Deep Purple

[bigcumba]

A year short of their 40th anniversary the Purps are back on tour again... and I'm off to see them tomorrow night in Brighton... as a special treat on this tour they are doing a full performance of the classic Machine Head album from start to finish - something they've never done in one gig!. With the John Sykes led Thin Lizzy and Styx as support it should be quite a night for anyone 'over a certain age' - must admit it's making me feel a wee bit elderly... haven't seen Lizzy since the farewell tour in 1983, and Styx since 1981 :yikes:

[Win2Win]

Long farewell tour then! :)

[frontrunner]

Don't forget to take your Air Guitar :D


Frontrunner
:spinning

[bigcumba]

Don't forget to take your Air Guitar :D


Frontrunner
:spinning

Got it tuned up and ready to raaaawwwwkkk, and I even didn't get a haircut specially for this gig! :laugh

[bigcumba]

Just got in... excuse any Presto-isms, as 8 pints of Stella have lubricated things.. :)

Lizzy were first on... feckin' amazin'... John Sykes has taken on the vocals as well as the lead guitar stuff he already played .... by the start of the second song I had tears running down my face.. he is that good. The Lizzy legacy is safe. If you weren't aware, Sykes was lead guitarist in the final line up of Lizzy in 82-83, and was responsible for dragging the band right back to the top, only for Phil to call it a day, 2 years before he died. So, are the current band deserving of the name - after tonight, there is no doubt - this is Thin Lizzy, not a tribute, Sykes has Phil's vocal mannerisms off to a tee, and he's also a damn amazing guitarist as well. Songs - we got Jailbreak, Emerald, Waiting for an Alibi, The Boys Are Back In Town, Don't Believe A Word, Suicide, and a handful more in a 50 minute set.

Next up were Styx... not the same band I saw in '81.... but after Lizzy blew the roof off, Styx kept it up there. New (ish) singer is a bit of a Dennis de Young soundalike, but there the resemblance ends. He's a pure showman, has one huge keyboard on a revolving stand so he can be at any angle to the audience he wants. Songs were sort of classic Styx ( no 'Babe' thankfully!) - Blue Collar Man, Miss America, Renegade, The Grand Illusion... and a couple of tasty sounding new songs ( and a cover of the Beatles ' I Am The Walrus' along with a dig at Oasis... I've been very wary of this 'Styx' but tonight they were brilliant, and I'll definitely see them again!

And so to the Purps..... started with 2 newish songs... and Gillan's voice sounded every minute of it's 61 years.... then 3rd song was 'Into The Fire' from 1970's 'In Rock' album... suddenly Ian sounded 25 years younger... screaming his face off... and that set the tone for the rest of the gig, a legendary band living up to it's reputation. Too many highlights, but a very bluesy version of 'When A Blind Man Cries' was superb, and they absolutely blew the balls off Fireball.. that and Into The Fire sounded even better than on the original albums... ooohh what else.... Black Night, Lazy, Strange Kind Of Woman, Smoke On The Water, Space Truckin'....

Kind of weird thouhgts about the bands tonight.... Lizzy have no original members left from the 1971 line-up... Styx have no-one left either... except they brought on one of the Panozzo brothers who formed the precursor to the band in the mid 60's and was a fulltime member till the 80's with his brother... he suffers from HIV and healthwise isn't up to a full tour or gig... but he did 4 songs with them tonight... that was a nostalgia trip and a half! And if you want to be picky.... there's only one original member of Purple left from the 1968 lineup... drummer Ian Paice, Gillan only joined in 69 along with Glover, Steve Morse replaced Blackmore in 95, and Don Airey replaced Jon Lord in 2002, yet every one of these bands remains relevant today...

Oh yeah... the other 2 guys in Lizzy tonight apart from the guitarists Sykes and Scott Gorham .... Keith will know at least one - Tommy Aldridge was on drums - possibly the most manic drummer around these days - not quite sure whether he based his style on Animal of the Muppets or vice versa... either way we're talking a guy in his early 50's now with a scrawny body, mad perm, and the most amazing drumming style ever seen! On bass.... was Marco Mendoza.... brilliant bassist, and possessor of the whitest teeth in rock!