DPAS LIVE REVIEWS

Deep Purple
Windsor Hall, Bournemouth, April 27th 2007

"The reviews on this site of the UK shows to date filled me with anticipation and enthusiasm for Friday night's show. Seven of us attended, two of were new to Purple and I'd promised them a night to remember. I'd given them a CD with the tracks they were going to hear to get them accustomed to the music which was enthusiastically received and they too were really looking forward to the night.

I love Purple, they are head and shoulders above anything I've ever heard, each member a master of his trade but I came away very disappointed and a little embarrassed that I'd encouraged my friends to part with their money and frankly not get value.

I can't fault the talent, skill, enthusiasm or commitment of the band, they were let down badly by really bad sound on the night, too loud and very, very distorted. All the beautiful intricacies of the music were lost, for example the fast guitar work on Highway Star.... we just couldn't hear it above the rest of the distorted instruments.

The above sounds harsh but I'm sure the men on stage would be unaware just how it sounded to the audience, and I'm equally sure that they would be as disappointed as I am. They put in all the hard work and we didn't benefit from it, such a shame. Can somebody tell me why did the sound need to be so loud and why didn't the sound guys hear it and do something about it?

I thought the setlist was well chosen but more of the new album and Morse era music would have been great to hear but I understand the reasons for their omission. Will I give them another chance? You bet!"

review: Brian Spires and friends, photo: Ian Prentice

"On my way back from the gig I was thinking what to post in this review, when I sat down at the keyboard I saw that nearly all of it had been covered by previous reviews on other nights, such as IG's voice being spectacularly good, Lazy and Space Truckin' coming over as up there with the best versions heard, the mix being really good for a change especially (with Don's) etc etc. So just a couple of observations about the night then. The venue is surprisingly 'warm' for one of the larger halls, better for instance than Brighton, though not as good as the old Winter Gardens.

What really gripped my goat was seeing 5 guys absolutely nailing some great DP tracks old and new to a surprisingly unresponsive audience. Two things brought home to me the much debated reason why the band play the sets they do.

1. As previously said the crowd were, to my mind fairly subdued through some great tracks, until Smoke started and then half of them jumped to their feet, similarly with Black Night.
2. Our wives were in Bournemouth with us and had come to meet us, and overheard a bloke who'd come out of the hall and sat down with a cup of coffee complain about the fact that they hadn't played anything he knew yet! Now I understand!

It was a great show."

review: Geoff Quade, photo: Ian Prentice

"I attended Deep Purple's Bournemouth gig on Friday. We both thoroughly enjoyed the performance, but were very put out by the behaviour of two of the older men (I can't call them gentlemen) on the merchandise stand, who were extremely unhelpful and rude. I had politely asked if there might be a discount for buying several items, to be told sarcastically, "I'll come back when you've finished having a laugh" when I asked his colleague the same question he told me "If you don't like the merchandise, go and make your own"
Needless to say we left without buying anything! Several people heard the exchange including a lady buying a T-Shirt for her young daughter. Everyone looked very shocked. I just thought this should be brought to your attention because I'm sure the band would be furious to hear how their fans are spoken to." 

Vaughan Lewis