Deep Purple and friends at the
September 25th and 26th 1999
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I know, you shouldn't start a review with the bottom line, but this
time I have to do so. This weekend at the Royal Albert Hall was
*the* music event of the century ! I am very,
very happy that I had the opportunity to be part of it, and also that I can
even offer you some nice pictures of these unforgettable nights. Hope you
enjoy !
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Steve and the London
Symphony Orchestra |
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For those among you who haven't had the chance to
eye-witness these concerts, you have all the reasons in the world to feel
sorry! The only word of comfort I have for you is, there will be a CD, DVD
and video released in January 2000. But that can only be a weak substitute,
compared to actually being there. I flew in from Germany to be part of this
event, hoping it would be something special, but not even in my wildest dreams
would I have dared to expect something *that* wonderful.
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I am afraid I won't be able to find the right words here to describe
everything, how great it really was. So I'll try to concentrate
on the facts. Before I start my little report I don't want to forget to thank
my British friends Steve, Andy and Cliff for their hospitality. You guys
are great!
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| The Royal Albert Hall is a very impressive place with
a lot of atmosphere, just the perfect scenery for hosting something that
special. If you are lucky to have good sound technicians, the RAH can offer
some of the best acoustics in the world. And Purple did have great technicians,
so you're guessing right, the sound, controlled via the biggest mixing desk
I've ever seen, was perfect. The first night, everybody - of course including
me - was very excited because nobody knew exactly what was going to happen.
There was not too much information passed around in advance. |
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Steve and Ian waiting for their entry |
The first night I was sitting in the 6th row, center left, with a pretty
good view of the Maestro, but unfortunately too far away for pictures with
my little goof-proof camera. Second night would be better since I was right
in first row.
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The night started with Four Scottish Dances, Op. 59,
by Sir Malcolm Arnold, performed by just the LSO. Sir Malcolm, who was the
conductor of the first concerto performance in 1969, was unfortunately unable
to attend due to his health condition.
Then every Purple member got a spot to perform some of their solo
compositions. Jon would�start off with two numbers of his "Pictured
Within" project. First was the title song, sung by Miller Anderson. |
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What a voice ! He put soooo much emotion in his performance, goose bumps
were unavoidable. The second song , "Wait A While" was sung by Sam Brown.
Nice performance too.
The next spot was reserved for Roger. He chose to play two songs of
his "Butterfly Ball" of 1975, and, *yes*, it was sung by the original singer,
Ronnie James Dio ! The audience welcomed him with standing ovations.
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Ronnie James Dio, Steve Morris, Dave LaRue |
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Man, was I happy to see him there. One of my little
dreams came true with that, namely seeing DP on one stage with him. You know,
when Ian left the band in 1990, I was hoping and praying Ronnie would replace
him, but, as we all know, they decided to hire that cabaret singer instead....
Anyway, finally I got to see my dream "almost" come true. Ian - don't
misunderstand me here, you are still *the* voice of Deep Purple for me, but
if it's not you singing in Purple, it should be nobody less than Ronnie.
I still consider him one of the greatest voices in Rock 'n' Roll. |
He hasn't lost a bit of his power and range. Does that man never age?
It's amazing. And he is such a wonderful and humble person, as we all would
learn after the concert when we had the pleasure to talk to him at the hotel
bar. Oh, I almost forgot, the two songs they played were "Sitting In A Dream"
(goose bumps all over me again) and "Love Is All", with Eddie Hardin as Guest
Piano player with Jon as a�"four hand".
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| Next was Big Ian with his solo spot. He used it for
"Via Miami" from the Gillan & Glover project "Accidentally On Purpose"
and "That's Why God is Singing the Blues" of his "Dreamcatcher" CD. Sitting
in was his old mate Steve Morris on guitar. Don't be confused by the photo
on the right; this was taken later, during the encore, Steve Morse did not
play on that one.
I am not quite sure if the Via Miami song was the best possible pick.
The audience responded politely but wasn't too thrilled about it;
neither�was I. Cherkazoo for example would have been something here...
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Steve Morse & Steve Morris |
Anyway, it gave the brass section a nice chance to shine, but it was
definitely the weakest song of the night, plus it doesn't give Ian too much
of�a chance for great singing either.
The second night at that�point, Steve Morris had technical problems
with his guitar cable. During the first song you didn't hear him at all and
on the second, when he was playing an semi-acoustic guitar, you could only
hear him when Ian helped him out with his own microphone. On top of that,
his cable created terrible plug-in noises during the performance. I wonder
how the sound engineers are going to fix that for the video / CD.
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The Steve Morse Band |
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Then, Ian announced "their guitar player." Standing
ovations again. And this one brought his bandmates Dave LaRue and Van Romaine
of the Steve Morse Band with him. It was one of the most discussed topics
in advance, whether or not they'd be there. "Night Meets Light" was their
first song.
A good choice, I 'd say, because it is a very complex, difficult song
that gave the musicians the chance to show everybody their extraordinary
talents. |
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Dave is a different kind of bass player. He is not just�a
rhythm player, he plays the bass more like a leading�melody instrument.
He and Steve traded licks and that was such�a pleasure to�watch.
The same goes for Van. His style isn't just rhythm work either. Outstanding
was his job on the cymbals, virtuosity at its best. But his playing was powerful
as well. The man is a wizard on the drums, no doubt.
I personally hope that this gig helped them to get more notice over
here in Europe, where they are still pretty much overlooked. After the gigs
I had a little chat with Dave and Van and they expressed the same idea. Well,
I'm sure that gig *will* help, especially since it will be released on CD
and Video. Dave said that they might be doing a little tour throughout Europe
in spring 2000, but nothing is concrete yet.
With their second song, "Take It Off The Top", they got the RAH going
wild. The place *rocked*. Unbelievable how much power a three-piece can develop.
To be correct, there was Graham Preskett on the violin which makes them four,
sorry.....
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| So, who's solo part is missing? Exactly, "little" Ian's.
I was wondering what that could possibly be. There is no such thing as a
solo work of his... (if you don't want to count the Paice, Ashton, Lord stuff).
Since we're talking about that, actually I expected Tony Ashton to be there
as one of the guests, especially since he and Jon are still pretty close.
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The first shot that I ever got of Ian on stage ! |
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(Jon was Tony's best man at one of his weddings.) But
to my surprise he was not there. Well, I got to meet him on the following
tuesday, but that's a different story. BTW, for those who like him too: he
is working on a new CD right now. Ian decided to do a different interpretation
of "Wring That Neck", ("Hard Road" as the Americans call it) accompanied
by a brass section called "The Kick Horns". |
Their version was pretty jazzy and Ian proved that he can be way more
than just a rock drummer. I must say I liked it very much, although I am
not much of a jazz fan. After that there was a short interval, giving us
a chance for a cigarette and a little chill from all that excitement that
we were already feeling....
But the highlights were still to come.
The second part would be the legendary Concerto For Group And Orchestra
by Jon Lord. I can't recall every single note of the 1969 concerto since
I haven't listened to it for quite a while, but I got the impression this
one was even better! One major difference: it was noticeable that the orchestra
guys really enjoyed what they were doing. Contrary to some of the '69 guys
who were literally covering their ears when the band was playing. And, but
that's just my personal guess, Paul Mann, the conductor, seems to be a disguised
Rock 'n' Roller. He obviously enjoyed the whole thing, including the Rock
parts.�
Unfortunately, like almost everywhere, the first night there were some
obnoxious bums in the audience. During the quiet parts of the concerto they
kept on yelling "Highway Star, Rock 'n' Roll" and other bulls**t. Stupid
ignorant morons!! Jon got so upset (like everybody else in the audience,
too) that he stood up, grabbed a microphone and spoke to them: "May I have
a word with you? I know you had fun at the bar. But please shut up. People
are trying to listen to the music." Roaring applause. Oh Gosh, what if these
creeps are here again tomorrow night? We all knew the sunday concert would
be taped. Who needs that ridiculous sh*t on the tapes? Honestly, that worry
kept most of us nervous and crossing our fingers the second night. Fortunately,
we didn't hear anything from those jerks anymore. Ian told us later that
their roadies had removed them and gave�them back their entrance fee.
Way too nice, if you ask me. They deserved worse, minimum a night in jail
- or even better - with us real fans. Oh no, forget that quick, they would
not have survived it....
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Second Movement |
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Ian and Steve were sitting on a little stool, waiting for their
entry (see picture further up). Ian seemed to be fully concentrated, absolutely
drifting in the music. Everybody was waiting anxiously for the vocals part.
Would he still be able to sing it? Oh yessss, he was. And how beautiful he
sang it!! Here go the bumps again....
Although you're not supposed to applaud between the movements (hell,
what do Rock 'n' Rollers care about the rules!) the crowd was standing up
and cheering forever and going wild. And nobody seemed to really mind it. |
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| You're asking me about Steve... How was he ? What do you mean? You
don't expect me to do the stupid "how did he play compared to Blackers"-thing,
do you ? Has anybody ever heard Steve play a wrong note ? Did he ever screw
up a single gig ? Of course not !
Well, to be honest, I was wondering too how he would play classical
music. I hadn't heard anything like that from him yet. I've recently learned
about most of the things he did pre-Purple, but that did not include classical
stuff. Well, to make that long story short, he was *brilliant*, like always.
He is just too much of a pro and too great of a guitar player to not be able
to play even the concerto. That man keeps on amazing me again and again.
I had the wonderful opportunity to watch every single move of his fingers,
because not only was I in the first row, but also I was *right in front of
him*, he was (almost literally) playing right on my lap! What a great experience!
(Thanks Cliff, you know what I mean....)
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Steve going "classical" |
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All right, I don't want to ramble about the details of the concerto.
It was utterly breathtaking, wonderful, moving, and�simply: perfect
in every meaning of�the word. When it was over, everybody stood and
thanked the band and the orchestra with never ending cheers and applause.
Well, there are just no words to describe how great it was. I don't want
to forget to thank *every single member* of the London Symphony Orchestra
for the wonderful performance they gave.
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That was the concerto. Next came "Even More Shades Of Deep Purple"
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Now it was time to Rock and Roll.... The band *with* the
orchestra played Purple tunes.
It started with "Ted The Mechanic", then came "Sometimes I Feel Like
Screaming", "Watching The Sky" and "Pictures Of Home". I want to make it
short here, just say that this was the cream of the crop. I mean, all these
songs were already great. But I'd like to compare it to a raw diamond. It
is already nice, beautiful, precious. And then you cut and polish it, which
in this case means: you add the orchestra background, some brass here and
there and background singers, and that makes them *absolutely perfect*
masterpieces. That's how I felt about these "new" versions of those songs.
They were shined to their best possible brilliance, like diamonds. They could
not have been any better. |
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The first night, they played "Smoke On
The Water" right after the last song. EVERYBODY was joining in, all the guest
musicians, background singers, brass section, Graham with his violin, the
orchestra, the full bit. And the BEST part - see picture on the left - was,
Ian and Ronnie were *sharing* the vocals. Oh My Gosh ! (Here's my little
dream again...) Folks, if you haven't been there, you cannnn-not-imagine
how explosive it was !! The hall went wild !! It was un-be-lie-vable. Can
you picture Smoke fully orchestrated, with horns, violins, two drummers,
two bass-players, two guitarist and what-not else??? |
Big Ian, Ronnie James Dio, Little Ian, Graham
Preskett |
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| One could really worry the honorable Royal Albert Hall
would collapse from that. Ahhh, so what.... |
| The applause after that just did not want to end. Sure, I clapped
my hands until sore as well, what did you think I'd do?.... After maybe ten
or twelve minutes (yesss, we were still cheering to the top of our lungs)
Ian came back out and had to tell us that they were sorry, there was nothing
more.
Bummer, we�could have gone on�for days and days and days....
But hey, honestly, we got way, way more than you can ever ask for.
We were so overwhelmed and excited from this event that none of us could
go to sleep that night. We sat together until 7 a.m. discussing the concerto
back and forth, of course while listening to nothing else but Purple CDs. |
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The musicians thanking their audience |
| The only little negative thing we had to say was, that
it was a bit weird that they had not prepared a little encore. So we stated
it would have been a better idea if�they had left the stage after "Pictures"
and come back for "Smoke" as the encore.
And sure enough, that was exactly what they did the second night. Did
you guys hear us ? So,�what other differences were there between the
two concerts ? Not many. Both performances were equally perfect. One little
thing that I believe to have noticed (but that's just my very subjective
impression) the first night they appeared pretty nervous and a bit stressed.
I mean, I wouldn't wonder. Would everything work out, how would the audience
respond, would there be technical or acoustical probs, etc. There is a lot
to worry about. After all, we're not discussing a five piece Rock gig, we're
talking about an event involving hundreds of people. So it's not surprising
at all that they were a bit nervous. But since everything worked out perfectly
on Saturday, a successful dress-rehearsal so to speak, everybody seemed way
more relaxed the second night. Although actually that night some little probs
occurred (like Steve Morris' guitar cable, and also Steve Morse had some
problems with one of his pedals - but his roadie fixed it in no time).
And another difference was: �the second night there was (almost)
no stupid yelling during the quiet sections. Whew, *thank God* !!
Oh, good thing you�remind me, there was another "little" difference
the second night. They had "additional" singers for Smoke.... and that's
NO SH*T, it was my neighbor and ME!!! We�got to sing Smoke with the
band! Ronnie came over with the mike to us and made us sing!�I was thrilled!
For 3 seconds I got to be a part of Deep Purple.�(But I hope they didn't
video tape that part because I would feel guilty for ruining the tape. I
do sing like a hippopotamus.)
I'm really dying to know how the band felt about the concerto. Was
it as special for them as it was for us ? Were they equally happy and impressed
about it ? From all my excitement I couldn't come up with any intelligent
questions about it that night. It was all too fresh. Well, I'm going to ask
them someday.... |
What else happened that weekend ?
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| On Sunday, the day of the second concert, Simon Robinson of the
Deep Purple Appreciation Society had a convention organized. It was located
pretty close to the RAH. They had a big screen there, showing historical
and rare video clips. Simon was explaining things between the shows, and
around that there were stands selling all kinds of Purple memorabilia. Me,
expecting this and knowing my collector's habits, I didn't take too much
cash with me, not to ruin myself, but still I spent all I had in my pockets
on records which I didn't have yet (well, my
collection will probably never
be complete....) So, as the day went by, buying stuff, meeting all the nice
other people again, chatting and drinking beers with them, all of a�sudden
the crowd went really turbulent. What had happened ? IAN himself showed up
at the convention, spoke to us and even allowed us to ask him questions.
Wow, how nice of him. He really cares about the fans, although some really
embarrassed us, asking him the most stupid questions possible (I don't want
to go into detail here). But, the gentleman that he is, he answered them
all very politely.� |
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Ian answering our questions at the convention |
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Dave LaRue, Ted Mechanic and Van Romaine
This one I put up here, just to make my friends from the Steve Morse mailing
list a little envious....
Just kidding my friends, I love you ! |
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After the second night's concert we decided
to meet the band. We stepped back from that idea the first night 'cuz everybody
was too nervous, and we didn't want to bother them. We're trying hard to
be good fans :-) although I admit we're sometimes a little obnoxious...
Anyway, we had the pleasure to spend some memorable time with them.
Ian and his wife were there, Ronnie as well, Steve Morris and his wife, Dave
and Van of the SMB, Graham, Miller Anderson and some very nice other Purple
fans, of course. That was a very nice experience too, finally meeting people
in real life that you've known for awhile only from the net.... Now there's
a face to match.
Another "hi" here to (the other) Ian and Ian for helping us to outwit
these stupid british bar rules.... |
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The bottom line is: (I know, I've said it already) it was the most wonderful
musical event of the century. I will remember it as long as I live..... and
if they ever do it again (I know, they won't... but one can dream) I would
fly to Sydney, Tokyo or even the Moon - whatever it takes to see this again.
Until then, I will have to make do with the upcoming video which I can't
wait for. Everybody out there, I request that you get it as soon as it comes
to the stores. No serious fan of *any* good music, not just Purple fans,
can live without that. Plus you support the Nordhoff Robbins Music Therapy,
because the profit from the concerto tickets, and as far as I understand
the video and CD also, goes to their charity.
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