DPAS LIVE REVIEW

Wembley Arena, London
21st June 2003

Good things first. Gillian's voice was first rate, strong and powerful. However, the few times he attempted a scream, it was soon lost in the morass of sound coming from the stage. The stage set up was good, albeit with no noticeable backdrop, but the band were close together and a feeling of intimacy was generated as a result. Don's solo before Perfect Strangers went down well with the crowd. It has to be said that judging from conversations I had with others there and general responses in the crowd, Lord's departure has not been a problem - not something I agree with myself.

The problem was (in my opinion) the desperately dull set list! All the momentum built up since Ritchie's departure is being eroded. The set lists from the Purpendicular and early Abandon tours are sadly just memories. What Morse must think I don't know. Of course, being Deep Purple there were still moments of magic to be had. Perfect Strangers was full of power, emotion and tension and was probably the highlight for me. I'm Alone was also good to hear and a welcome move in the right direction. Of the new songs, Haunted is clearly going to be a goodie and Ian sang it superbly. Steve's gentle intro was nice too. Well Dressed Guitar was fun also with some of Morse's best playing - the other new song, I Got Your Number (?) was a rousing rocker but vocally a bit repetitive. I am looking forward to the new album even though it has a daft title!

Space Truckin' ended the set powerfully and for a second I thought Paicey was going to take a proper solo but no such luck. They encored with Hush and bloody Black Night, two songs I personally would retire from the set forever. I'm sorry that this is a very mixed review, but I cannot say I would rush back to see this kind of set in a hurry any more. I think that for the Bananas tour there should be virtually no '70's songs in the set.

Review: Chris Inkpen, Gillingham, Kent.
Scan: Tonny Steenhagen

My initial reactions on finding out that Deep Purple were due to play Wembley were: a/ shit, not Wembley.... (a 12,000 seat shed with dreadful sound acoustics) b/ will they be able to fill the place? c/ why tour (again) without a new album to promote? I admit my doubts made it hard to get too enthusiastic, nor did the expected predictability of the set list.

But, they pulled it off, yet again. The sound wasn't good (though I've heard a lot worse at Wembley believe me); anything loud (especially Morse's top of the neck soloing) was often just white noise, though I was thankfully able to get a reasonable listen to the new tracks. The venue was very nearly full, and though that was helped by legions of Lynyrd Skynyrd fans, it must be said that both bands went down so well that any distinction between the two supposed sets of fans was reduced to whichever tour programme they were carrying.

Lynyrd Skynyrd were certainly worth seeing for me, a 'casual' Skynyrd fan. Without being proud of my attitiudes I just wanted to hear familiar material, tolerated new tracks, was happy that the 'new' members were leaving the classic material's authenticity intact, and, finally, was pleased to witness Freebird being performed. At times, however, I found myself tuning out of the performance altogether and making comparisons with the current position of Deep Purple, presented with the ability to view them through different eyes. It can be seen that this tour and set list is just right for the increasing numbers of young and old non-hardcore fans who'd leave happy just to have seen 'Smoke On The Water' and 'Hush'. The train on the way home was crammed with them.

For the more dedicated fan there was some allowance in the set-list, and still plenty to enjoy. The two new tracks actually sounded much better than expected, going by previous reviews and by my memories of the very bitty 'Up The Wall' from last year's shows. 'I've Got Your Number' sounded very good to my ears, and catchy too, it's still buzzing around my head 24 hours later. The rewrite has smoothed the edges and given it a much needed flow and direction. 'Haunted' is even catchier, though I didn't feel that the full effect of some its sophisticated harmonies escaped the Wembley wind tunnel. I look forward to hearing the single. It should be a hit, but almost definitely won't trouble the charts unless picked up by Radio 2.

The older material was performed with such attack that I must admit I didn't miss Mr Lord at all. Sorry. Perhaps that was partly due to the set itself_ with Don Airey playing so well and with such enthusiasm it would be churlish to wish for Lord to be stood there with Steve Morse, trying to inject new dimensions into the Black Night riff. I did however suffer a rare 'Blackmore moment'. When Steve walked across stage to join the opening of Lazy, I had a fleeting 'what if he was here' notion. (The cold shower of reality is that he would play the track an octave lower and then want to follow it with Difficult To Cure, but anyway...). I can excuse such reactions because poor old Steve is still being required to interpret so much of Blackmore's work, even down to a 1971 b-side (which sounded marvelous by the way). I feel that in 1996, with his amazing talents on board there was an opportunity for an extremely exciting, fresh start for the band. Instead, seven years on we're still hearing (admittedly increasingly well played) versions of the oldies. My frustration is compounded because I still feel that a new start is still there for the taking, though unlikely to be followed, at least on stage. For starters I'd love the the band to perform a Morse solo track, just as mk4 tackled Tommy Bolin's 'Homeward Strut' and 'Wild Dogs'. 'Cruise Control' would sound fabulous played by Deep Purple. The one instrumental played at Wembley was 'Well Dressed Guitar', still a short romp, unchanged in two years and seemingly not destined for the new album. Indeed, most tracks were kept short and hard hitting. In between song banter was hatcheted down to allow the next blow to land as quickly as possible. There was no drum solo, but I've never seen a more powerful performance from Ian Paice.

When all was said and done, by the time the London crowd left the arena, ears ringing, they had seen a great show and been given plenty of warm memories of classic 70s rock tracks to replay over and over again. Again.

review & scan : David Browne

Sound Problems

Enjoyable evening, but I don't think I've ever heard such poor sound quality in my life (even at Wembley). For such a professional line-up I was appalled. Do the bands have their own sound engineers or is the venue to blame?

We were sitting up to the right about 15 feet back from the stage, and the echo off of the end wall meant that even when they were only talking you could not make out a word. Surely they were not working on such a tight budget that they couldn't afford somebody to check that out beforehand.

At the end of Skynyrd's set I went down and stood behind the closed doors adjacent to the stage, the sound there was better, and at the end of Deep Purple I managed to sneak in right at the back corner. The sound wasn't good there either, but at least it was basically straight on.

At 30 odd quid a ticket I'm afraid I feel more than a little bit cheated. I hope the band get the feedback from my letter (and others) and we get at least an apology. A good evening spoilt by a poor and frankly cheap looking setup.

Steve Rush. Watford, Scan: Tonny Steenhagen

Tumeni Notes

I came to the show with two misgivings. Firstly, Wembley. No atmosphere and poor sound. Secondly, Don Airey. Could he ever replace Mr Lord?

That said and done I was up for it. They started with Highway Star, and we rocked. It soon became clear that the band really missed Lord. Don Airey seemed to have two styles. 1/ the sequenced synth bit, and 2/ let's do the choppy hammond bit. The first style is his, and actually fitted in quite well at times. The second style was used for every solo and fill.

Purple seemed to have lost so much from the subtlty, artistry and style of the music. Airey replaced all that with a lot of notes, too many. Why was Smoke.. played in the middle of the set? Many people walked out after what should have been the the big climax.

I will go and see them play on the Bananas tour but not at Wembley. I really wanted to enjoy this gig but it was Skynyrd that I will have the best memories of.

review:Stephen Jenkins , Photo: Tonny Steenhagen

The Wembley gig was musically superb. For any real fan of this band, it remains a truly wondrous experience to see how Steve Morse (and now Don Airey) have rejuvenated proceedings.

General observations:-

1. Steve was without a doubt the star performer on the night. His musicianship and positive personality shone through. 2. Although Skynyrd were good, Purple were leagues ahead. Their stripped down, balls out approach is still a joy to behold in comparison to others.
3. Questions remain as to whether or not Ian Paice is indeed a mere mortal! As an aspiring drummer I know only too well how amazing this man is, and he simply seems to get better with age, his playing comprising more economy (comparison particularly stark with the Skynyrd dummer in this regard) than in the past. His claim to fame as the "Human Metronome" remains intact..
4. Don Airey is a worthy replacement to the legend that is Jon Lord -enough said.
5. The two new songs were good. I personally thought the slow number "Haunted" was the better of the two, with Ian giving his best vocal performance of the night on this one.
6. Musically "I'm Alone" and "Pictures Of Home" were highlights. However, I must confess to have been a little bemused by the rest of the setlist. I know this has been a perennial debate within the DPAS, and I am firmly on the side of those looking for a major rehaul. Songs like "Mary Long" and even "Lazy" have had their day and need to be replaced. I'd be as keen on seeing oldies like "Living Wreck", "Demon's Eye" or "Place In Line", as well as the newer material. I am also looking to start a personal campaign to reinstate "When A Blind Man Cries" and "Fools" as they were highlights of the last Hammersmith show!
7. As ever, the Wembley Arena managed to retain its status as the least attractive venue in Britain, if not the world! Paying £30 for tickets and queuing cattle-like for the toilets wasn't acceptable when I was 20, and it sure as hell isn't now! Likewise the standard of merchandise was appalling and in my view not worth a carrot.

In summary, it was as great as ever to see a band we love doing what they love in front of our eyes. Minor gripes aside, I can't wait for the new album and the next tour, and here's hoping they radically change the setlist and play in decent venues for that!

review: Mark Brandon

The Darkness were dreadful, I had to leave during their set. Skynyrd were good, and Purple rocked. The place was nearly packed. This is the first time I've seen Purple in an arena this full, it was great. The new tracks were great, especially 'I've Got Your Number'.. I reckon Messrs Steve Morse and Don Airey have really fitted in well. I hope they come back and play here again twice when the album comes out.

review: PJ Rodericks

Simon, Ann and the gang at DPAS Towers.

Delayed writing this review because I wanted to consider my position. Not withstanding the perennial problems with the venue etc. etc. I went along with an open mind to see what Mk8 had to offer. Don Airey is not new to me, in fact I first saw him 20 something years ago at the very same venue on the second night of the Rainbow Down to Earth tour (the first night RB had refused to play an encore because the crowd were not cheering enough!).

Couldn't think of anything to say about The Darkness so I won't. I must admit that I was looking forward to seeing Lynyrd Skynyrd but as only a "classics" fan - I only knew Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird out of their entire set. Both were well played but they seemed to be too note-perfect to the originals to be worth repeating in 2003 (I had the same comments after seeing The Eagles last year). These comments bring me on nicely to the main event.

I saw Mk7 last in Feb 2002 at Westcliffe (my review in the last mag), and I felt then that Mr. Lord had started to take his pension a bit too early, also the last few times I have seen them I have been able to sing along with most of the solo stuff and also guess the song from the first few notes of the intro. Not so at the weekend – I was caught on the hop on several occasions which on reflection is very promising as the band are taking time to make life more difficult for themselves, yet again!

As usual SM forgot where the end of Well Dressed Guitar was and he also played a Sunburst guitar (1st time for me). For the first time in my life I missed the drum solo, IP threatened on several occasions but never quite managed to get the break he needed – the band always started playing again! IG seemed a bit quiet – not as much banter as usual – maybe they should take a break from this “5 year tour". RG was his usual self but seems to be playing a bit faster than of late; maybe the Sanatogen is kicking in!

So for me the main point for discussion – Jon Lord or Don Airey. Before we go anywhere with this one I would like to make one statement: ‘there is only one Jon Lord’, O.K. so with that off my chest I would like to turn the clock back to when SM joined the band. There were all these people saying that RB could never be replaced etc. but in 2003 they are still going strong and SM is playing better than ever. Don has been round the block a few times but is still finding his feet within Purple, for myself, I am quite willing to wait for the new album and ‘another’ tour before I pass judgment. I am sure that this discussion will rumble on and on, but my only hope is that the guys only go on as long as they enjoy it and can add new things in all the time. As soon as it becomes a 70’s tribute band it won’t be Purple any more – I can go down the pub and listen to that!

Best wishes and keep up the good work, Andy Spiller