Another year, another new name for the NEC, with Deep Purple being given the honour of being the very first headliners for the BP Pulse Arena. Purple, of course, are no strangers to this venue, their most infamous appearance being back in 1993 when, as documented on the Come Hell or High Water DVD, one Ritchie Blackmore didn’t appear on stage until mid-way through ‘Highway Star’ due to back stage tensions. Thankfully, all five members of the band were present for the same opening song tonight, including guitarist Simon McBride, who it has to be said has really settled into the high-profile role of being Purple’s axeman.
Looking around the rest of the stage, little has changed since they were last in Birmingham a couple of years ago, a lean looking Ian Gillan still goes off on between song meanderings of what has inspired his latest lyrics, and the trio of Ian Paice, Roger Glover and Don Airey remain as reliable as ever. Where Purple differ from many of their peers is their determination to present new material as part of the show, tonight there were six songs included from current album =1, even though they could easily sit back and play the nostalgia card year after year. Of the half a dozen new songs, the quirky ‘Portable Door’ highlighted not only Gillan’s lyrical idiosyncrasies but also some frenetic back and forth between Airey and McBride. Pulsating rocker ‘Lazy Sod’ and the fast paced ‘Now You’re Talkin’ evidenced the band are showing no signs of slowing down, and ‘Old-Fangled Thing’ showcased those huge Hammond riffs that have always been a Purple trademark thanks to the much missed Jon Lord.
The remainder of the set was made up of some of the bands best loved moments from the past five decades or so. Gillan wailed away like a demon on the thumping ‘Into the Fire’ and they played tribute to the aforementioned Jon Lord on the emotional ‘Uncommon Man’. Elsewhere, there was plenty to enjoy from Machine Head, surely one of the quintessential rock albums of all time, including a stunning version of ‘When a Blind Man Cries’, and the double helping of ‘Space Truckin’ and ‘Smoke on the Water’ that closed the main set. With so many great songs at their disposal, maybe ‘Lazy’ and ‘Anya’ could do with a rest, allowing them to bring back the likes of ‘Demon’s Eye’ and ‘Woman From Tokyo’, but in truth when Deep Purple are firing on all cylinders they remain an irresistible live act.
Only time will tell how much longer this legendary band can continue, but for now we can still appreciate nights like this that prove they have plenty of gas left in the tank.
Setlist: –
Highway Star
A Bit on the Side
Into the Fire
Uncommon Man
Lazy Sod
Now You’re Talkin’
Lazy
When a Blind Man Cries
Portable Door
Anya
Keyboard Solo
Bleeding Obvious
Space Truckin’
Smoke on the Water
Encore: –
Old‐Fangled Thing
Hush
Black Night
