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08 Nov 98 Lille
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GOT⊥HARD / DEEP PURPLE 
After
a drive for ¾ hour (with on the car stereo Rainbow in Lidköping 9 Aug 96 - a
great special gig), we found Le Zénith very easy (not like last year when we
first went to the town centre to find out that the hall is just off the
highway). The parking was full, not to see Purple but for an exchange market. At
15:00 some people (mainly teenage girls) were waiting at the gates, but there
was nothing much to see, except for a very beautiful Deep Purple tourposter,
high up behind the windows (after the concert I saw it being pinched by a
Dutchman). We went into town, to yet another one of Johan's favourite pubs in
Europe; and there are many, believe me. As I was free of driving for 8 more
hours I could join him in drinking a few special beers in 'la Taverne Flamand'
and "les 3 brasseurs'. In the last one, Bruno Six, the local correspondent
for 'Nord Eclair', interviewed us, being Deep Purple fans. He was phoned earlier
to tell him to cover tonight's concert. Seemingly he was not a big Purple fan,
cos he did not know they had a new album out. But he seemed eager to witness the
gig. As usual we then had a bite at the local Chinese, but had to wait for half
an hour because we arrived too early, thus we had a few Chinese beers. After the
so-called 'spicy' dish we hurried back to Le Zénith. Where
we arrived at 19:11; Gotthard was already doing their thing on stage. This was a
very early concert; normally it starts at 20:00. I enjoyed the support act very
much. Sylvia Eichholzer - a mega Gotthard fan (hope you enjoyed your first
Purple gigs in Montpellier and Chalon s. Saone) - asked me to review their gig
as well. So here I go. People
trying to see them blocked one of the entrances, when we saw this we were afraid
that we could not get a nice place. But 2 doors further there was no one
standing, we could enter the hall at ease and make our way to the stage front.
Again, like in Paris in July, the resemblance between the singer and
Dougie stroke my attention: the singing itself, the gestures.
The first song 'NA NA NA NA' (or something like that) drew good response
from the audience, which were not thàt many.
'LET IT BE' was played with a double steel guitar (12 and 6 strings).
Johan came in with the drinks, at last! (This would be my last one before the
concert ending (otherwise I would be spending more time in the toilets than in
the hall). I must say that this band is really good, I could even become a fan
(but I won't! Hardly have any spare time left with Purple and Blackmore, trading
tapes and videos). "Ça fait du bien, merci beaucoup. 1 LIFE 1 SONG"
is something nice and slow, done acoustic. Beautiful! Reminds me a bit of Uriah
Heep. Think I'm gonna look for some CD's, at least on tape (Tiny hint, Sylvia).
The drummer even had a personal roadie? He was sitting behind him during the
whole gig, assuring that nothing would fall? This is the first time I took the
effort of reviewing the support band, because Sylvia asked me, but also a bit
because I like them, and it was worth the effort. I followed my daughter
(13, a heavy Boyzone and Mama's Jasje fan, and now changing into a
Beastie Boys fan) Lynn's advice: to write slowly in my little notebook, so
afterwards I can read my own writing. I still wonder how I can enjoy both the
concert and write at the same time. They've played something 'Blackmore-ish'
"MOUNTAIN MAMA" (?). Maybe I like them because the singer really can
sing? The next thing was something that might have been called something like
"FIRE…GONE" (?). Pity they had to do the obligatory 'clap your
hands' stuff. And that guitar player is also impressive. I guess I have to tell
everybody to go see this band and to enjoy it. "Il fait chaud maintenant.
It is a privilege and we like to do a tribute to our heroes Deep Purple! Check
it out: HUSH" Two hardcore Purple fans (Johan and I) looked at each other
with puzzled faces. What would Ritchie have done if they dared playing it while
he was still in the band? They've performed it very 'eavy and superb. At 19:46
it was finished. Pity, no encores. Now
you could clearly see that the hall was half-empty. After a pee I took advantage
of my little notebook, pretending to be a journalist - shame on me - but I
reached the second row with ease. I was standing in front of Rogers spot. In my
Rotterdam review I forgot to mention that I caught one of his plectrums. Now I
still have to get one of Steve, a drumstick, a mouth organ and a signed guitar
by Blackmore, and my Purple life has been good. I was wondering what went on the minds of the roadies while
they are sound checking? After 15 minutes the stage was all ready set. Glad that
this is becoming a new trend, so we don't have to wait for an hour or so. We
didn't see much movement on stage anymore. Despite the Santana music the
audience was getting more and more inpatient ("merde alors"). At 20:21
the place went nuts because the lights were dimmed a bit. Everybody was shouting
for 'diep pourpre' and started chanting the 'hohohoho' of Black Night. The
security had to rescue someone (fainted?) from centre first row. At
last, at 20:24 TED THE MECANIC. Someone beside me shouted 'salut Rogér!' Gillan
wore a big ludicrous feminine necklace, but threw it away after only 20 seconds
(a new gimmick?). Did he have a haircut? Thought so. Standing in front of Roger
I could follow his moves very good: well he is not the quiet STRANGE
KIND OF WOMAN. Loved the heavy Morse bits during "I want you, I need
you…" Again, like in Rotterdam, Gillan went regularly behind Jon's amps
to drink some magical (?) potion. During Steve's solo he even went walking
behind the stage, leaving on the left to return on the right side. I heard
Roger's bass louder than anything else, even during Lord's solo. Again (as in
Rotterdam) Steve did some duelling with Paice and Glover. "Merci
beaucoup, thank you very much. I thaaaaaank u! Here's one, it's been new twice.
It's a new song and it's also an old song. It's called BLUDSUCKèèRR". He
used (needed?) during this one the
echo on his voice a lot. After reading the review of Nigel Young (about "a
lot of the things some might have thought were ad-libbed were turning up every
night…") now I did even put more attention to those things than I would
have done normally; like now: the switching of each other's volume controls by
Roger and Steve (actually I did not notice this at the earlier gigs I've been
before). Gillan
mentioned something about football results and then "something from
Montreux and Machine Head". But he really talked too quick, so I did not
have the time to yot it down properly. "PICTURES OF HOME". Steve's
solo - the same as in Rotterdam! - was hidden by the volume of Roger's bass. It
was nice to see Glover playing. And I thought that a bassist was producing the
whole time the same notes! His short bass-solo was really celebrated by the
raving crowd. Too bad that I hardly could hear Jon! And again Gillan was
drinking "Merci
beaucoup! You're fantastic! I was saying to Cliff (?) I don't know what his wife
was doing, but this was "ALMOST HUMAN". And - as in Rotterdam - he
tied his hair in a ponytail. Steve was doing his solos standing beside Jon; this
is getting familiar too. At last we were having some real Jon 'Lord of
the Hammond'! By now Big Ian's hair was loose again. "You're
too kind! There's no doubt about the city: Tokyo. I rest my case: WOMAN FROM
TOKYO" This one really got the crowd excited. But, for my feeling, the
intro was spoiled by Roger: too loud, so I could not hear anything else. I had
also hoped for some new 'old' songs, but so far this was the same (literally)
concert as it was last month in Rotterdam. The marvellous bit that Rog played at
the end of the quiet part was a real treat. "Thank
you very much, merci beaucoup! That was a new song. This is almost new. It's all
about the gab between your legs. It's all over the news: WATCHING THE SKY".
I was getting thirsty seeing Gillan drinking all the time, and was
becoming a little bit disappointed: hearing nothing new by now. But the crowd
were really enjoying themselves, though I could not help noticing that there
were fewer smiles on stage too. "Thank
you very much! Very kind of you." Jon asked him "Is that me you're
talking to?" Ian answered: "pity you don't have a mike, your voice is
getting better late in the evening. This is dedicated to a simple man falling
out of the sky: FINGERS TO THE BONE". One of my - few - faves on Abandon. 1
moron next to me is shouting for Burn! Nice intro by Morse, and some nice piano.
"This
is a cheerful song with a serious message" But I could not understand any
word of the rest of his introduction to ANY FULE KNO THAT." Steve
owned the crowd during his solo, the whole place was very quiet (a total
difference to Rotterdam where everybody was whistling and shouting) even Gillan
was watching him from behind the amps. Steve started playing heavier and than
quieter again. But then exactly the same stuff he did before! The
ending-CASCADES-bit was done with a lot of help by the audience. Gillan was
dealing this time with the hand signals. And again - remember Rotterdam - Steve
was threatening to fall of stage. The crowd was shouting "Steve!
Steve!" When I re-read my review of Rotterdam, this point was one of the
highlights of the evening; and now… it sounded all the same to me. Pity. He
immediately started world's most infamous chords, performed poorly (!
Maybe the worst version I've heard, except for the times my neighbours' son is
having a go at it); but the crowd went into overdrive for this crowd-pleaser,
especially when Steve was for once performing on my side of the stage. Well, the
ending of the song was the best part, thanks to Glover. Lordy's
solo Smoke on the piano lasted only 2 minutes and sounded à la 'Pictured
Within'. Then he started LAZY, then
back to Smoke. Only 3 minutes in all: much too short; the few times you could
hear him playing he sounded better than in the Ahoy. Steve took over and it sounded heavier than last time (at
last! Something different), but again Gillan was wearing that hat. In Paris this
was the absolute highlight of the evening, and was also the best version I had
seen since 85. And now: well now, OK, they played Lazy. "This
is the title track from the middle ages, the title track…PERFECT
STRANGERS." Gillan is doing some kind of oriental dance. That's all I can
remember about it. "Superb!
Perfect Street Rangers! This is not a blue(s) song; it's a blue and white song.
The piano = white stuff…" And the rest I could not understand, but he did
not tell us anything about a lullaby! Maybe because he noticed me taking notes?
His first cough during the evening, and during the instrumental bit he was
behind the amps gasping for breath! Jon was overacting when he was studying
Steve's notes that he would imitate a few seconds later. Handshake. Glover's
solo was very very short, as was Little Ian's; again in Rotterdam this one was
better. I had the feeling they were playing on automatic pilot: everything
sounded very routine. Just after writing this down, Gillan started singing a
sentence rock and roll (don't know which one) and then "Lucille". The
duelling bit was very the same as at other concerts, but not so good. The same
things happened: Gillan playing 1 note on the guitar, Steve 'cutting' Ian's
throat… 22:01
the first part ended, the encores started at 22:02 with SEVENTH HEAVEN. I find
Black Night a better choice for an encore, but at least they do change this from
time to time. Again it was Roger who took all my attention. Like
he did when doing the intro for the last song HIGHWAY STAR. It took a while
before Steve started his engine. Glover and Gillan both recognised Johan who was
now standing beside me. At 22:18 it was all over. Throwing the plectrums (again
I caught on of Roger's, but gave it away to Johan); the mouth organ and
drumsticks landed in my near surroundings, but my luck was over. After
playing for 116 minutes (minus the 1-minute break) I could only conclude that
this was Roger's evening, he was simply the best! Except sometimes he was too
loud to hear anything else. If only Lord had been more audible (remember
Whitesnake!?!)… But I found it all fairly routinous and was thus a bit
disappointed. Still, I'm not saying it was bad, but there was something lacking,
a bit of spontaneity, maybe? The crowd seems like they did had the time of their
life. Even Johan thought that this concert was better than Rotterdam; but I do
agree with him that Paris was the best. In the (good) ol' days you had to see as
many concerts you could, every time it was different, some good ones, some bad
ones. Now I have the feeling you must see maximum 2 shows; before the
resemblance attracked too much attention. Still better than Michael Jackson, or
the likes, with - no doubt - good shows, but where every move every twist of his
little finger is orchestrated. I think - I'm even pretty sure - that if I had
seen Purple only once this tour that I would have liked it more, without these
complaints. Two years ago, if you had asked me to choose between a Purple or
Rainbow concert, I wouldn't have had the faintest idea. But now I'm pretty sure
it would be Rainbow! Though
I was a bit 'angry' with Mark Welch, after reading his review from the
Manchester show, I'm afraid that he was right. I'm very very happy that I've
seen them in Paris on 9 July. This review is the opposite of the one I wrote
then. Better
luck next time! After
re-reading my review, it is as if I am more a Gotthard fan, than a Purple fan.
However, I can assure you that this is not true! The Purple-family still
rules!!! [This
week: in a quiz programme for youngsters, one of the multiple-choice questions
was: "Smoke on the Water was done by a) Deep Purple or b) Light Green]
Moreover,
I've seen a very boring film "Breaking the Waves", only because Purple
was on the soundtrack. A few lines of Child in Time. Besides this very boring! |
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