Deep Purple live in London
Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 5:28 pm
Last Thursday I went to see Deep Purple, in their ‘long farewell tour’ in their 50th year, albeit with about eight different iterations, at the O2 Arena in East London.
Europe (I thought they were German until the lead singer described the band as ‘kids from Stockholm’) were a an ideal opener, with plenty of macho posturing, heavy rock antics, as misshapen middle aged people sporting Deep Purple t-shirts walked up and down the aisles trying not to spill the contents of their brimming plastic beer cups over other patrons. Even though they are essentially a one hit wonder, we have all heard it a million times, and they finished on ‘(Its the) Final Countdown.’ People stood up for the first time singing without inhibition and punching the air in unison.
My friend Franz and I managed a head start having dined at the RAC on Pall Mall with a rather magnificent bottle of Chateau Figeac 1982, the best yet, Yquem 88, Armagnac and the first cigar for about five years. Deep Purple came on at about 9pm and the volume went up a couple of notches as the 71 year old Roger Glover’s booming base, and 69 year old Ian Paice’s thumping drums, literally shook the O2 to its foundations. The band still exudes so much presence, power and energy, aided and abetted by a remarkably creative, albeit slick, picture show and close ups.
Lead singer Ian Gillan, now 72 is not as mobile as he used be, neither does he quite have the range to sing Child In Time. But he still exudes so much on stage presence and gravitas, and is still really on it, as he demonstrated as the band got into a riveting rendition of Fireball. Ian Paice, who apparently had a minor stroke recently, was immaculate as he was immense, culminating with the explosive pyrotechnics surrounding the finale of Space Trucking towards the end of the set.
The first half of the set focussed on newer material, including from the new album Infinite, and was nothing less than enthralling in its delivery. The most famous iteration of Deep Purple was Mark Two, and arguably the two stars were Jon Lord on keyboards and Richie Blackmore on guitar, jamming and dicing off each other with virtuoso performances. Lord passed away in 2012, and Blackmore has only made fleeting returns.
Their replacements, though not household names, are arguably equally impressive. Don Airey (69) is a wizard on key boards and Steve Morse (63) a colossus on guitar. Airey continues the pervasive classical influences of JS Bach that Lord pioneered to make the original sound so unique. Morse, the Ohio-born, youngster, was arguably the star of the show with his virtuoso solos and explosive riffs. I have never witnessed anything quite like the raw, albeit controlled, power of his guitar work.
The opening riffs to Smoke on the Water literally bought the house down. A somewhat frail looking figure had appeared next to Morse pumping out the most famous riff in rock’n’roll. I thought it was Richie Blackmore. For Franz it brought a tear to his eye because he didn’t look in great shape. Franz owns one of Richie Blackmore’s Fender Stratocasters which he purchased in London for £600 in the mid-1970s. But no it wasn’t Blackmore it was John Norum from Europe joining his idols.
https://youtu.be/xraiW0N93o8
We didn’t get ‘Highway Star’, ‘Child In Time’or ‘Speed King’ but the sound of the band in 2017 is tight, disciplined and had a shattering effect all night. I have been to quite a few concerts in my time but I honestly can’t remember anything better than Deep Purple at the O2 on 23 November 2017. The culmination of a memorable day. If it really is their last tour, what a way to go out.
Here is the whole concert:
https://youtu.be/gWXLS-lK4GM
Here is a BBC version of their set recorded a week earlier
https://youtu.be/R024FKJB7VI
Europe (I thought they were German until the lead singer described the band as ‘kids from Stockholm’) were a an ideal opener, with plenty of macho posturing, heavy rock antics, as misshapen middle aged people sporting Deep Purple t-shirts walked up and down the aisles trying not to spill the contents of their brimming plastic beer cups over other patrons. Even though they are essentially a one hit wonder, we have all heard it a million times, and they finished on ‘(Its the) Final Countdown.’ People stood up for the first time singing without inhibition and punching the air in unison.
My friend Franz and I managed a head start having dined at the RAC on Pall Mall with a rather magnificent bottle of Chateau Figeac 1982, the best yet, Yquem 88, Armagnac and the first cigar for about five years. Deep Purple came on at about 9pm and the volume went up a couple of notches as the 71 year old Roger Glover’s booming base, and 69 year old Ian Paice’s thumping drums, literally shook the O2 to its foundations. The band still exudes so much presence, power and energy, aided and abetted by a remarkably creative, albeit slick, picture show and close ups.
Lead singer Ian Gillan, now 72 is not as mobile as he used be, neither does he quite have the range to sing Child In Time. But he still exudes so much on stage presence and gravitas, and is still really on it, as he demonstrated as the band got into a riveting rendition of Fireball. Ian Paice, who apparently had a minor stroke recently, was immaculate as he was immense, culminating with the explosive pyrotechnics surrounding the finale of Space Trucking towards the end of the set.
The first half of the set focussed on newer material, including from the new album Infinite, and was nothing less than enthralling in its delivery. The most famous iteration of Deep Purple was Mark Two, and arguably the two stars were Jon Lord on keyboards and Richie Blackmore on guitar, jamming and dicing off each other with virtuoso performances. Lord passed away in 2012, and Blackmore has only made fleeting returns.
Their replacements, though not household names, are arguably equally impressive. Don Airey (69) is a wizard on key boards and Steve Morse (63) a colossus on guitar. Airey continues the pervasive classical influences of JS Bach that Lord pioneered to make the original sound so unique. Morse, the Ohio-born, youngster, was arguably the star of the show with his virtuoso solos and explosive riffs. I have never witnessed anything quite like the raw, albeit controlled, power of his guitar work.
The opening riffs to Smoke on the Water literally bought the house down. A somewhat frail looking figure had appeared next to Morse pumping out the most famous riff in rock’n’roll. I thought it was Richie Blackmore. For Franz it brought a tear to his eye because he didn’t look in great shape. Franz owns one of Richie Blackmore’s Fender Stratocasters which he purchased in London for £600 in the mid-1970s. But no it wasn’t Blackmore it was John Norum from Europe joining his idols.
https://youtu.be/xraiW0N93o8
We didn’t get ‘Highway Star’, ‘Child In Time’or ‘Speed King’ but the sound of the band in 2017 is tight, disciplined and had a shattering effect all night. I have been to quite a few concerts in my time but I honestly can’t remember anything better than Deep Purple at the O2 on 23 November 2017. The culmination of a memorable day. If it really is their last tour, what a way to go out.
Here is the whole concert:
https://youtu.be/gWXLS-lK4GM
Here is a BBC version of their set recorded a week earlier
https://youtu.be/R024FKJB7VI