Deep Purple, Electric Mary @Festival Hall, Melbourne(02/05/2010)

Thu 6th May, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Check out some of the brilliant photos from Festival Hall

Melbourne’s very own rockin’ chiefs Electric Mary were the special guests at Festival Hall and they entertained with a solid show. Opening up with the killer track Let Me Out – a long time crowd favourite, the guys played a tight set filled with their ripper bass and drum driven tunes. Stand out tracks were: Sorry, Right To The Bone, and Gasoline And Guns. Electric Mary left the crowd enthralled with their classic inspired rock, catchy lyrics, and heavy riffs; a grand start to the evening.

After a half an hour interval for changeover, the Purpendicular Deep Purple take the stage looking rather energised (you would never know this tour marks Deep Purple’s 26th on the world tour scale) and with each member smiling and eager to get stuck right into it. Not bad, from the band who holds the record as being the loudest band in the world and who, along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, defined the heavy metal and hard rock genre. The band who stands before us tonight, however isn’t that same band they were all those years ago. Not only do they sound slightly different, but they’ve also undergone the most line-up changes in the history of rock. Nevertheless, the backbone of Deep Purple is still very much present.

Ian Gillan (vocals) is 65, and despite have reached retirement age, shows no signs of slowing down – he didn’t stop jumping up and down or dancing (the way granddads do) all evening. The roaring Ian Paice on drums is the only original band member, Roger Glover is on bass, and succeeding Jon Lord on the keys is Don Airey. Richie Blackmore has been gone for over a decade now and his replacement, Steve Morse, has is some ways reinvented the band and their sound. It is evident from his insane playing that this riff-meister has mastered his predecessor’s licks, perhaps even modernising them somewhat.

They opened with Highway Star from their popular Machine Head album from ’72 and belted out songs such as Strange Kind Of Woman, Fireball, The Battle Rages On, while also adding in many solos from each of the band’s members – the most memorable one being Morse’s smashing guitar solo.

The set rolled along rather well, but it was when the opening notes of Space Truckin’ that the crowd really came to life. And when Smoke On The Water followed shortly after, there was ecstasy; though this live version was much less intense than the original, the chunky bass lines and electrifying screeches of the guitar sent shivers down spines. They bade Festival Hall farewell and headed for the exit, but that did little to quieten the enthusiastic screams and deafening applause from such a timeless song and not long after, low-and-behold, the mighty Deep Purple made their way back to their instruments.

Launching straight into the encore with Joe South’s Hush was a nice surprise as it was easy to forget that this track was made famous by Deep Purple. We were then treated to a bass solo from Mr. Glover before the rockers concluded with Black Night.

Although it would have been nice to see some more interaction from the band, other than Ian Gillan’s “holy moly” mumbles in between each song, it was nonetheless a fantastic night’s entertainment. It was amazing to witness a live show from a legendary band who proved to that ROCK will never die, and all left Festival Hall in different shades of purple because of that.