If you want to remember what it was like to listen to heavy metal when it was both heavy and metallic, here’s your dream come true. Remastered, restored and regressive, Deep Purple is caught at their absolute head bangiest here at the Palais des Sport during what was the very last concert of Ritchie Blackmore with the band. Hard to believe that he’s presently playing Renaissance music and has turned into a family man, but that’s what the love of a good woman will do for you after playing songs for years about “evil girls” as Glenn Hughes says in the post concert interview section
The music here is circa Burn and Stormbringer, with still a dash of Machine Head. So, you’re getting the two recent albums’ title tracks as openers, and then traverse on with “Lady Double Dealer” and “Mistreated.” The lyrics aren’t exactly Rogers and Hart, but Blackmore and company are living up to their reputation of Guinness Record-producing volumes of hard rock. Vintage takes of “Highway Star,” “Space Truckin’” and the anthematic “Smoke on the Water” sound absolutely nostalgic here.
An extra bonus of interviews with Ian Paice, Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale lets the latter two tell how they joined the bands, and all three talk about the stories and ideas behind the compositions of their two most recent releases. In the present days of young musicians groaning and sighing, with angst ridden guitar chords, it’s fun to hear music when guys proved they had y chromosomes.
Eagle Rock Entertainment
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