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21 years gone
November 27 marks the 21st anniversary of Deep Purple’s original reunion. Tonight in 1984 Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord and Paice strolled onstage in Perth, Australia for the first time together since 1973.
In 1984 electronic mail was in its infacy. The (very hip) band members were running up and down hotel hall ways to check if their electronic messages had made it from one Australian hotel room, via the States and into the room next door.
No one had even thought of the internet let alone a website called The Highway Star. Yet this was the song they opened their first reunion show with. Just as they’d used it to open their classic shows back in the early seventies, when Ian Gillan told a Copenhagen crowd in 1972 that this (then brand new) song was ‘likely to remain our opening number for the next year or so.’
Ah well, that remark was thrown back at him when interviewed on the same stage for Danish TV in 1993. The band were still using Highway Star to open their shows on The Battle Rages On Tour, which would end on November 17 in Helsinki, Finland. That night put a final end to the Mark 2 line-up. Blackmore packed his bags and the remaining band members decided their second (third?) youth was imminent.
That was 12 years ago this month and who’d have thought we’d now see an inspired Deep Purple without either Jon Lord or Blackmore? Whatever you think about that, the band has just brought us yet another excellent album in Rapture Of The Deep with hopefully an equally exciting tour to follow in the new year.
See you there!
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
The great thing about Deep Purple is their ability to cohesively adapt. This is most certainly true with the nucleus of Gillan, Glover & Paice, and their understanding of commitment and expectation from the newest members (although you can hardly call Steve Morse, “new”). The dedication from everyone shows through in their work and in doing so, have won the hearts of many rock enthusiasts from all over!
Full speed ahead and no looking back seems to be the order of the day. That’s what Deep Purple is all about, drop the top and push the pedal down. Rapture of the Deep promises to be the fresh stuff DP is made of.
Cheers, Barrie.
November 29th, 2005 at 04:37Well, I would certainly be happier if band leader Mr.Glover reiterated his view that the band has to play 80 % “classics” to keep the crowd happy. If anything, that strategy keeps the band steadily slipping towards the “golden greats” hard rock bands seemingly on perpetual tours (Uriah Heep at al). Remember Rainbow in ’76 and MkIII and MkIV, they kept their respect by performing material they believed in, playing 90% new material and just a few oldies.
Please show faih in your new material!
Throw in a Black Night here, a Highway star there on occasion, but keep it at that and everyone will be just as happy!
Just imagine a setlist like this one:
Money Talks
Wrong Man
Rapture Of The Deep
Clearly Quite Absurd
Perfect Strangers
Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
Watching The Sky
Soon Forgotten
Sun Goes Down
Pictures Of Innocence
Highway Star
Why not?
December 2nd, 2005 at 22:23Yeah Heimdall, it’s interesting, isn’t it?
While we have yet to see the setlist of the RotD tour, past experience shows that after the initial shows the band pulls back on new material and reverts to the tried and tested.
The cynics would say that DP don’t know what theywant to be; an evolving band that keeps their live shows and career fresh with new material, or a nostalgia act that’s just using the albums as vehicles to tour.
If you support the band by buying their albums, you often walk away from the shows with a disappointing feeling in your stomach, a case of ‘why did I bother when they don’t seem to belive in it themselves?’
Let’s hope for the best in the new year. The Steve Morse era albums certainly contain enough really strong material to warrant a how based on that instead of the ‘classic rock radio’ oldies.
December 3rd, 2005 at 07:32Let´s not forget that those “initial shows” haven´t even taken place yet. Don´t know about the european one off shows in January but the german tour in february I´m sure will be a full promo tour and have an average of about 5 new songs and with a bit of luck halfway during the tour the one or other new song willl be swapped with another new song. Bit like Haunted got dropped for Doing It Tonight in the latter half of the german Bananas Tour. Or like with Purpendicular where they would play up to 9 songs from the album on the whole tour but only 6 per show. Or with Abandon where 69 wasn´t introduce before a year later.
December 7th, 2005 at 12:21So I could imagine we´ll get early in the year the title track, Wrong Man, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye and Clearly Quite Absurd which might be replaced later in the tour with either Before Time Began(which I´d die for to hear live) or maybe Money Talks or something else.
Very interesting subject & one in which I would relay to the band in a heartbeat if I could. . . and this came about whilst listening to the vinyl version of “Rapture of the Deep” just this very morning. After letting it rest (after listening to it almost non stop for a month) I let it spin on my turntable and was immediately taken to a very special place. My first thought was “what an incredible album”! “This is album of the year!” I can’t wait for these guys to tour – however – I don’t want to hear 1971-73 again. Not that those songs aren’t classic – I just want to hear Steve Morse era material. Now, that would be heaven!! Love to hear that play list listed above.
December 22nd, 2005 at 21:16The album of the year for me is Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane live at the Carnegie Hall. Rapture of the Deep comes in a honorful second place – and probably just because the jazz record is older.
December 24th, 2005 at 09:47To my mind, this album (“Rapture Of the Deep”) – best album since timeses of the “Machine Head”! Great Album! Greatest Album! Sting that Deep Purple, as always, will not arrive with concerto in Orenburg (But Uriah Heep us had in march 2005 and they liked). In Orenburg Deep Purple have very more fans!
December 24th, 2005 at 13:11Marat from Orenburg, Russia. (I listen & liked Purple since fourteen years i.e. since 1984)
I have to agree with Heimdall! The new material on ROTD is a breath of fresh air. The lyric content is also a very interesting change from previous albums. I believe Mr. Gillan has alot of good things to say regarding the world in which we live. Pay attention to the musicians and artists of this world – they are the conscience of us all!!! I hope the interview with Mr. Gillan done with Face Culture is released so we can all hear the benefits of what he is saying. I know it has certainly encouraged me to read more, watch the skies more and listen to people closer! Keep up the good work guys – I am looking forward to the Australian tour this coming April. By the way – Maybe open the show with Smoke on the Water or put it in the first few numbers – it’s a classic but get it out of the way and push your new material.
March 30th, 2006 at 19:03Cheers
Neddy