So,** Deep Purple** is coming to my town soon with** Thin Lizzy**.
This brings up a few questions…
Who is in Deep Purple these days?
Is there a Richie Blackmore?
Gillan or Coverdale or someone else?
Lord? Glover? Paice?
Anyone seen this tour?
Was it any good? Their last one that came through town in the mid-80’s sucked ass.
As for Thin Lizzy… WTF???
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me that Phil Lynott has been pushing up daisies for a while now, hasn’t he?
What kind of band could be touring, pretending to be Thin Lizzy, without Phil?
Jon Lord has regrettably been forced to retire from the band with tendonitis. His replacement, Don Airey, is good but I haven’t heard enough of him to know if he’s Lord’s equal. If you think Blackmore is still with the Purps, you’re about fifteen years out of date.
The album, Bananas, is inconsistent but has some fine tracks on it.
I saw DP in concert with Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Darkness last year (I went primarily to see LS, not DP or the then unknown Darkness). My only comment - speaking as a musician - is that their guitarist was awesome. Simply awesome. I was never a great follower of DP but I remember thinking at the time that had I heard back in the early days what I was listening to now, I would have been.
They played in my hometown a little while ago. A friend went to see it and said it was OK, but lacking from not having Lord in the line-up. The loss of Blackmore and his guitar masturbation is only good, IMO. If you want that, check out his own group, Blackmore’s Night.
Gillan is getting a bit worn these days, being 58 years old. The voice is not what it is and even with a fresh album out, this is mostly nostalgia for old fans. Friend told me that there weren’t any people under 40 in the audience and almost no women.
I never got to see them, back then. Too bad. But live footage and three copies of Made In Japan that I wore down are memories that I want to keep, of the best heavy metal band, after Zeppelin, ever. Seeing them now might just ruin that. I think LZ made the right decision not to go on after Bonzo’s death, but if Purple wants to go on touring and doing the nostalgia thing, then by all means, let them have their fun and earn their money. Fo me, they will always be the band that made my parents go crazy, as I hit 12-13, started to grow my hair long and listened to Highway Star over and over and over…
30 years later, the albums only come out when we have an all male evening, drinking beer and remembering what it was like to be young, dangerous and daring. I expect a concert to be the same way.
Well, Purple’s current incarnation is MK VIII. I managed to see the Perfect Strangers/“reunion” tour and was not disappointed. Blackmore did a great bit playing to a animated lightshow of Beethoven (forgive me if I misremember the composer). Steve Morse is no slouch on the six-string–I saw him back in his days with the Dregs, but even the promise of hearing “Machine Head” in it’s entirety isn’t enough for me to want to shell out $60.
I saw Deep Purple with Free, Manfred Mann and Pirana a mere 33 years ago. It was the concert series that convinced Australian promoters that bands without any top 40 singles were viable touring acts. Deep Purple were almost scaringly good - one of the first times live music just blew me away.
I saw them 2 or 3 years ago with the Scorpions and Dio. It was interesting to say the least. I dont know too much about their lineup, but it was definitely the best performance out of the three bands.
I suppose I should stivk my oar in. I saw the Purps about ten years ago. It may have been the 25th Anniversary tour; Gillan was definitely singing, though.