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09 Jul 98 Paris
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 After a 3½ hours drive we (Johan Van
Ryckeghem, Vincent Serbruyns and I) found the venue reasonably easy, except for
Le Zenith itself: we left the car park in the wrong direction, despite the road
sign. Johan bought a ticket at "the black market" for the ticket
price. A few minutes later we were offered other tickets at half price! First we had a (few) good and very expensive
beer(s). Pity we missed our 'Internet-people meeting in Le Local Rock, but I'm
afraid we were in the wrong café (also something with Rock in it's name. But we
had some luck: the bartender refilled our half-empty glass for free. Then a Thai
meal and we left for the hall. By the way Nick: I was body searched by that
lady, and I am not a girl! Gotthard was already playing when I entered at 20:40.
For a change there were a lot of people enjoying the support act who got a lot
of applause. Normally Deep Purple support acts are shit. The sound was great
too. Forest national in Brussels can take this one for an example! The drum
sounded very heavy and dry. I was quite far from stage, but the place where I
stood - the stairs at the entrance, leaning against the rail - was great: I
could overlook everybody with ease and without being crushed. The singer's
gestures reminded me a bit of Dougie. (By the way: anyone heard anything about
him?) This was the first time I stayed in the hall during a Purple support act;
normally that is the time when most of us meet at the bar. The good show ended
at 21:15 but without encores. One could see now how packed the place was. 21:48 Gillan was the first to get on stage,
followed by Lord, Morse, Paice and Glover. Hush: The set-up was a bit as in
the old days: the guitarist on the right, the bass player left, singer in the
middle. The background was shared by the drummer and on the right-hand the organ
player. Both Paice and Glover were
wearing their bandanna again. From the place I stood it looked like Paicey was
bold, with long hair beside his ears, and wearing a hair-ribbon. We had the
first solo of the evening, by Mr. Lord, followed by 2 very short solos by Steve.
This song was rewarded with a big applause. Then the first "new one": Bludsucker. First thing I've noticed: Gillan was coughing
again, as he did in '93. But I've seen it only once or twice. He did disappear
from time to time backstage, during someone's solo-bit (last tour this did not
happen). Again the sound of the drum was great. Jon's organ playing during this
song was as it is on Abandon: the way I don't like it; I prefer the In Rock's
version. Gillan used his head as a bongo before the screaming. A very good one! "We have a song about a woman, she was
very strange: Strange Kind Of Woman.
On the "I want you, I need you" bit Morses guitar was sounding very
heavy, I liked it that way. Lordy's short solo got a fine applause at the start
of it. Gillan was singing a mile beside the right notes during his silent
"oehoe". But that's part of the live performance, and I don't mind it,
if it doesn't happen too often. But he was in good shape, his voice was almost
as good as it was in the good ol' days (the 70s I mean). Jon left also during
Steve's solo, which he played alternately high and low. A short guitar duet with
the audience followed. "Merci". "There's nothing worse than being
surprised, by what? Ted The
Mechanic". The intro still was
too short for my liking. I do love long songs, the longer the better, my fave CD
is "Live In Japan". Big Ian looked like he lost some kilos. After the
song he and Morse shook hands; some more would follow during the evening. "This one is from machine Head, written
in Montreux: Pictures Of Home".
This is the fifth song, and still nothing from Abandon (not counting
Bloodsucker). Again the superb sound of the drums attracted my attention. Nice
solo by Jon. At last we got a long guitar solo. Can't remember if this happened
last year during this song. Ah, a new one and one of my favourites!
"Fingers To The Bone".
The "lightshow" was good too, at one moment we could take a very nice
picture with their shadows on the backdropping, in different colours. The middle
piece of the song did not fit in live: it ruins the atmosphere. I expected a
bigger applause after this one. Half an hour since the beginning of the show
and their 7th song started with a (again) heavy Morse intro: "Almost Human". Roger and Steve were acting as a vocal
backing group. (Now something follows in my little notebook, which I can't even
read myself). Jon Lord took over Blackmore's job: the hand signals. "Merci
beaucoup!" "Here's one (at this moment I thought he was
going to shout: "here's a song for ya!") from In Rock: Into The Fire". This was more applauded than the new
songs. Woman From
Tokyo: they all did something wrong
during the intro of this one: the first one (can't remember who) made a mistake
and the others did so too. The audience stayed fairly calm for this one. It is
worth the "trouble" keeping an eye on Paice during the quiet bit. Then
the public got more involved with the music. This song was the first peak of the
evening! Again it was Lord who was dealing with the hand signalling.
"Superb, you're fantastic, you are wonderful, we love you, ho ho ho!" Watching The
sky: the audience was calm again:
not much reaction during the intro. I made a small query later: few have the new
record. There was something wrong with this song during the faster sections, but
I like the rhythm changes. "7th
heaven: There are only seven".
Steve's short intro might have lasted longer for my taste. His long solo got the
most approval by the audience. At last: a longer solo! Most of them are too
short. Now I feel at home: at a real Purple concert. (Yeah, it is
possible without Ritchie, but I did miss him a bit during the newer songs). The
audience also rewarded this one with a huge reaction. Aha! A magnificent intro to Blind Man! Done
by Lord and Morse. GREAT! Then
Steve continues alone, at one moment it sounded like he was going to do Smoke. I
found this bit a departure from the Blind Man style. He broke the enchantment by
playing too fast. Wait a minute, it is Smoke!
(The most over rated Purple song) But what an intro! First time I heard Steve taking such a long introduction to
this song. Ian is singing at Jon's side. Now the hall was turning wild: real
hand clapping and foot stomping music. "Congrats on the final, hope you'll win
Sunday" the crowd went wild (why?) Evil
Louie One of the lesser songs of the CD, and it showed clearly,
especially played after smoke. I did not like Jon's solo much. But when Steve is
taking over: Lazy: the
absolute highlight of the whole evening! For this one alone the trip to Paris
was worth it. More! More! (The first time I'm applauding too tonight) Gillan was
singing with a "Glover-hat" on. That's the first time I've seen him
wearing one. Perfect
Strangers The green spotlights are a
great imitation of the laser show we used to have in the 80's (that long ago?!)
I like the little loops that Satriani introduced in this song, and Steve has
taken them over nice. The lullaby Speed
King (it’s getting time for a new introduction!) started with a quiet
piano introduction (during which Gillan went different time backstage again).
Great interaction between Steve and Jon. Followed by a short (2'30",
clocked out of curiosity) drumsolo. A bit of Running Bear. During the singing-guitar duet Gillan was
giving Morse a hard job, he tried a bit of everything, even laughing, nicely
imitated by the guitarist. (that’s becoming a regular part of the show). This
duel was the best I've heard in years. Great! Gillan has his "old"
voice back, pity that is due to the omission of Child In Time. This one is still
in the top 3 of the al times top 100 in Belgium and Holland. Sure would like
hearing that one again live, and I am not the only one for wanting this. We see
now a lot of handshakes, hugging and kissing on the stage. "Merci
beaucoup" At 23:37 the stage lights turned purple. The
frantic audience is left behind screaming, yelling and shouting for more. Well,
this show is the opposite of Abandon: the second part is the best bit.
Two minutes later: "All right! Any Fule Kno That". This was not as good as the stuff we
heard the last half an hour. Then we got Steve's "space-intro" to Highway
Star (no "and finally the finale"?). Again the public went
nuts. Steve was playing his instrument à la Pete Townshend (the who). Extra! It finished at 23:52. This was a concert with
some lower points, but most of the time with a lot of highlights. But I can't
say - like Stathis did - that this was the best Purple performance I've seen. Wait a minute, they're back! (23:54) With Black
Night (so, that's why no "finally!" and why the lights were
still out). Gillan, barefoot, is wearing now Bermudas and that hat again. This
seems to be become a tradition too. The real end of the show was at 0:01 and the
crowed were still singing the "Black Night-oh-ohs". Everybody had a great time. At the beginning of the
evening I was a bit "not in the mood for this Deep Purple", but that
soon changed. It must have been very good, 'cos Johan Van Ryckeghem - a very big
Blackmore fan - said himself that this show was better than some with Ritchie.
Never thought he would ever ever say this. Pity they left "Don't Make Me
Happy" out the set list, my other favourite of the CD. The T-shirts - though I collect them - were
too expensive to buy. Have to wait till Brussel now. When leaving the hall we
saw some fires with half-a-meter flames in the distance: it were vendors trying
to BBQ, in fact they were more burning the poor sates than BBQ-ing them, and
that really did hurt me, being a chief-cook myself. Soon the police came and
they all had to leave. When the police left, they all returned to continue
torturing the sates. We had one more drink and then left to Brugge. The trip was
very tiring and the others were asleep, lucky I had some good music on my car
stereo, Deep Purple or something like that. I was very glad that we were safely
back home at 04:30. Next appointment: Brussel, 24 September! |
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