Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / Hala Tivoli
Concert date: 04.12.2003
Attendance: 6500
This report would never have existed if I hadn’t believed so fiercely that I’d be at this show. After five years, the legendary British hard rockers Deep Purple were back in Slovenia, and on the day of the gig I still had no ticket, since they’d sold out about a week earlier, to everyone’s astonishment. Luckily, a buddy and I managed to score tickets through a special giveaway run by Vikend magazine. The promoter handed out free tickets to the first ten lucky people who showed up with a copy of the magazine. It took some serious gymnastics and shoving to get there, but it was worth the bit of patience in the end.
The support act was the legendary Slovenian jazz rock fusionists September, who felt that a Deep Purple show was the right moment for a (temporary) comeback from retirement. September gave the crowd a very solid showing and got an enthusiastic round of applause at the end. Their blend of hard rock, jazz and soul warmed up the hall nicely, even if you could tell all along that they weren’t exactly tight going in. Benč sang in his trademark way, in Croatian, which at times sounded like the wheezing of a bear with a cold. Sadly, he coupled it with a fair amount of posing, which really doesn’t suit a cult band of this caliber. They also had a sixth member on stage, handling arrangements on African drums, timpani and sax. The old-timers were still technically pretty sharp, the years haven’t touched them there, but I’d hoped for a bit more energy in some of the songs. You could kind of feel that they’d gotten together just for this one night and quickly dusted off their old chops. Still, you don’t get to see September live every day anymore, and anyone who wasn’t picky about the sound and tightness could have a great time hanging out with these Slovenian music legends from the “prehistoric” era.
After about an hour of waiting, the lights in the hall went out again. The night of legends could go on with the arrival of the mighty Deep Purple. The spotlights first picked out the new keyboardist, the legendary Don Airey (ex-Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, Colosseum II), who replaced the even more legendary Jon Lord on the new album “Bananas” (2003). He was soon joined by the band’s only founding member and one of the greatest drummers of all time, Ian Paice. Roger Glover, the indestructible bassist, producer and current driving force of the band, had meanwhile already taken up his classic stance, with the obligatory pirate bandana on his head, of course. On the right side of the stage he was joined by Steve Morse, a guitar school in miniature, with his unmistakable caramel-blue guitar. Then another hugely charismatic figure walked on, dressed all in white like some Indian yogi: the legendary singer Ian Gillan.
They opened the show with the indispensable classic “Highway Star” and the crowd went berserk. The biggest feat was keeping your footing. Even these seen-it-all legends exchanged slightly startled glances, because they probably hadn’t expected a reaction like that. They’d clearly forgotten a bit about the proverbial Balkan temperament that swept through the whole hall that night. Next came their big hit from the “Fireball” (1971) album, “Strange Kind Of Woman”, which stoked the already red-hot atmosphere even further. Before the show I’d been hoping for another track or two from “Fireball”, that excellent but somewhat overlooked record, but that was all we got from it tonight. Newer songs followed, mostly from their latest album “Bananas”, which cooled things down a little. “Silver Tongue” was the first of them, and the crowd calmed down a bit, since most people hadn’t yet mastered that “silver tongue”.
Then came a small surprise: “Knocking At Your Backdoor” from “Perfect Strangers” (1984), which hadn’t been in their set list for quite some time. The opening track of the new record, “House Of Pain”, one of my favorite songs on “Bananas”, reminded the audience of just how good and fresh the new album is. Overall, though, I got a lot more fired up by their classics from the early 70s, like “Lazy”, which sounded much more refined under Morse’s fingers than in the original, though that of course doesn’t mean it sounded better than Blackmore’s original or his approach. Next came the greatest masterpiece from the title-track album, the instrumental “Bananas”, which took some people’s breath away for a moment. Especially when the great wizard Airey conjured up the magic of Keith Emerson (ex-The Nice, ELP), while Morse brilliantly slotted in his own solo piece, “Contact Lost”. “Picture Of Innocence” was another new track that fit into the set splendidly. The classic “Space Truckin”, in a shorter version of course, was undoubtedly the peak of the show, because the crowd completely lost it. Sadly, instead of surrendering to the positive vibes beaming off the stage, most of them preferred to slam into the band’s loyal fans, whose hearts really skipped a beat, since hardly anyone had expected this immortal track from “In Rock” (1970). “I Got Your Number”, one of the new songs, cooled the mood a little.
Then Mr. Morse had his solo spot, “The Well Dressed Guitar”, where he quickly showed off the classic rock guitar school, old-cat style. Technically superb but a little reserved at the start of the show, the guitarist visibly came alive during his solo spot and soon threw himself fully into the concert euphoria too. His performance was followed by a total switch-off, Airey’s solo spot, without a doubt one of the highlights of the show. The indestructible keyboardist, who had put on a top hat for the occasion, toyed with the keys as if it were nothing and clearly had a blast. He coaxed out all sorts of melodies, some familiar, some less so, from the classics, deftly weaving in strands of his own mastery. Yet another proof that his arrival has truly revitalized the band. He even slipped in the main theme from the film classic Star Wars, and that’s when even the back rows came to life. And those of us who care about Deep Purple stood there open-mouthed for a few seconds after his set.
A hit from the album of the same name followed, “Perfect Strangers”, whose mysterious main riff briefly brought back memories of Ritchie Blackmore and his Rainbow from the early eighties, which is no surprise since both Glover and Airey spent some time in that band. And their contribution was especially noticeable here. Even Milan the security guy visibly got into what was happening on stage. Then came the riff of all riffs, the cornerstone of hard rock and metal: “Smoke On The Water”, their biggest hit, which should be part of every person’s general education. I probably don’t even need to describe the crowd’s reaction to this one. Tivoli truly hit boiling point. Gillan couldn’t praise the Ljubljana crowd enough, promised another visit soon, of course, and then marched off after the rest of the band. That was the end of the regular part of the show.
Of course, they were soon back. If “Space Truckin” was the peak of the show, “Speed King” (In Rock, 1970) was certainly its biggest surprise. It was played with incredible enthusiasm and exclusively for the Slovenian crowd, since they played it neither before nor after on the tour. Despite the criticism that has been flying around in recent years about the state of his voice, Gillan proved throughout the whole show that he has kept quite a bit of the vocal greatness of the days when he was among the best singers in classic rock. With this performance he showed he can still handle one of their most vocally demanding songs, which Deep Purple had stubbornly shied away from at gigs for a few years. “Speed King” is still a challenge for any singer who means anything in hard rock or metal. The “king of speed” was followed by a prehistoric hit from their first album “Shades Of Deep Purple” (1968), “Hush”, which carried us back to the end of the sixties. Gillan, who was having more and more fun toward the end of the show, let loose and worked in a version of Hendrix’s “Hit The Road Jack”. And the show wouldn’t have been complete without one more evergreen to close, the hit “Black Night”, which catapulted them into immortality back in 1970. That was the end of the show, and after long, thunderous ovations the band said a touching goodbye to the delighted crowd. Gillan, who has quite a few fond memories of Slovenia, invited all the band’s fans to an “aftershow party” at Hotel Slon.
Deep Purple’s performance was very good, if not outstanding, and I have no major complaints, including about the sound, which was perfectly decent by our usual standards. With their exceptional rapport with the audience, without a trace of arrogance, Deep Purple remain a shining example to all the young bands following in their footsteps. Maybe one day one of those troublemakers who clearly missed their rave party before the show will tell his grandkids with nostalgia about the time he saw this legendary band live. Judging by what I saw and heard, Deep Purple are carrying their legend into the new millennium, because the harmony in the band since Airey’s arrival is truly excellent and gives the impression that they’ve been reborn.
Setlist
1.) Highway Star
2.) Strange Kind Of Woman
3.) Silver Tongue
3.) Knocking At Your Backdoor
5.) House Of Pain
6.) Lazy
7.) Bananas
8.) Contat Lost
9.) Picture Of Innocence
10.) Space Truckin
11.) I Got Your Number
12.) The Well Dressed Guitar-Morse solo
13.) Keyboard solo-Airey (including Star Wars theme)
14.) Perfect Strangers
15.) Smoke On The Water
—encore—
16.) Speed King
17.) Hush (including Hit The Road Jack)
18.) Black Night
