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The past year 2000/01 has been a very successful, not to mention busy one, for Deep Purple. They toured the world with their most ambitious project yet, Jon Lord's "Concerto for Group & Orchestra", appeared (for the second time) at the prestigious Montreux Jazz festival, laid down the groundwork for an upcoming studio album (their first since 1998), some members pursued solo projects, and found time to oversee reissues, renovate their houses, spend time with family and surf the internet. Not bad for a band that was first formed in 1968.

January 2000 saw the release of the historic September 1999 Albert Hall recordings on CD, video and DVD, a release that would prove the basis for much of the band's live work over the next months. In March and April, the band played in Japan, Finland, Russia, and territories they had not visited for ages, such as Greece and Korea. The set list introduced classics that had never been performed live, such as "Fools", alongside "Abandon" album tracks and a smattering of Purple standards. This leg of the tour finished in Kleine Scheidegg in Switzerland, an open-air show under heavy snowfall!

After this leg of the tour, writing sessions for a new studio album took place, and it was decided to tour the "Concerto" later in the year. During the summer there were more writing and recording sessions, while Jon Lord and Paul Mann reworked the "Concerto" score for the tour, which began on September 1st in Argentina, moved through South America and reached Europe by the end of that month. A 2 hour 45 minute extravaganza, this combined a performance of the "Concerto" (sometimes minus the quiet second movement due to noisy standing crowds) and a varied set comprising tunes from "Pictured Within", the "Butterfly Ball", a couple of Ronnie James Dio solo tracks, and some Purple classics. Some of these were performed together with the orchestra, and a new instrumental piece written by Steve Morse for the band and the orchestra's string section was unveiled. This piece became alternatively known as "Guitar String" or "The Ill Tempered Guitar", even "The Immaculately Dressed Guitar", for reasons only a certain lead vocalist could explain.

In South America it was either the Sinfonica de Buenos Aires or the Orquestra Jazz Sinfonica playing the concerts, while the full European tour featured the George Enescu Romanian Philharmonic Orchestra (a.k.a. the Transylvanian Symphonic Orchestra, according to same singer), plus a horn section (The Rip Horns) and backing vocals ensemble The Backstreet Dolls (which for some shows recruited a certain up-and-coming singer by the name of Grace Gillan). In all, there were over 90 people on stage, including special guests Miller Anderson and Ronnie James Dio, and all of them were expertly 'managed' by the extraordinary conductor, Paul Mann. Apparently Mr. Mann can manage 90 people with just one little stick, while Ian Paice has trouble handling just four people with two sticks! This was the most ambitious touring project Purple have ever undertaken, and it was met with unanimous acclaim. The tour finished in Belarus and Latvia with two 'regular' Deep Purple concerts, and then it was time for the holiday season and some well-deserved R&R.

The year 2001 sees Deep Purple resuming live work, as well as major studio time for that long-awaited new album. This limited edition tour souvenir 2CD set, which will only be available for the fans through the official website and tour merchandising, represents Purple at their peak. This 48 track recording, made on 30th October 2000 at the Rotterdam Ahoy, Holland, has been released for the fans as a memento of the historic 'concerto tour'.

Capturing a great moment, the show opens with Jon Lord introducing local hero Marco de Goeij. It was Marco who had recreated Jon Lord's 'lost concerto' for his thesis. He did this by listening to the original recording and watching the video of the 1969 show over and over again. "It was a task of mind bending complexity," says Jon. "He worked out the notes by looking at the positions of the violin players' fingers! It was an astonishing piece of research and it took nearly two years of work to recreate the "Concerto" with the aid of a computer".

Unfortunately due to legal requirements, Jon Lord's "Concerto" is missing from the CD, but all efforts have been made to provide a superb recording of the band in full flight. Complete with orchestral backing, Deep Purple and friends storm through a set of stellar numbers. As world wide audiences will readily testify, this is a band at the peak of their powers.

Thanks to Stathis N. Panagiotopoulos for letting us reproduce his liner notes from the CD booklet.