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06 Jun 94 Gent
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There was very little time between the last Purple concert in Brussel (02Nov 93) and this one, but I am certainly not complaining, not at all! The concert was first postponed due to poor ticket sales in Germany (normally 31 May). This time we only had to drive half an hour to see our favourite band. The Expo hall, definitely not sold out; was divided by curtains in 2 parts; the 12 000 seater was too big for the aprox 4 000 fans. Normally the support was Bad Company, but they were replaced by last years bad support Such A Noise. But it looked like they had learned a little, it was a bit better. I would have preferred the support they had in other places: Uriah Heep, one of my other favourite bands. At 21:15 the lights went down; purple spots were twirling around, red ones were flashing. Behind the stage, on the back dropping smoke was projected; it was like the stage was on fire. The 93 tape was playing the intro; and Ian's drums did the intro to "Highway Star". Without him seeing yet, one could hear already the difference in guitar style. Gillan was wearing the same costume as he did in 93, maybe he could buy only 1 costume per CD? Satriani, the New Man In Black (he was completely dressed in black, playing a shiny silvery guitar) played this song the same way as Blackmore would have done, though one could hear a difference in style - as I've written before - more with longer howls in his playing. One big difference though: he was smiling a lot. After a thank you from Gillan, they went directly into "Ramshackle Man" . I am not very fond of this song, but it was not bad. A good Satriani solo, though I did miss Ritchie a bit. When I heard that Satriani would replace Blackmore, I bought a few of his CDs, to know him for what he is, and to get used to his style of playing. I must say that I was worried that he would not fit Deep purple. We'll see. There was a short duel between Jon and Joe. "We thank you very much, I thaaaaaank you! Thank you for a nice welcome. Sorry for the inconvenience. I am sure it is gonna work out fine. Once in a while you have to go through a door, and it is a song of such a journey. And it is the truth. It is called "Maybe I'm A Leo." Nice to hear a "new old one". Joe made a whole new solo out of it; here I did miss Ritchie again, but his end solo was very good. He sounded harder and more distorted than his predecessor. Lots of mumbling by Gillan, which I could not understand. "This is a song we have not done for a long time, originally recorded for ...mumbling... It was on the Fireball record, and it is called Fireball". Again a new oldie, a good surprise. Great! A small bass solo by Roger (who else?) followed by Jon, who was very present during the whole song. As an ending they played a few notes of "Into The Fire". Pity they did not continue that one. "Thank you. I thaaaaank you! Ow, who said that? ...mumbling..." And he went away. A thrilling intro to "Perfect Strangers". I think Ian made a mistake in his lines, because he sang twice the part with the line "I am the echo of your past". I missed the lasers, they really fit with this song. Satriani did a good job during this song, filling things up with little droodles of himself. I noticed that Jon was doing the thing that all the people do wearing glasses: pushing them further back onto his nose with one finger. This was a terrific version of the song which received lots of applause. This is becoming a real Purple classic. It looked like there were a lot of Satriani fans in the hall, who came especially to see him. "Thank you very much. I thank you! That was the football song... mumbling and drinking... This is a song about emptiness... eagles ... and snow." Again a new oldie! "Pictures Of Home". I think we really are spoiled this evening, great to have all these "forgotten" things tonite. A swell solo by Joe; Jon also putted in his 2 cents worth. Followed by - again - a short bass solo. While Big Ian was pummelling his congas Joe continued with a supreme piece. Next was Jon's real changed solo. I have been complaining he played always the same stuff, so he changed his solo :-) But I preferred the old one! I missed the classical things he played in it. No "Für Elise" tonight. But he did boogie. His -shorter- solo became the intro to "Knocking At Your Backdoor". Nice how it linked the two together. Good lightshow during the intro. Joe did not move yet from his place, he kept standing at the same spot, without moving a lot, his face moved more than his legs did. At the contrary Gillan was all over the place. Stunning solo, really loved the loops he did. This song was better with Satriani in it. Joe and Roger were sitting on Ian's drums stand. "I thaaaaank you! I've just had a word with Stewart (?) mumbling... Here is a song about a brick. Actually, originally it was about a girl and iet gooze laaike thies. It is called "Anyone's Daughter." Little Ian stayed this time behind his kit. Again Roger had a bigger part than before. Really love this song, it shows us an other side of Deep Purple.
"I thank you... so you may ask: and what did she have in her mouth? It wasn't a cigar; I'll tell you that. And so the seasons changed, moved on. and quite comfortable all things returned." "Anya". Hey?! What happened to Child In Time?! A fine harpsichord intro by Jon, beautiful helped by Satriani. This intro seemed longer than before; I had the impression that there was more improvisation than before. Oh yeah, Satch left his spot! And was standing next to Jon. Again a non-Blackmore solo. he kept to Ritchie's solos in the more familiar songs (like Highway Star and Smoke). Here it was longer and great , but I preferred the sound of the Original Man In Black. "The eternal battle between love and hate is very symbolic the story of this song. It is called the battle. Thank you very much...mumbling." "The Battle Rages On". A roadie fixed something at Ian's kit. It was a good version of the song, there was no difference with or without Ritchie. "Thank you very much, you're fantastic. Thank you Thaaaank you! All right. I have to say that right now we have a little blues for ya." Splendid mellow intro by Joe; but I did not have a clue what song it was, maybe a new one? Real spine tingling stuff. Only when the singing began, it came to my mind and received also a small recognition applause: When A Blind Man Cries". I have 2 words and an exclamation mark: breathtaking brilliant! This was definetely the highlight of the evening so far! People were waving with lighters. "I thaaaank you!" Next intro by Joe had something vaguely familiar, but I did not know what it was until the known tones of "Lazy" occurred. Very well done indeed! While Ian was at the congas, he clearly enjoyed the master ship in the music of his colleagues. As usual he threw his mouth organs into the audience. Then it was Little Ian's turn to demonstrate his tricks during a blinder of a solo, after which he gestured 'that's it'. Joe did something really nice with his right finger on the neck of his guitar. Wait! He moved again: he bent his knees! Excellent version of this song! "On the drums: Iaaan Paiaiaiaice! On the guitar Joe Satriaiaiaini! Hoho, some R'n'R" Ian's drumming gave away the intro to "Space Trucking" interpolating "Woman From Tokyo" with the return of the soft piano piece. There was a small contest between Ian and Joe: who can hit the highest notes? Then to the Stones: "Paint It Black" I know they did this in their early days, but why don't they do an own song? They have plenty to choose from; as they have demonstrated already this evening. Then we went back to Purple's catalogue with a piece of "Mandrake Root". Awesome! Gillan was headbanging like a madman behind his congas. Only a minor part for Joe in this one. "Thank you very much. You've been fantastic... mumbling... thank you so much. Merci and good bye." After a short 2 minutes break, during which a giant picture of The DP logo was shown on the back dropping, Paice returned to the stage, followed by the others. "...lots of mumbling... This is a song that was originally called "Kneel And Pray". Lots of wondering faces around me, until the recognition applause erupted. Good interplay between Joe and Jon (with a white towel on his shoulder). Majestic performance which received a huge ovation. During the first notes of "Smoke On the Water" (with lots of Smoke On The Stage) the raving crowd really went wild. But I have to say that NO ONE can play the intro like Blackmore can! Here I really missed him. Gillan - who was really good by voice this evening- was conduction the audience to sing silently and then louder. At 23:15 they thanked the audience and it was all history. Did I miss Blackmore? Yes and no. I missed him because he is Blackmore. I did not miss him because they played lots of new old songs which he would not have played while in the band. We had a great setlist this evening!
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