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Absolute Magic in Toronto!
Deep Purple live at Budweiser Stage (Toronto, Canada 2024-08-25)
Deep Purple Concert Review: Toronto, ON, Canada – Budweiser Stage (August 25, 2024)
Set List
Highway Star
A Little On the Side
Hard Lovin’ Man
Into The Fire
Simon’s Solo > Uncommon Man
Lazy Sod
Lazy
Show Me
Portable Door
Anya
Don’s Solo > Bleeding Obvious (!!!)
Space Truckin’
Smoke on the Water
Encores:
Hush
Black Night
What a night full of great music to be had in my hometown of Toronto! My best friend and I got to the venue in time to catch the opener, Hannah Wicklund, who is an amazingly talented singer songwriter and indie artist. I was so impressed with her songwriting and vocal chops (she can really sing!!!! the pipes she has are incredible!!!) that I ended up buying her latest CD at the merch tent later on. Great solo set with just her by herself, and she certainly held her own and the audience loved her. I’ll definitely be seeing her more in the future!
Yes were a blast! Over an hour of Prog epics – I’d never seen them before live, and I liked their music, although in truth I never did much like Steve Howe as a guitar player. That all changed after tonight – finally, I got him, and now I’m a fan! His solos and lead parts were otherworldly!
I got to hear both Roundabout and I’ve Seen All Good People (which is my favourite Yes tune!) and the whole band sounded great (although I thought Geoff Downes’ keys were a bit buried in the mix). The drummer they’ve got to replace Alan White since his passing is fantastic, as is Chris Squire’s replacement. A wonderful set of Prog epics, and more time signature changes and multi section songs than you can shake a stick at! If you haven’t seen them yet, you should!
But what of Deep Purple, I hear you ask?
From the opening notes of ‘Mars, The Bringer of War’, my heart was racing. I hadn’t seen the band since 2006 – and in fact this year in 2024 is the twentieth anniversary of my first Purple show (which also happened to be my first live show ever!) when Steve was in the band. The last time I saw them in ‘06 I believe it was, Leslie West from Mountain (RIP) joined them on stage and played Smoke with them, and they played Speed King and Steve and Don did the most ridiculous duel during that number.
Since then, much has changed – Ian Gillan is now 80 and can’t scream like he could back then, and Steve has left the band and now they have Simon.
From the tour footage I’ve seen of recent shows online, I noticed Ian was struggling in the vocal department – some nights he was great, others he was struggling to sing notes in tune that are well within his new, lower range. I was planning on not going to see them at all – and keep my memories of them in their glory days with Steve (remember, I was born in ‘85 when Perfect Strangers was being toured, so the early Morse years are their glory days to me!) because I was so worried that I’d get Ian on a bad night, and I didn’t want my memories and how I viewed the band to be ruined. I was also wondering if Ian could live up to the amazing performance he delivered in the studio on =1. Live, of course, is the real deal.
Well, I am so glad that my best friend convinced me to go, and I am happy to report that my memories of the band were not ruined by Ian’s vocal performance tonight, because he was near perfect and gave the best vocal performance I’ve seen of him in the last decade, if ever.
From the opening chord that let led into Highway Star, the band was in full flight. Ian was spot on with his singing – no tuning issues whatsoever. When he got to the screams for the chorus, he adapted, and instead of trying to hit notes out of his range, he focused on his upper mid range and adding distortion/vocal fry to give the notes the same weight and gravitas, and it worked brilliantly. Throughout the night, I watched my favourite singer shine, delivering nearly note perfect performance after note perfect performance, and yes he did get a couple good screams in there! Instead of going high in places, he went low, and I watched him make smart choices and I think given his age, he’s adapted brilliantly.
My one concern is Ian did looked strained while singing and throughout the night I noticed him sneaking off into a tent back stage – to do what, I’m not sure, but whatever it is, it helped him deliver a an outstanding performance. I just hope he isn’t pushing himself too hard, and that he is in good health overall!
Also, Ian’s between song banter is the stuff of legends – my favourite was him quipping that Lazy was about “a Zen Buddhist monk and defrocked Vicar getting together” and how ideology is a waste of time – at least you know where the man stands! And, it was very nice of him to give Toronto a shoutout and let the crowd know the new record was recorded here by Bob Ezrin, who Ian said “lives just down the street” and “knows a thing or two about making records”. This, of course, made everyone in the audience feel quite proud, myself included, as I know the studio where the band recorded =1, being a recording artist myself.
Now, if Ian Gillan was one of the star performers the whole night, delivering near flawless singing the whole time, Don Airey was the other star of the night!
Going into the show, I was a bit worried Don’s Hammond would be too low in the mix – this was the case the two times I’d last seen Purple in 2004 and 2006. That was certainly not the case here- the Hammond was SCREAMING, growling and just so damn driven! Don was improvising the most I’ve ever seen him, and during Hard Lovin’ Man he delivered one hell of a solo, making the Hammond snarl and growl! In fact, I’ve never seen Hard Lovin’ Man performed live, and this was a real treat! Definitely a highlight of the show!
Don’s solo spot was filled with all sorts of little nods to various classical composers- Mozart, Tchaikovsky and the like, as well as the intro to Mr. Crowley – and of course, he snuck in O, Canada which had the whole crowd on their feet for the most part (being disabled, I stayed seated) and singing along to the national anthem – a very nice touch! Don was certainly the other standout of the night, and considering he was one of my influences on Hammond Organ along with Jon, I was in Hammond Heaven the whole night!
But what of the other members?
Roger Glover and Ian Pace were locked in all night long, Roger played some very interesting bass lines and was solid the whole night. Paicey, is of course, a thunderous groove monster! My best friend who took me is also a drummer, and he said he always liked Paicey, but until he heard the band live (it was his first time seeing the mighty Purple, though he’s been a fan for years!) he told me how impressed he was by Ian’s deep groove and how powerful he was. Flawless and thunderous as always! in my opinion, Roger and Paicey are the best rhythm section in all of rock n roll, and they certainly proved that again tonight!
And what of our new guitar player, Mr. McBride?
I went into the show knowing it was a new chapter for the band and for myself – I’ll never get to see Steve Morse, my favourite Purple guitarist, with the band again – I regret not going at least one more time, as during Uncommon Man I thought that I would have liked to have heard Steve play it as well.
That said, Simon McBride totally floored me the whole night – chops for days, tasteful melodies, and I absolutely love that aggression and wildness in his playing – total ABandOn! He was getting ludicrous amounts of sustain from his PRS axes, and at one point held the most glorious, feedback note with all this phaser stuff going on (an effect that really hasn’t seen use since the Mk IV days when Tommy Bolin was the axeman!) and it just blew my mind as a guitar player myself (my second instrument, in case you’re keeping tabs)! Simon’s solos were incredible, and especially the one he did before Uncommon Man where he really made it his own (it’s a damn good thing too, I wouldn’t want a Steve clone!) and just went for the jugular during that tune and throughout the whole night.
If I had two minor critiques it would be this: during the new tunes, of which the band played five off the new record, which was a welcome change to the setlist, Simon played his solos exactly like he did on =1, note for note. I get it, he’s new, and I would have preferred him to improvise a bit more. The other critique is that whoever was mixing sound put Simon a bit on the low side while he was playing rhythm, I would have liked to have heard him against Don’s screaming Hammond a bit more.
On the whole, Simon gave us so many incredible solos (he did a killer one in Hard Lovin Man alongside Don!) and was totally solid in the rhythm department. Finally, the drive and danger and wildness that Ritchie Blackmore brought to the band is back, in full force, and I’m glad for it! I will miss Steve Morse and the thoughtfulness and intention he brought with his playing to the band, and, Simon is a most welcome and impressive change indeed! Hopefully once he settles in a bit more, he’ll start improvising and letting loose on the new stuff! All in due time!
Setlist wise, the band put in quite a few nice surprises in the set – Hard Lovin’ Man, as previously mentioned, Into The Fire and Anya were very much welcome additions in my books – I hadn’t seen any of them performed live before! The biggest surprise however, came much later in the might.
Throughout the show I was writing down the setlist for this review, and after Don’s Hammond Solo, I wrote down Perfect Strangers, thinking of course they’re going to do it – what Purple show doesn’t have Perfect Strangers?!
Well, wrong I was!
Instead of launching into the Hammond riff we all know and love, instead the boys pulled a bold move and launched into Bleeding Obvious off the new record! I was pleasantly gob smacked, taken completely by surprise (or perhaps it was The Surprising?) in the best possible way! Out of all the tunes I wanted to hear off the new record live, this was the one I wanted to hear the most – other great new tunes included Show Me, which went down really well, A Bit On The Side, Lazy Sod and Portable Door (which, according to Mr. Gillan, they had just such an item for sale over at the merch table in one of the more memorable Gillanisms of the evening). I was really impressed that we got five new tunes in total – I’ve never seen Purple do five new ones before! If I might be just a tad greedy, might I suggest throwing in I’ll Catch You somewhere into the set? It would make a great addition to an already stellar set (and I will admit, my favourite tune off the new album)!
Then it was time for the classics – Space Truckin and Smoke on the Water were of course very well received – singing along to Smoke never gets old, and neither does the riff! It was also nice to hear Simon reproduce Ritchie’s original rhythm guitar part in the verse of arpeggiated power chords – a very nice touch indeed. I don’t listen to Smoke all that much, but when they played it tonight, I felt like I was 19 again and seeing them for the very first time! Absolute magic!
However, the fun was of course not done!
For the encores, there was no Green Onions – just straight into Hush, and for me, it was the highlight of the night! Tons of jamming, tasty solos, very inventive bass lines by Roger, and what for me was the highlight of my evening – the most INSANE guitar and organ duel I have ever witnessed between Simon and Don! The duel between Steve and Don that I saw during Speed King back in ‘06 was a very close second, however, this took the cake!
The fluidity, speed, and just sheer bonkers inventiveness of the lines Simon and Don threw at each other was just beyond belief – as a student of both guitar and Hammond, I was beyond my wildest dreams at this point in terms of what I was witnessing – just when I thought they were done, they kept one upping each other in spectacular fashion, and the inner teenager in me who fell in love with Jon and Ritchie doing the same thing was suddenly very, very happy!
Black Night ended proceedings, as always, and I enjoyed singing Simon’s licks back to him in the middle (I played a nice little game with myself to see if I could hit the ever increasing high notes Simon threw at us on pitch, and somehow I managed!) – and as quick as you could blink an eye, the show was over.
My best friend and I left the venue feeling really excited by what we’d just witnessed: a band that could have and likely should have been well past their prime hitting it out of the park, absolutely murdering it on every conceivable level. The second show I saw in ‘06 with Morse will always be my favourite Purple show – I won’t ever get to hear Speed King, Ian Gillan doing those fantastic screams or seeing Steve Morse and Leslie West from Mountain trade licks on SOTW ever again – however, this is up there with it, and one of the best concerts I’ve ever witnessed live. All in all, a very nice 20th anniversary present for myself, and an incredible first show for my best friend!
The band has been reborn a second time (I mean, maybe more like eighth or ninth considering all the lineup changes over the years), thanks to the wondrous talents of amazing axe slinger Simon McBride, who has a very bright future ahead of him with the band. I think in recent years, the band had gotten a little tired and were about ready to pack it up and go home, probably in no small part due to getting older – that’s life, after all.
However, just like Steve saved them in ‘94 from the clutches of near collapse from Ritchie’s shenanigans, Simon has saved them again, this time from the claws of complacency, and given them fresh blood and new life. If this is Purple’s final chapter, it’s going to be a damn good end to an incredible story and career! Absolute magic! Long live Deep Purple – and bring on the McBride era!
Mk 9, I’m with you all the way to the end. Let’s go!
-Mike Nagoda
review by Mike Nagoda
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
A conquest of North America, no less!
August 26th, 2024 at 14:40beautiful review, you make me want to get on a plane and come overseas to hear Purple tomorrow!
listening to some of the latest live performances on YouTube I think the song Ian struggles with the most is Space Truckin and it would be better if they removed it from the set list, maybe in favor of I’ll catch you or another softer song like All the time in the world.
the set list they chose doesn’t give much relaxation to our favorite singer, pretty tough!
August 26th, 2024 at 15:29Fantastic review, Mike!
August 26th, 2024 at 16:22Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on the show and the band, especially the current mark.
Now I am looking forward even more to seeing the band with a bunch of friends in CT next Tuesday. After reading your review, I am seriously considering also catching them at Jones Beach in NY if I manage to return on time after a four-hour drive back from an out of state soccer tournament for my younger one.
Thanks again for the excellent review. Well done!
I think they will end it on a high note for sure.
August 26th, 2024 at 17:09Peace 🤞
I have a hunch that Mike was paid good money by DP for this ejaculation of praise! 😉
August 26th, 2024 at 18:19Ian had a bronchitis few months ago, the pick was in Istanbul were he struggled a lot… Just unbelievable he didn’t cancel some dates cos it is very dangerous for any human to lost his cords forever. But not him. After end of July he came back in full fight. But he always gives 100%.
August 26th, 2024 at 18:38fantastic review and very funny too, congratulations mike!👍👍🍺🍺
August 26th, 2024 at 19:48Me and my folks left when they started playing stuff from their new album, it was all a lot of noise with no substance and they needed powerful vocals not muddled ones being over powered by the guitars. Was dissapointed they didn’t play the hits, especially at their age, it’s what you really want to see, not new songs from guys in their 70s
August 26th, 2024 at 22:02I was at the Toronto show as well and I agree with a lot of that good review. Gillan hadn’t sounded this good in years! A great show and they show no signs of stopping. Paice was absolutely fantastic.
August 26th, 2024 at 22:06Drop Portable Door and put back Perfect Strangers …and I’d be happy
August 26th, 2024 at 22:41What’s a great review. It feels like I was on the gig myself.
August 27th, 2024 at 07:27Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!!!
#5
Herr Uwe, I was paid no money whatsoever, for clarity. These are the thoughts of a fan with pure joy and bliss atm. I have been very critical elsewhere, especially of Ian’s singing in the recent past – I wear my heart on my sleeve, and mean what I say, should there be any doubt.
August 27th, 2024 at 07:45Saw the band Thursday night at Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights, MI, my cousin and myself are both yes and Deep Purple fans from there Start in 1968. The band in our opinion put out a very powerful performance. They certainly lived up to at one time being the loudest live rock band in the world. Our storyline like yours is one of pure love of the new members and the 3 long time original guys in Ian, Ian, and Roger. Loved Simon McBride playing and the part in our show of someone bringing Don a bottle of wine out so he pour himself a glass real quick and get back at it. Loved the whole dam show and your write up!!
August 27th, 2024 at 11:31@8: Wow, that means you only heard one song before you left?! If you had stayed, you would have heard “some of the hits”.
August 27th, 2024 at 14:18#8
It’s too bad you left and didn’t give the new stuff a chance – you missed out on a really great show, and the hits. Your loss, our gain.
August 27th, 2024 at 14:24Mike @12: In that case the Purple Organisation acted very miserly, you at least deserve a complimentary VIP ticket for a future gig after your labor of love!
August 27th, 2024 at 14:27I’ve seen enough YT vids to know that the band is tight as a drum,this time out.
August 27th, 2024 at 14:55It’s fantastic to see them break out of the Greatest Hits set. It is brave to include 5 brand new songs,but it also shows a lot of confidence in the new material.
What Austin says (and I don’t agree with him, I’d be fine with a DP gig that contains HS and SOTW from the 70ies and everything else from later decades up to this one) is the exact conundrum DP face as a – I know they don’t like the term, but they are – legacy act. There is always a sizable portion of the audience whose knowledge of DP is summed up on, say, 24 Carat Purple, and as a live act you have to cater for them too.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating a greatest hits set, far from it, but when Purple gets bashed here for sets making allowances for the more casual fan, it’s not laziness of the band. Like most musicians they would actually prefer playing only the most recent stuff (because that gives you that extra kick). You have to compromise – in this day and age an unfortunately dying art.
August 27th, 2024 at 15:47#16
Herr Uwe,
All I did was send the HS a review and express my love for the band as a longtime fan – a VIP ticket is not required, although I certainly wouldn’t turn one down were it to be offered to me 😉
August 27th, 2024 at 17:01I hope the right people are reading this, Mike!
August 27th, 2024 at 22:18I think there were many Austin’s at the show in Toronto. Most just didn’t leave early to miss traffic? Or go to the Ex? Not sure why you would leave a show. You might not love the songs but the band played well. They were good! Were they 80s good? No 90s nope 2000 and beyond. Maybe. I would have to listen back but it was up there… last 4 songs were Space Truckin SOTW Hush and Black Night. So there’s you’re hits!! As a fan it was FANTASTIC! For the casual fan 5 new tracks plus deepish cuts for them killed their mood. The end of the show, brought them back to life! I mean I got to.d to sit down!!! But you chair people will not deter me! I will stand when I want too! DP rocks in 2024!
August 27th, 2024 at 23:46Looking forward to hearing the new tunes – only have to listen to
August 28th, 2024 at 00:07=1 to know what a strong album it is .
Having seen Purple several times a new set list is very welcomed!
Saw them twice on the Bananas tour where thy played at least 4 of that album which made the show very worthwhile.
Let’s Rock !
HOLLYWOOD
August 28th, 2024 at 07:30full concert
https://youtu.be/cYpBOwS8Smc?si=CRC-2k4vGSXug_gC
Some pics and a short review of the same concert. https://bkonthescene.com/2024/08/27/yes-and-deep-purple-budweiser-stage-sun-aug-25th2024/
August 28th, 2024 at 18:17Little Ian has a new shirt, I haven’t seen that one on him, very fetching!
August 28th, 2024 at 20:52Wonderful and powerful concert.
August 29th, 2024 at 05:14All guys on the top.
Gillan so superbly “magnifico”.
💣
@8
August 29th, 2024 at 06:32We have to respect his feelings.
That the dilemma that DP always faces when they select their set list.
For someone who have seen them several times I am cool about hearing new material and I love it.
For someone that only comes to hear the old vintage stuff then they will probably go the bar between songs.
BTW Ian Gillan always claimed that DP is primarily an instrumental band so if you can’t hear his voice well then it’s not a bad thing at all. Music speaks louder than words.
Thank you for the music DP
Peace ✌️
For my liking there are still lots of so called hits in the set. Purple has a big legacy and it is not so easy to say what the “hits” are .. apart form SOTW and Black Night of course. But Highway Star, Space Trucking, Hush (especially in the US), Lazy and the aforementioned sure make for a set that is fueled by well known classics. And even Hard Lovin’ Man or Into the Fire aren’t exactly obscure tracks if you ask me. In Rock anybody? If you can’t stand 4 to 5 songs you may not know it might be an idea to spend the evening in front of a radio playing some US classic rock station or seeing some cover band blasting out a greatest hits set.
And just a thought: Yes there are people – and not only a few – that attend (and pay for) the band’s shows again and again over decades. I guess they deserve a little goody or two too. Not to mention the musicians who may like to try something new time and again.
August 29th, 2024 at 08:32@8
August 29th, 2024 at 08:55Austin,
You are later even if probably you are a young guy🙏
Ciao 🙂
In Chicago, the keyboards were too low in the mix and the guitar too high, in my view. Seems like they may have overcompensated. But no doubt it’s very hard to get right because you can’t do a sound check with the audience, who soak up a lot of sound.
August 29th, 2024 at 14:33Saw the show last night, 8/28, and DP were on fire. Do not miss them on this tour! Whoever is doing front of house sound did a great job. Punchy, clear, and a perfect mix. Yes we’re very good but they should take a lesson from DP mixer. Yes drums were booming, Geoff’s keys were way to low in the mix, and John’s voice was often buried by the drums. On the plus side, Yes played a great mix of songs and Billy Sherwood is one hell of a bass player. Fully understand why Chris Squire personally choose him.
August 29th, 2024 at 15:23In truth, DP only had three “hits”: Hush, Black Night + SOTW, the rest are “just” classic rock radio staples. But most people would say that most of the songs of the MIJ set is what they identify with DP’s most popular songs + Hush. And MIJ was of course MH-heavy so you can’t really blame them for retaining a sizable nucleus from that album in their set.
Not that I haven’t heard those songs a bit too often by now as well.
OTIH: By the standards of other legacy acts, five songs from the most recent album is an embarrassment of riches. The only other band of comparable status to DP that I have seen more recently embracing their newest release that much live was Judas Priest with their Panic Attack album.
August 30th, 2024 at 15:00Sure Uwe, I was up to defend them … found it kinda ridicolous to state here (see above) that they didn’t play the hits. I see it’s hard to get the balance right but this time I think they achieved that. You can’t please everybody but this set does a lot to come close. And if someone really only knows Hust or SOTW …well it should come as no surprise that they get to hear tracks that are new to them – even if they’re some fiftyomppf years old. The tracks that is.
I remember 7 songs from ABANDON being played back in 98 … and a whole new set on the Purpendicular tour too … whicht brings up the question why the Live Bootleg form the Paris Olympia isn’t rated higher by many fans. I think it’s fab.
August 31st, 2024 at 13:46Paris Olympia is brilliant, I agree, lieber Max! I have a hunch that there is something fishy with the rights to it – it was more of a tour release than anything else at the time, no established record company actually supported it -, maybe Bruce Payne still (co-)owns them (and asks for a king’s ransom), otherwise the recording would have long been repackaged and re-released by earMusic I think.
I’m entirely fine with the current set. An additional ballad or two wouldn’t go amiss. Being the absolute wuss I am, I’ve always liked DP doing ballads (Help, Anthem, Lalena, Child in Time, When A Blind Man Cries, Soldier Of Fortune, Holy Man, This Time Around, You keep On Moving, Wasted Sunsets, Love Conquers All, Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming, Don’t Make Me Happy, Haunted, etc). Though they have always had a tendency to eschew them live, I actually think DP are very good at doing them without ever being limp. Hell, I even liked Joe Lynn Turner croon in full New Jersey schmaltz
“Oh girl
And if it takes me a lifetime
I swear I’ll tear down every wall
Love conquers all”
at Hammersmith ’91 … (the clip is from Ostrava)!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5qft-1YCpg
(A principal statement: It’s criminal that no official live document of Mk V exists; whether you like Joe Lynn Turner or not, as the clip of the ballad shows, he could sure sing his stuff live.)
If everyone’s health holds up we can realistically expect one more DP album, two would be a small wonder. Playing five new songs from a new album at this very senior stage of their career and given how physical media play almost no role in music consumption anymore is outright brave.
September 2nd, 2024 at 17:20Ah, Haunted … a great one and Beth Hart on it too. A very good track. Love conquers All is stretching things a bit too far for me, Uwe – but there you go. In fact that one plus Is this Love and Can’t let you Go (though I like the intro) are the songs from the family that I still am a bit ashamed of. Ah, and Rock Fever, not exactly a ballad though. But worth to be ashamed of lyricwise. (No, don’t mention DC here, he has a whole different approach when it comes to the words to his songs, he’s more of a blues man…)
I own some bootlegs of the Turner era, very mixed quality. Seen them twice, the shows left a lot to be desired soundwise – but then again so did a 87 show that may have been the worst I ever attended soundwise. (One of the 91 boots is the most expensive 2CD set that I own to this day. I forked out a small fortune the clever japanese pirate demanded for it.)
September 5th, 2024 at 07:47I was at the show where Leslie West and Mountain performed and I am pretty sure it was 2007
September 16th, 2024 at 19:22