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Review

Empire, Liverpool, 15th March 1976

This is a contemporary newspaper review of Deep Purple's last concert with Tommy Bolin in 1976.

"Deep Purple dragged themselves out of their weariness of a gruelling world tour for a superb night of rock music at the Empire last night. The tour has taken them through four continents, from Japan to Indonesia, Australia, America, ending with five dates in this country - six months on the road in all.

After a relatively tame start the Empire erupted as the group shook off the strain of the tour with "Smoke On The Water". And the best number? Well, for me, "Lazy". Keyboard man John Lord led with a wild classical style then drew the shrieks, squeals and roars from his equipment, suddenly falling into a gentle church organ finish. The band joined in with a crashing solo by Ian Paice on drums before the climax.

The next song, "This Time Around" - a slow, soulful arrangement - was the best from the excellent bass player, Glenn Hughes. The concert ended in a puff of smoke - literally. Not bad as gimmicks go. Decibel rating; shattering."

By Gordon Morris

Thanks to Nigel D. Young