GRUGAHALLE, Essen (Duitsland)

Na een uitstekende 'opwarmer' in de vorm van een puik concert van Marillion, was het de beurt aan hardrocklegende Deep Purple. De mannen in de band zijn op Steve Morse na alle de zestig ruim gepasseerd. Het laatste optreden in Nederland met Triggerfinger als voorprogramma beviel me maar matig: erg kort en relatief veel instrumentaal werk. Hoe anders was het nu: zoals Steve Hogarth van Marillion al had aangekondigd, was het geluid weliswaar stevig, maar uitstekend uitgebalanceerd.

De band bleek absoluut op dreef en de 65-jarige Ian Gillan zong wonderwel goed, al is zijn karakteristieke geschreeuw allang niet meer wat het ooit was. De rustiger stukken bleven echter zeer goed overeind en met twee stukken van Bananas en het titelstuk van hun laatste studioalbum, lag de nadruk wederom op de jaren zeventig. Perfect Strangers was daarop een uitzondering, maar de uitvoeringen van Lazy, Fireball, Hard Lovin' Man en No One Came waren prima. Natuurlijk ontbraken klassiekers als Space Truckin', Smoke On The Water en When A Blind Man Cries niet en van Abandon werd Almost Human gespeeld. De openbaring van deze avond was dit keer niet Steve Morse, die zoals altijd weergaloos speelde, maar toetsenman Don Airey. Ik heb met open mond staan kijken en luisteren naar zijn bijdragen: de vinnige duetten met Morse en zijn solostukken. Het was voor het eerst dat ik niet melancholiek terugdacht aan wijlen Jon Lord! Deep Purple nam na een uur en drie kwartier in stijl afscheid met Hush en uiteraard de hit Black Night, een van hun meest bekende nummers. In deze hoedanigheid zie ik de band fluitend hun 45-jarig jubileum vieren en mogelijk zelfs 50 jaar 'in rock', waarmee ik niet doel op dat album uit 1970. Als men deze kwaliteit kan vasthouden, is dat niet te versmaden want de routiniers bewezen op deze avond dat ze nog volop kunnen meedraaien!

ENGLISH:

After support-act Marillion, there was a break because the big stage had to be rebuilt for Deep Purple, celebrating well over forty years in rock music. Steve Hogarth (Marillion) had warned the fans to protect their ears, because Deep Purple would surely play loud. He was absolutely right, but yet again there was a perfect balance between the instruments, the vocals were quite okay, so to my utmost satisfaction again a superb sound quality and nice lighting. For ages Highway Star was the opener for each concert and this evening was no exception. Ian Gillan, singing remarkably well, refrained from screaming when thanking the crowd for their support, which seemed a sensible idea. I really loved hearing Hard Lovin' Man again, forty years after the recording of this song from Deep Purple In Rock, what in my mind is one of the groundbreaking albums in rock history. Between golden oldies like Maybe I'm A Leo from the album Machine Head and the hit Strange Kind Of Woman there were two songs from the new millennium: Rapture Of The Deep from the eponymous album and Silver Tongue, but also Contact Lost from the Bananas album.

An unexpected surprise, though they played the song many times before, was the inclusion of Fireball, the title track of the second studio album with Ian Gillan in the lineup. After the melancholic bluesy When A Blind Man Cries Gillan announced the ultimate Christmas present 'to be cherished and unwrapped with great care': Steve Morse and his solo spot with The Well Dressed Guitar. Then, with the exception of Almost Human from the Abandon album, it was back to the seventies again with Lazy, No One Came, Space Truckin'  and the inevitable Smoke On The Water. The only song from the eighties was Perfect Strangers, which is also their best. If I had thought that the band would split within one hour and a half I was so wrong! The band played very well indeed and kept on doing so for over one hour and 45 minutes, They wasted no time with long introductions or anything like that, just music, good music! The encores were predictable, but nonetheless very welcome. Both Hush and Black Night are old favourites of mine and it's always nice to hear them once again. A special compliment for Don Airey: I've seen numerous Deep Purple gigs and DVD's, but for me personally this was the first time I didn't miss Jon Lord. Not only because Don played a terrific solo, but he was in a very good mood obviously and played extremely well throughout the whole show with very tasteful, daring and challenging duets with guitar master Steve Morse.

I admit that last year I really thought Deep Purple were on their way to a downfall, but this night proved definitely otherwise: the guys still rock, still know how to move their fans and they are still able to fill halls of fifteen hundred people or more, which is amazingly good considering the financial crisis. Go Purple go, up to your 45th anniversary!

Setlist Deep Purple:

Highway Star, Hard Lovin Man, Maybe I'm A Leo, Strange Kind Of Woman, Rapture Of The Deep, Fireball, Silver Tongue, Contact Lost, When A Blind Man Cries, The Well Dressed Guitar, Almost Human, Lazy, No One Came, Keyboard solo, Perfect Strangers, Space Truckin', Smoke On The Water.

Encores: Hush, Black Night.

Lineup: Roger Glover (bass), Ian Paice (drums), Ian Gillan (vocals, harmonica), Steve Morse (guitar), Don Airey (keyboards).