something.
March 26th, 2012 at 10:17HERE it is shown as part of cover art for a BBC BOX for Led Zeppelin, the official one was 2 cd’s, this is a 4 cd UNPOLISHED one, warts et all, as they so nicely put it….. : )
Let’s face it, Deep Purple are now too settled and too old (maybe too lazy) to start doing the real work of preparing properly for a tour and so will continue to stick with the old standards despite having written so much good music since the arrival of the newer members of the band. We will never see or hear the band playing even a reasonable number of ‘Morse era songs’ in their tours because it takes too much work. (My idea of reasonable is 3/4s Morse era.)
November 13th, 2012 at 07:03I love the Purps and they will remain at the top end of my list of favourite rock bands but I will never go to see them again in concert to hear the ‘same old, same old’.