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24 Sep 98 Brussel
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Well, as the manoeuvres started 1 (ONE !) day earlier, I couldn't witness that special evening Deep Purple had set up for us, but I guess it went like this : Especially for the 25th birthday of the Belgian Deep Purple fanclub: all the fanclub-members had been provided with backstage passes and invitations for the after party. And there was also a very very special show: Vorst (Forest National) was crowded, but everybody had ample room to dance. And because it was a special night, there was - to the joy of many (except for those who are used to visit the bar during this) - no support act. At 20:00 the lights went down, but we were "awakened" by the howling of a wolf. The first notes of HUSH. Hey, wait a minute ! That's not Gillan singing ! It's Evans ! And on bass Simper. What a surprise, what an act ! The fanclub-members in the audience went wild ; the others wondered where Gillan and Glover were, and who is that guitarplayer dressed in black ? The second song was introduced as an early birthday present to our chairman Marc : APRIL. Behind the curtains there were some violin players. It was great, they played for 18 minutes. At last: longer songs. Evans and simper waved us goodbye, and received a big applause. Gillan and Glover entered the stage, under a huge ovation. They started a superb version of HIGHWAY STAR. Next thing was CHILD IN TIME, which lasted for about 22 minutes. When people heard the first notes, the hall was on fire. The interplay between Jon and Ritchie, well I have no words for it. They were having a "music-war", simply can't describe it. I can't wait till the Belgian TV is airing it. There were several camera's in the hall, even a small special one for Blackers. Gillan really hits the high notes, there was absolutely no problem with his voice at all. We did not once caught him coughing. "And so the seasons change: ANYA". I must say that I have missed both songs lately - especially C.I.T., like everybody else did - and I love the transition between them. The hall became really too hot and everybody was freaking out. Suddenly we heard another guitarsound: Joe Satriani came on! The duel between him and Blackmore… well, you must have been there to believe it. During the quiet bits you could have heard a pin drop. At last Ritchie did his infamous finger-vibrato again; something I was longing for for years, and it was finger-licking good. This was only the fifth song and already more than an hour flew by. The song became DIFFICULT TO CURE, and there was that orchestra again. To quote Gillan: "superb, wonderful, great!" The sound in Vorst was phenomenal; I think the soundmen went to Le Zénith in Paris to take lessons. We then heard something strange, but very good: a medley of LIVING WRECK / NO NO NO/ RAT BAT BLUE and BLOODSUCKER . A part of the audience (especially the younger ones) thought this was a new song. During the latter part of this, Jon played his Hammond à la In Rock and not the Abandon way (which I don't like). His solo became heavier and heavier and turned to the intro of
LAZY. His intro lasted, like in the good ol' days, for more than fifteen minutes! Then Ritchie took over. One word: Wow! This kind of stuff is the reason why I became such a big Deep Purple fan. I thought that the "Paris-Lazy" (9 July) was great, but this one beats them all, even the "Live in Japan" versions. Brilliant! Especially when Steve Morse joined in. Far out man! They were even smiling at each other, and dancing. You had to have seen it to believe it: Glover, Morse, Gillan and Blackmore in a row doing those silly Mud-dance-hops. After this tremendous song they all hugged, shook hands; Ritchie and Big Ian even kissed each other on the cheeks. Wow, I need fresh air, man. The hall was really steaming hot. Time for a slower one: WHEN A BLIND MAN CRIES. Here Blackmore took a break. Pity he did not join in. But still, a great song, with a magnificent Morse-solo. This is really a night full of solo's. I was complaining for years that the DP songs they have been playing since the reunion in 84 are far too short, but here they are! The lights went down; oh no! Not the end of the show yet! Next, we heard some wonderful Strat sounds: Ritchie was all-alone on stage, we couldn't believe our ears: he was playing the intro to MISTREATED! Never heard him playing it like that. And Gillan started singing it! Unbelievable! Who said Gillan can't sing? Suddenly we heard another voice: "the voice of rock": Glenn Hughes! This was thé version of this great song, which lasted almost half an hour. Man can they play! First-rate! They announced that Coverdale would have been there, but just before the show he was beaten up, and was in hospital; pity JJ. Gillan continued telling us about the splits and the first reunion, and what they all did during the time between it, like becoming a cunning linguist. "Then we had another classic Purple song, all about football: PERFECT STRANGERS". With the laser show! And 3 guitar players, two bass players, and two singers. Incredible! Jon's solo (again: excellent!) became the intro of KNOCKING AT YOUR BACK DOOR. With a great interaction between the 3 guitar players. It was nice to see (and hear) Blackmore imitating the Satriani loops he used to play during this one in 94.The audience was really wild. Girls came loud screaming. Ritchie was, as in the old days, in charge; dealing with the hand signals. At one moment, he threatened - smiling - to throw some water at his (personal) cameraman. Blackmore started playing some strange, but familiar sounds, which no one would have expected: MITZI DUPREE. With a female dancer on stage. Would she? Yes, she did! What a show! Then Gillan announced: "a good friend of mine, hope you will welcome him with a huge applause! Mister! Joe! Lynn! Turner!!" Not far from me I heard a woman yelling and screaming, like in ecstasy, or was she opera-singing? LOVE CONQUERS ALL. A lot of the younger ones were wondering who that guy, posing all over the stage, was. Suddenly a blond female ran on stage, started making magical moves around the singer and guitarist; much to bemusement of Gillan and the others. Mechteld started even a strip tease, before she was removed from stage in a white straitjacket. The last song launched by Morse (after a long introduction full of Gillanism) with a loooooong intro-solo: TED THE MECANIC. After this intro he was applauded by Blackmore, who then took over and brewed something completely new out of it, very gentle, very quiet. Then the song bursted loose. At 23:09 it was over. Gillan announced that everybody should have a pee-break, because they were having one now. The lights turned light-purple. After a 15 minute break there was thundering and lightning on stage: a smashing BURN, which lasted for about only 6 minutes. Then Blackmore started playing something à la Santana, which was great to hear and see him play. Everybody on stage stood there watching him with his or her mouth wide open. Satriani joined in, followed by Steve. This was great, unbelievable, tremendous,… Then Joe Lynn Turner started singing, very slowly, the words and suddenly… worlds most infamous chords: SMOKE ON THE WATER. People went nuts, everybody was dancing, playing the air-guitar and singing along. And I always said I did not like this song! This was something completely different; it went on for ages and ages. Interpolating longer pieces of (if my memory is correct, because I stopped taking notes, I simply forgot): HEY JOE / SPEED KING / THE MULE (with a great drum-solo including the 1812 Overture, dedicated to Cozy) / BLACK NIGHT and - with guest singers: Doogie and Candice!! - HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING. The singers took turn of the guitar - singing duels. This won by Gillan. The stage was too small to fit in all those people: Lord, Gillan, Paice, Glover, Blackmore, Morse, Satriani, Simper, Hughes, Evans, Doogie and Candice. Then suddenly it was all over. This last song(s) lasted for 35 minutes. It was 00:10 in the morning, they have been playing for 4 hours! Especially Lord and Paice, who did not have anybody to replace them. I did not want to be in Little Ian's place, I think he couldn't feel his arms anymore, or was it the opposite?
This was quite something. People did not want to leave the hall; but were gently pushed out by the friendly security. The ones with the after-party-passes were invited to the bar. So the band members could take a shower and a break. There were all kinds of free drinks and snacks. At 01:00 we then were invited back to the hall. Candles were burning on stage. Everybody: the singers, guitarplayers, bass players, 1 drummer and 1 organ player were sitting on the edge of the stage. We were asked to sit around, and to join in with the singing. Everything was much laid back: Deep Purple unplugged. Gillan teasing Candice, Ol' Blackers enjoying it. The singing and playing went on for another hour. I was too impressed by the stuff happening on stage so I forgot to take notes. Then T-shirts for this special occasion, all signed by the band members and -ex-members, were handed out. We were sitting there with about 95 fanclubmembers. And then the surprise: a signature Strat was the main price of a lottery. Can't remember who got it, but we were all very jealous. It was almost 03:00 when we left the hall. Well, this was too good to be true, but I hoped it went this way. Or, to be honest: I don't hope it went like this, because at that moment I was be on the train, drinking - a lot - beers with my fellow soldiers, up to Germany. See ya in Düsseldorf on 9 October - this time for real. Oh no! Can't get no holiday on 7 October, because there is a military ceremony; although the captain allowed my holiday - because I'll miss the Belgian show, and he knows what a big Purple fan I am - but the major does not allow it. So it will be Rotterdam and/or Lille. But I do hope that Deep Purple can do something special for the 25th birthday of the Belgian fanclub, we will be having our 21st annual convention on Saturday 26 June. If something special can happen for the first convention of the British fanclub; why nothing for the 25th birthday of the Belgian fanclub, with it's 21st convention? See ya - cross my fingers - in Rotterdam and Lille (pictures by Marc Brans)
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