DEEP PURPLE
22.07.00, Montreux, Switzerland.
Jazz Festival

Mathieu, France
alt.music.deep-purple, 23.07.00.


      At 22:45, the band hit the stage, with a massive ovation from the sold out and rather young (or not so old) crowd.
      Here is the set list of the show:

WOMAN FROM TOKYO

      Strange opener, but one of the favorite of the crowd. Gillan looked amazed at the audience reaction during the whole song.

TED THE MECHANIC

      Let's face it: now a classical song, and I won't complain about it.

INTO THE FIRE

      It was unbelievable to hear all the people screamig the chorus with Gillan. I was really glad to have once again a live version of this song.

PICTURES OF HOME

      An old favorite of mine. Good version, but a very messy end: after the finaf riff, Steve Morse was probably about to start improvisations, but Glover and Lord played the instrumental usual ending.

SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE SCREAMING

      I'm now sure this is, along with Perfect Strangers, the best reunion song. I really missed the song since the '96 tour.

NEW SONG

      I'm sorry I didn't manage to catch the title of the song. [ "Long Time Gone" ] Anyway, a solid piece of rock, with an 'AC/DC like' riff, and some nice bass lines, plus harmonica from Big Ian.

SMOKE ON THE WATER

      Just before the song, Gillan introduced as a special guest the banjo player. Then came on stage... a pretty young guy (about 15 years old), who played the song along with Steve Morse and even did a great solo. He only forgot to stop playing the riff at the start of the last verse. This guy really impressed me, and I wonder if he is this amazing young guitar player I've been told some weeks ago. He received a lot of cheers from the crowd.

FOOLS

      Maybe better than expected, if it's possible. Two major differences with the studio version: the guitar solo is substituted by an organ solo (exactly the same). There are some complex vocal/organ/guitar breaks to end the organ solo and the song itself. I really wish every Purple fan to witness this song live.

WATCHING THE SKY

      Isn't it the heaviest song Purple has ever wrote? Great to see the people enjoying this song.

69

      First time for me live, and I wasn't disappointed. Good work from Lord. Snippets of THE MULE with a short instrumental а la "MADE IN JAPAN".

WHEN A BLIND MAN CRIES

      Such a beautiful song... Gentle intro from Steve Morse. Interesting to note that the guitar solo, so often the highlight of the song thanks to Steve Morse, has been substitued by an organ solo.

JON LORD SOLO

      Very very short, it only introduced the following song.

PERFECT STRANGERS

      Everything has been said about this one. Another marvellous version.

SPEED KING

      As usual a highlight. Very powerfull version, with to my pleasure an endless bass solo, followed by a fantastic drum solo (only Big Ian explained to Little Ian that he could have done better!). Same R'N'R snippets as "TOTAL ABANDON". A lot of fun from the band all along the song.

ENCORE #1

LAZY

      Just R'N'R! So close to the 70's version (I mean played at the correct speed and in a full version) and much better than any single reunion version featuring Blackmore.

HIGHWAY STAR

      I'll never forget who wrote the solo 28 years ago, but I have to admit that Steve Morse always plays this one like a god. Very amusing to see the guys next to me in the first row headbanging in a perfect timing with Glover and Morse. A shame Gillan forgot almost all the words of the second verse !!!

ENCORE #2

BLACK NIGHT

      This time, Gillan wondered where was his nephew to introduce our young guitar hero. As previously, he played the song with Steve Morse, and did the solo (once again good, but he forgot to stop soloing when Lords turn came). At the end of the song, Steve Morse decided to interpolate with him (I'd really like to know his name) and believe it or not, he found an answer to every Steve Morse play!
      The show ended at 00:45 (which was the time the ROLLINGS BAND was due to play; wonder how many people stayed). Needless to say that a 2 hours gig was more than expected.
      Overall, a stuning performance. Gillan a little low in the mix, Glover fantastic throughout (I definitively love the Vigier), Paicey in a very good mood, Lord as usual brilliant, and Steve Morse grinning from start to end. When they play like this, there's no doubt about it: they are the greatest band in the world. In fact, it seems the more they play, the more they are young !
      The whole show was filmed as 4 years ago, and was broadcasted live on Swiss TV.
      As a conclusion, I'll just say that it worthed the 1300 kms trip.    ^{WWW . DEEP-PURPLE . RU}