It’s quite incredible to think that over 55 years after cracking the American singles chart with “Hush”, rock legends, Deep Purple, have, 23 albums and 100 million album sales later, have finally landed a UK Number One single with “Lazy Sod” from their latest release =1. Quite an achievement for a band in the twilight of their career.
Kicking off with traditional set opener “Highway Star”, the first of four from their classic Machine Head opus and the finest driving song of them all was always going to set things off with a bang. Guitarist Simon McBride’s interplay with keyboardist Don Airey was astonishing. Close your eyes for a moment, it was if the originals Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore were duelling as if their lives depended on it. They were that good.
While most bands of their generation seem content to sit on their laurels and live off their past glories, Deep Purple are no ordinary band and with =1 they may well have delivered their best album in 40 years, since the stunning reunion album Perfect Strangers.
Maybe some of that comes from the introduction of new guitarist Simon McBride who replaced the previous incumbent Steve Morse. McBride has brought a new vigour and fire to the band with a sense of dynamism and passion which nods towards their illustrious glory days while keeping them relevant in the 21st century. His solos paid homage to the originals yet with his own vision stamped right through them.
It’s no surprise therefore that six songs were aired from their new album including “A Bit On The Side” and the powerhouse drive of “Now You’re Talking” sitting proudly next to those glorious classics “Space Truckin'” and “Lazy”, where drummer Ian Paice’s effortless swing was a joy to behold aided and abetted by bassist, Roger Glover.
Lead singer Ian Gillan may well be nudging 80 years old but his elegant appearance and affable attitude showed real gravitas and while he may not be quite hitting those skyscraping notes of old, his voice has mellowed and adapted to the material accordingly. Gillan absolutely soared on the beautiful “When A Blind Man Cries”, a song that was inexplicably left off the Machine Head album when first released but has since become a cornerstone of their set and brought the crowd to their feet for a rousing ovation.
“Uncommon Man”, dedicated to the much missed Jon Lord again featured some astonishing musicianship from Airey and McBride. Airey in particular was having the time of his life, beaming from behind his huge bank of keyboards during his solo spot where he raised a glass of wine in celebration while playing the tune to “On Ilkley Moor Bar t’At”. Maybe seeing his boyhood heroes, Sunderland, flying high in the Championship has rubbed off on him.
One of Deep Purple’s strengths over the years has been pulling out rarely played vintage cuts and long forgotten album tracks and they duly delivered “Into The Fire” from their 1970 classic In Rock and the brilliant “Anya” from The Battle Rages On.
It would be almost impossible for them to leave it out so when McBride cranked out the iconic riff to “Smoke On The Water” it almost lifted the roof off. It may be the boon of guitar shops around the world but there’s no denying that it’s a cracking song and still thrilling live.
With “Old Fangled Thing” from the new album opening the trio of encores it was left to a stunning “Hush” featuring some jawdropping interplay between Airey and McBride and a rollicking “Black Night” to leave the crowd baying for more. The originals and the best delivered big time.
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