Deep Purple (support: Jayler)
Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, 7:30 PM to 10:40 PM
Vienna (Wien) / Wiener Stadthalle – Halle D / Austria
Who would have believed it, who would have dared to predict anything? Deep Purple, one of the essential, if not outright central bands of rock ‘n’ roll, with a pioneering weight and importance that shaped the development of hard rock and metal, put out their 24th studio album this year, in the 59th year of their career. After everything they’ve been through and everything they’ve created along the way, there’s only one conclusion. Admiration. This is a band you simply have to respect and, in some way, bow down to.
A while back, the guys freshened up the ranks with a new guitarist! That’s Northern Ireland’s Simon McBride, who joined Deep Purple in 2022 after longtime predecessor Steve Morse decided to leave the band. McBride was in a way a logical choice for Purple, since he had spent years playing in keyboardist Don Airey’s band, so by the time he joined he was already well steeped in plenty of Deep Purple lore. With McBride, the band quickly recorded and released the album “=1” (2024, RockLine review), which was followed surprisingly fast this year by another one, “SPLAT!” (RockLine review), and the guitarist proved he’s cut from the right cloth. Purple have nothing left to prove, yet their new releases are still very, very good, and it’s great that three men born in 1948, plus the incredible vocalist Ian Gillan, who clocked up 81 years this year, all aboard with the much younger ‘adopted son’ McBride (born 1979), still show not the slightest sign of slowing down. The stage remains their first home in 2026, and they keep recording new music on top of it, which they really wouldn’t need to do.
The tour, which once again (and for the umpteenth time) brought them to Vienna’s city hall (Wiener Stadthalle – Halle D), which holds a good 16,000 heads, again filled the venue to the farthest corners. The place was practically sold out, and judging by the colorful mix of generations in the crowd, Deep Purple once more proved their timelessness. They’ve simply become eternal legends.
This time they picked youngsters Jayler as the opening act. It’s unbelievable how many Led Zeppelin imitators there are on this planet. New ones keep popping up, and they spark in different ways. With Jayler, the special twist is that they’ve very cleverly made use of, among other things, the uncanny resemblance between their singer James Bartholomew and Robert Plant. Not only do Jayler shamelessly draw inspiration from the legendary champions of rock ‘n’ roll, they’ve borrowed the outfits and the moves too, the drums recalled Bonzo’s setup, and bassist (and keyboardist) Ricky Hodgkiss ran around the stage barefoot. A revision of rock’s golden age, then, in a new, refreshed outfit. And there’s really nothing to reproach these guys for, who’ve barely hit 20. They made the most of their time, that’s 40 minutes, by a mile and conjured up a real party on stage. Untamed energy! The stage was packed with it. Considering they only just released their studio debut “Voices Unheard” (2026) this year, they come across as hugely confident, hellishly fueled, burning through high-octane power that embodies true wildness. Excellent sound, a meticulously studied and tight performance, led by a more than contagious vocal showing. The band also introduced two brand-new tracks (No Woman, Kicking Stones), and otherwise played plenty of material from the debut. It looks like a bright road lies ahead for them.
At shows by bands like Deep Purple, the support acts always steal time. That’s just the unfortunate spot you take on when you accept that role on a tour by rock icons. The whole hall was strictly waiting for the arrival of the forefathers of metal. First to appear behind the drums was Ian Paice, joined from the left by Roger Glover,… The band launches straight into Highway Star, one of the most fitting tracks you could pick to open a concert. A wrecking ball! The venue instantly at full throttle. The sound, from the first moment all the way to the last gasp on stage, was phenomenal. The stage lighting and light show remain spectacular at Purple shows. And all that routine they handle everything with. Priceless, elusive. Yes. They don’t make bands like this anymore.
Well, they didn’t stop at Machine Head; the band quickly switched to the album “=1” (A Bit on the Side) and then served up another classic from their golden era, Into the Fire (Deep Purple in Rock, 1970). Of course, we were curious about the legends’ form. Plenty has been written about that in past concert reviews, so there’s no need to waste words. The guys wouldn’t be on stage if that form weren’t there. They’re sturdy, they keep to their established way of putting on a show and don’t budge from it an inch. Not even in 2026. Let’s set aside the ‘tiresome nitpicking’ about the band deliberately leaving certain songs out of the set for several decades, because Ian Gillan not only can’t sing them anymore, he doesn’t want to. Of course, not everyone in the crowd agreed this evening about the capabilities of Ian’s vocal cords. And more. In the crowd you could spot signs on A4 sheets asking Purple to play Soldier of Fortune – provocateurs like that should be banned from the hall for good. For his age, Gillan remains an absolute phenomenon. Not only is his distinctive voice always and everywhere instantly recognizable, he’s also a stage figure who remains incredibly charismatic by a long shot. Gillan keeps that contagious smile, has fun with his moves and glances, and what ‘shakes you up’ most is his all-encompassing sense of black humor. Where he draws inspiration from, I don’t know, but the source is inexhaustible. With his juicy comments, he made even his bandmates on stage laugh a few times, the very people you’d think have had him wrapped around their little finger for ages. After Into The Fire, Simon stepped to the front with a solo that flowed into two new songs from the album “SPLAT!” (Arrogant Boy, Diablo).
Deep Purple seem to be in a trance, no hide-and-seek, no flubs. Everything is played to a T. But always a little differently. Don Airey’s solo spot remains a chapter of its own. There were two of them here. We know where they sit in the setlist, but Airey could play a whole concert. You could listen to him for hours and hours. Well, the first solo quickly turned at the end into the well-known playful motif of one of the classics from the album Machine Head. Lazy, of course. The band radiated extraordinary tightness, playfulness and goofiness the whole way through. McBride and Airey are hellishly well-matched, and the evergreen Roger Glover and Ian Paice are an impenetrable rhythm section. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming has always been considered one of the most beautiful compositions, not just on the album “Purpendicular” from 1996, when we heard it for the first time in Izola, but of Deep Purple’s entire career. It was great that the band played it live again. And the band enjoys playing the new songs. You could really feel how they threw themselves headlong into the new numbers, whether it’s the mystical Sacred Land or the catchy Arrogant Boy with one of the fastest phrases Purple have ever written. Airey’s second solo was even more powerful and even more fun than the first, and violinist Lidia Baich joined him on stage. Airey didn’t let the audience down, getting the whole hall to high revs by tackling, among other things, Strauss’s “The Blue Danube”. Madhouse. We stood in the south floor section. Along the wall to the left of the floor ran a whole road of thirsty beer customers, heading from the hall to the bar and back. Nonstop.
And then the big finale. Perfect Strangers! It can’t be missing. Never. It’s one of the peaks of Deep Purple concerts. Goosebumps. Then there’s Space Truckin’ and the riff of riffs, Smoke On The Water! The hall was boiling over with excitement. Moments of nostalgia were not lacking. And just when you know there are still a few precious minutes left, Gillan pulls out his refined sarcasm: “We’re not finished yet!” The band didn’t leave the stage to be called back for an encore. Only Gillan disappeared from the stage for a few minutes, while the band dove into the new instrumental Guinnesis and stretched the show with an extra helping of priceless performing playfulness, the kind only Deep Purple can deliver. Gillan returns, the band jumps into the relaxed but prehistoric Hush, followed by the thunderous riff of the classic Black Night. It was clear this was the end. An hour and forty minutes!
Superb. Even today, after almost six decades of playing. Unbelievable. It’s been 30 years since I first saw Deep Purple live. Even back then they were considered ultimate legends. And after 30 years the fire isn’t going out. The years only seem to be chasing us. Inside you, energy of a completely different kind is boiling. And Deep Purple radiate that untamed energy. It’s still easy to write that this energy is the definitive vibe of youthful exuberance, which has no plans of fading anytime soon. A bow to the legends!
Author: Edita Klemen & Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Jayler – setlist:
1. Down Below
2. The Getaway
3. No Woman
4. Kicking Stones
5. Riverboat Queen
6. Lovemaker
7. Need Your Love
8. Over the Mountain
9. The Rinsk
Deep Purple – setlist:
1. Highway Star
2. A Bit on the Side
3. Into the Fire
4. Guitar Solo
5. Arrogant Boy
6. Diablo
7. Keyboard Solo
8. Lazy
9. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
10. Sacred Land
11. Lazy Sod
12. Keyboard Solo (with Lidia Baich) (Inc. An der schönen blauen Donau)
13. Perfect Strangers (with Lidia Baich)
14. Space Truckin’
15. Smoke on the Water
16. Guinnesis
17. Hush (orig. Joe South)
18. Black Night
