First of all it was sort of depressing to see someone like DIO performing in a small city in the middle of nowhere in a sports-hall.

The sound was bad the whole evening and it was really hard to find out what the bands were playing.

Black Symphony

As we arrived a bit late, Black Symphony were already on stage and I was only able to catch the last two songs. Last song was a strange cover of “Smoke On The Water” with the second verse sung twice - first by the bass player and after the solo by the singer…

Narnia

Narnia entered the stage afterwards and - from the few things I was able to hear - were really good.

They had the worst mix that evening - everytime there were vocals there was nothing else audible.

DIO

It was my first time to hear DIO and I was looking forward to it for a long time. The master himself was great to incredibe - but this guy trying to play the guitar…. Either

• Dio has lost his complete hearing or
• I didn’t see the man with the gun who forced Dio to let this guy play

This guy ruinded every song with his playing, I still can’t believe how bad he really was. And I didn’t seem to be the only one. During the guitar solo, the spots to the crowd were turned on and - there was no reaction :)

Setlist was fine, although some songs were (as always:) missing. It included “Heaven And Hell”, “Children Of The Sea”, “Rainbow In The Dark”, “Holy Diver”, “Stargazer”, “Mistreated”, “Catch The Rainbow”, “Man On The Silver Mountain”, “Neon Knights”, “Straight To Your Heard”, “The Last In Line”, “Long Live Rock’n’Roll” and two new songs I don’t know.

Another thing I wasn’t able to understand was why the drum solo was placed after the third(!) song.

Overall an evening which leaves some mixed feelings…

The Setlist remains the Same - Deep Purple live in Karlsruhe

First of all a big “Hi” to the internet people I met before and after the show… ‘hope to see you all again soon!

The venue was a small hall in Karlsruhe (about 4000 people), which offered a poor sound and really two (TWO!) small doors to let the crowd in…

Opener were German metal band Rage together with a “chamber version” of the Lingua Mortis Orchestra - which featured only 3 of normally 22 people. They played a good show with only two problems:

• the orchestra-people were way too low in the mix

• the setlist - I really don’t understand why they only played songs out of their actual CD “XIII” and a cover of Rolling Stones “Paint It Black”

Purple entered the stage at about 21:20 and played for less than two hours. The band was in a fine shape, especially Big I sounded better than on last tour… A disappointing fact was the setlist: where were the surprises that make a concert exciting? Instead of keeping “Into The Fire” in the setlist (only played once in Germany) and digging out some never-played-live songs, they re-introduced live standards like “Strange Kind Of Woman” and kept songs like “Woman From Tokyo” or “Speed King”.

To sum up: it was a bit like a movie featuring some great actors - but with a script you always have the feeling you know what will happen during the next 5 minutes…

Deep Purple live in Karlsruhe 1998-06-17

Just coming back from the show in Karlsruhe….

Opener were German metal band Rage together with a “chamber version” of the Lingua Mortis orchestra (only 3 people of normally 22). Bad thing was these people were way too low in the mix and Rage played only songs from their actual CD “XIII” and the Rolling Stones cover “Paint It Black”…

Purple entered the stage at about 21:20 and played for less than two hours. The band was in a fine shape, especially Big I sounded better than on last tour…

A disappointing fact was the setlist: where were the promised surprises? Instead of keeping “Into The Fire” in the setlist (only played once in Germany) and digging out some never-played-live songs, they re-introduced live standards like “Strange Kind Of Woman” and kept sogs like “Woman From Tokyo”.

To sum up: it was a bit like a movie featuring some great actors but with a script you always have the feeling you know what will happen in the next 5 minutes…

Yesterday evening was the Blackmore’s Night gig in Mainz. It was a great gig (except Greensleeves - which I didn’t like - but it had an excellent solo) with Ritchie in an incredible mood.

As far as I remember, the setlist included: full “Shadow Of The Moon”, a new track (again something with “moon”), 1 or 2 not recorded songs, the Rainbow-tunes “Still I’m Sad”, “Temple Of The King”, “Greensleeves”, “Ariel”

Only Purple-tune was a “Black Night”-jam at the end of the concert, with Candice reaching the microphone to the fans - a really funny experience.

Overall playing time about 2 hours.

Oh - and before I forget: while introducing the new song, Candice said it will appear on the next Blackmore’s Night album…

Only question that remains: why has noone mentioned the good looking girl on 2nd guitar so far????? :)

Deep Purple in Ulm (12/03 - first) and Hanau (30/03 - last gig in Germany) or “Who needs Ritchie Blackmore ???”

As I was just there to enjoy the music, I’ve made no notes and therefore here are only a few thoughts about both gigs:

the venue:

Both venues about the same size. No controls of the audience in Ulm, each one was searched in Hanau. “No Smoking!” in Hanau - this must be the real spirit of Rock’n’Roll. :-)

the audience:

Typical Deep Purple audience in Ulm - people of all ages, well mixed. In Hanau the average age of the audience seemed to be lower - more younger people than at the other DP gigs I’ve been.

the support: Pan Ram

In Ulm, I thought that I was one of the three or four people who enjoyed their show. The main part of the audience seemed to dislike them. In Hanau, their performance had become a little better than in Ulm. Also the acceptance by the audience was way better than in Ulm. No “Deep Purple” cries during their show, no whistles.

the sound:

Not so good in Ulm, but very clear and well balanced in Hanau.

the merchandise:

Partially cheaper in Hanau than in Ulm. I really don’t know why. I’ve bought a t-shirt, a mug and the yearbook, which is really great. Merchandise stand in the middle of the hall in Hanau, directly behind the mixing equipment.

Deep Purple:

Really great at both venues - they really blew me away. The set included “Purpendicular Waltz” in Hanau, which was left away in Ulm. Ian Gillan changed his clothing from his well know jacket in Ulm to a Purpendicular T-shirt in Hanau (where he was also wearing a grey hat, a grey pullover and a DP shawl from time to time). Roger was wearing a blue scarf in Ulm and one with Yin/Yan in Hanau. Steve used his wolf-T-shirt in Ulm and a multi-colored one in Hanau. Jon and Ian Paice desssed the same at both gigs.

Instead of a detailed review of the musical performance just one quotation of a guy who has seen them first back in ‘72: “The best Deep Purple I’ve ever seen! - Who needs Ritchie Blackmore?”

summary:

I had an absolutely great time - ‘hope to see them again soon …