We drove the easy 100 miles from Chattanooga to the lovely outdoor venue known as Chastain Park. Steppenwolf began promptly at 8:00 and played a quick 40 minute set. Also, hadn't seen the "Wolf" before and John Kay and the boys played well. Kay who looked fit said this was their last tour and thanked everyone for supporting them over the 40 years of being Born to be Wild.

Then the equipment was removed and a purple carpeted stage was unveiled. The main event commenced at dark and little Ian exploded into Pictures of Home. We had great seats, and this intro set the tone for the evening. My opinion was that Paicy was the star of the show. He later performed a solo, which I believe had been left off some previous shows and also did his patented one handed drum roll. The set list was the same as the latter European shows and the band played for 90 minutes with the usual encores of Hush and then Black Night. They ripped through the first third of the show, and then Steve Morse was introduced by big Ian as" the incredible Steve Morse" for Contact Lost.

Roger Glover was solid all night with his solo included, and Don Airey seems confident and comfortable in his position. The band are having fun, smiling throughout. Ian Gillan looked extremely fit, got stronger as the night progressed and joked about forgetting lyrics. Perfect Strangers began a spectacular run of the classics with the percussionist leading.

My only complaint is stretching the show just shy of 2 hours could get more Mk8 material in. Wrong Man from Rapture could have been easily added among others. America go see this band. They can still cook.

revierw: Greg Fazio

Absolutely the best way to see Deep Purple.... small venue, nothing but Deep Purple fans in the house, and almost two hours of music. Simply outstanding.

The set list: Pictures Of Home / Things I Never Said / Into The Fire / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Woman From Tokyo / Contact Lost / Well Dressed Guitar / Knocking At Your Back Door / Airey Solo (including Star Wars) ~ Lazy / Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Highway Star / Smoke On The Water. Encore #1 - The Battle Rages On / Encore #2 - Hush.

The house was packed and once Pictures Of Home started they were rockin' until the last note. Personal highlights, Pictures Of Home, Into The Fire and the best version of Space Truckin' I've ever heard. Lots of gray hair in the crowd but a generous helping of young faces. It was an outstanding show, one I will never forget.

review: Jim Stoff Highland, Illinois

Pretty good show here in London, Ontario last night.   The P.A. system was cutting out relentlessly for the first half of the show to the displeasure of the band and to the unsuspecting, very inebriated audience who had paid $50.00 a head.  I thought there was going to be a riot. 

The flaws were obviously worked out as Purple cranked into the highlighting jam portions of the evening.   This was the 15th time I have seen the band live and I have never seen Steve on fire like he was, Contact Lost and Well Dressed Guitar lit the place up like a fireplug.  The band went over so well and the energy of the guys on stage really affected everyone in their drunken state to scream out the "Come On!"s of Space Truckin'.  Perfect Strangers brought a tear to my eye and the encore was a huge surpirse with Purple coming back out to play The Battle Rages On.  Wonderful!  For those keeping score, Nazareth supported, tore the place down and disappeared after an inexcusable 42 minutes on stage.

review : The Wizard

Hello!!!...Can you hear me?? I think I lost my hearing when the boys came to town! One word - LOUD!...actually more words - excellant!!....Suu - Purburb!!....A-MAAAAzing!

Great show, excellant audience - both loud and responsive - the band is at it`s best. It would have been nice to have a few of the Morse era songs...but it was good to hear Strange Kind of Woman and Lazy...great versions of both. Nice to have a full Purple show... Looking forward to the next show.

review : Gary Poronovich

A fantastic show! So - They were just awesome! Like fine wine, they only seem to get better. Great versions of Strange Kind of Woman, Perfect Strangers, Contact Lost, Space Trucking, Rapture of the Deep, Smoke on the Water, Highway Star, Hush, etc.

Gillan's voice was the best I've heard in a few years... I've seen them 4 (and him 5) times since 2004 (and in 1972 and 84), and he was amazing! Don and Steve's solos were just terrific all through the show, as befits a band like Deep Purple! Paicey was a metronome and made it all look so easy and Roger was his usual happy self. The crowd was loving it too, I haven't heard huge roars like that since the 70s!

review & photo: Jerry Fielden

Saw the North American tour show at the Chevrolet theatre in Wallingford, Connecticut on August 2nd 2007. What a phenomenal show. Everybody played and sounded great, plus each musician getting a solo part made the show rock. Considering that I’m 52 years old these guys still sound as good as they did 30 or more years ago. The other acts were Edgar Winter and Blue Oyster Cult, both of which were right up there also. Well worth the money spent !!!

review: Gary Merrill

What a concert! House of Blues in Atlantic City is quite a small place which is perfect for a great intimate atmosphere. Me and my friends had golden circle seats in the second row right in front of the stage. However, as soon as Purple hit the stage with "Pictures of Home" a bunch of people (myself included) rushed the stage. The security people were really nice and did not try to force people back in their seats. I took a spot right in front of Roger and Ian Paice and spent the rest of the concert singing, jumping, waving my hands and having a jolly good time. And what a good time it was! Within the first few moments of “Pictures of Home” I managed to shake hands with big Ian and make eye contact with Roger during his bass solo. The band was firing on all cylinders and I was savouring the magic of the moment. And it was truly magic! I have been to many great concerts so far – both front middle and back rows, but the Deep Purple concert at the House of Blues was hands down the best experience of the lot. Half way through the show I got a pick from Roger. Then during “Lazy” for the first and last time during the show Steve walked to our side of the stage and I got a pick from him too!!! I was ecstatic! …

I love every member of the current line up, but being a drummer I have a soft spot for Ian Paice – who is naturally a huge inspiration and influence for me. At the end of the main set I did my best to shout and wave at Ian to throw me a drum stick – I managed to catch his attention and he threw one towards me, but missed by a small margin and the guy to my right caught it before I could. The friends I was with were so disappointed with that, but I told them not to worry. Deep Purple came for an encore and played great version of “The Battle Rages On” and “Hush” and then … well, again I waved frenetically and once again Ian saw me. This time his throw was spot on and the drum stick was mine! I could not believe my luck … two days later and I still can’t believe my luck. How can any other concert top this one? It will be hard – very hard … probably impossible. I feel so lucky and grateful for having had a chance to see my favorite band in such an intimate environment and get away with a pick from Roger and Steve a drum stick from my favorite drummer and a few hand shakes with Ian Gillan.

As far as the sound went, being in front of Roger and little Ian I heard plenty of bass, good amount of drums, and satisfactory amount of keyboards and guitar. However, Ian Gillan could barely be heard. But this was to be expected being right against the stage. For a good sound mix I could have gone further back, but this was my fifth time seeing Deep Purple and I was more content with feeling the thrill of being right in front of the band than sitting back doing the critical listening. My dad however, had seats further back and he said that the mix where he was standing was perfect and that Ian Gillan in particular was in top form.

Big thanks to Deep Purple for such a magical night.

review: Nik Blonder, photo: Daniele Purrone (click the pic to see a full gallery from the show!)

The set list:
Pictures of Home / Things I Never Said / Into The Fire / Strange Kind of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Woman From Tokyo / Guitar solo ~ Well Dressed Guitar / Knocking At Your Back Door / Lazy / Keyboard solo ~ Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin’ / Highway Star / Smoke On The Water / The Battle Rages On / Hush

I've never been disappointed with a Deep Purple show and I'm glad to say this tour is no exception. The opening act was The Gary Hoey Band. A very good band indeed. Three excellent musicians who were a blast to see and hear. They played a great version of Hocus Pocus that got the crowd fired up.

The Casino is an odd venue, a little rough around the edges but I like it. It sort of adds to the hard edged rock n roll flavor of the show. As for Purple I saw them in Boston and in NH. I have to say NH was the better of the two shows even though they skipped playing "The Battle Rages On " Ian's voice was stronger and he seemed to be in a really good mood, joking around with Steve and Roger.

The volume was a little low at first, especially Steve's guitar. He made a couple of adjustments and then it was fantastic. To quote another famous banjo player "It was like being inside the Machine Head album" It really was! When Don started playing the Lazy intro, that awesome Hammond growl reminded me of the first time I ever heard it. Don was just fantastic through the entire show. His playing and feel for DP's music is much improved on this tour. He's still Don though and that comes through in his solo spot. His technical ability is second to none.

Mr. Gillan was all over the stage. It was hot and humid in the Casino but that didn't stop him from bouncing all over the stage and screaming like a banshee. He gets help from Steve sometimes, sometimes not. It's funny, he doesn't shy away from trying to sing the difficult stuff. He just goes for it. The whole band still have the hard rock attitude. Ian Paice was GREAT! I love watching him play. His hands are still lightning quick. The one handed roll during his Hush solo spot was cool but his playing throughout the show was signature Ian Paice. Steve and Roger were super! They were really good to the crowd too. They kneel down and let the people in the front play their guitars a bit. It's not an act, these guys love putting on a show for a crowd that appreciates the music. Roger is such a gentleman. When the picks were being tossed out to, one woman didn't catch one and Roger carefully placed one in her hands. Nice guy! The Purple rhythm section was as heavy and locked in as always. It's one of my favorite things about this band. They lay down a monster groove! Steve went from the newer sunburst guitar to his trusty blue one and played a great version of Contact Lost and Well Dressed Guitar. When the classical feel morphs into the classical over the hard rock backing, it's just so cool. I could go on forever about these guys. I only wish there was a little more Morse era stuff. I think Don't Let Go, MTV or Wrong Man would go over well. So would Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming or Don't Hold Your Breath. As for Purple, they do something few can match. For a little while, I forget about wars, violence, work, money etc. and just enjoy the moment. It's reassuring that there are still moments in life when you can do that. Thanks Ian, Steve, Don, Roger and Ian!

review & set list : Frank Fitzgerald

Setlist: Pictures of Home / Things I Never Said (Comes over very well live) / Into The Fire (Killer version of this for sure! Listen for Ian's new lyric) / Strange Kind of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Woman From Tokyo / Contact Lost / Well Dressed Guitar / Knocking At Your Back Door / Lazy (Killer Hammond intro) / Keyboard solo (Amazing Don Airey) ~ Perfect Strangers (Best I've heard in a long time! Very Heavy!) / Space Truckin’ (Another highlight) / Highway Star / Smoke On The Water / Hush (With Ian Paice solo!)

Caught the show at a nearly sold out Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa CA last Sunday night. This venue holds 8,500, I'd say there were at least 7,500 people in attendance and they really got into Purple, singing and dancing in the aisles and rockin' out all over the place.

Nice to see that, and the guys were definitely feeling the vibes as Gillan noted on a few occasions during the set. The show was pretty much the same as earlier in the tour, but no Battle Rages On tonight .I've come to grips with Deep Purple playing a greatest hits set in America, because, let's face it, the majority of the crowd wants to hear those songs, not Wrong Man or Money Talks. That's what they need to do if they want to play to crowds of this size and this gig proves Deep Purple can sell tickets in America .It also helps when the local radio station is promoting the show every day and you get a nice triple bill with Blue Oyster Cult and Edgar Winter.

Anyway, the guys play these hits with such power and passion how can you not enjoy the show? Gillan sounded unreal on Into The Fire, but Airey was for me the star of the show, this guy is a technical wonder and he plays with feeling. Steve was his usual solid self but his guitar needed to be louder. Glover and Paice were just fantastic, keeping things tight. I would like to see Little Ian maybe play some of the songs (eg. Knocking At Your Back Door) a little faster, as the tempos were too close to the studio recordings. But that's minor. What was cool was when Edgar Winter came out to jam on Smoke On The Water, and played sax! You might think that wouldn't work but it did wonderfully. All in all a great show and I'm off to see 'em again in San Diego.

review: Steve Hunt, Chino Hills CA

Ian Gillan interview with the Ventura County Star, August 9th 2007 (thanks to Steve Hunt for pointing it out!)

After catching Deep Purple in Costa Mesa I took my wife Lisa to see 'em in San Diego at the 4th And B concert venue, a small theater that holds about 800. Saw Blackmore's Night here a couple years ago when there were seats but for Purple it was an open floor so we were able to get close to see and FEEL everything.

We had a great spot about 25 feet back with Roger Glover in front of us, which actually gave us a great view of Steve's guitar work. The sound tonight was perfect, earsplittingly loud but clear as a bell, Steve's guitar firmly upfront like it should be but not overpowering the others. Glover was really on tonight as was Paicey with a nice solo during Hush complete with one handed roll. Don sounded fine but we couldn't really see him on the cramped stage with blinding lights shooting out from behind him. Big Ian was again in fine voice with Into The Fire blowing everyone away! People next to me were just shaking their heads in disbelief. The set list was the same as Costa Mesa but we got Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye instead of Woman From Tokyo. Michael Bradford was there to join in on guitar for Smoke On The Water. Again, no Battle Rages On. Damn! Other than that another great show and I hope to see the guys in SoCal again very soon. Maybe next year?

Pictures Of Home / Things I Never Said / Into The Fire / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye / Contact Lost / Well Dressed Guitar / Knocking At Your Back Door / Lazy / Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Highway Star / Smoke On The Water.
Encore: Hush.

review: Steve Hunt, Chino Hills, CA.

What else can one say that hasn't already been said? Purple are simply in magnificent form; and as nearly every review has echoed similar sentiments, I'll merely point out the highlights. Without a doubt, they're as tight as can be. Roger and Paicey literally thump in unison. The sound mix at the Maricopa County Arts Center was phenomenal (I was in the 14th row, dead centre). At one point, my buddy sitting next to me commented that the bass and bass drum were so locked, his whole body began resonating with every kick. It was incredible, and there simply does not exist a rock rhythm section like this, anymore, anywhere! As for Don and Steve…everyone seems to call out one or the other, as having the show be 'their' show. Well, this evening definitely felt like Steve's. There were clearly a lot of post-70s Purple fan in the audience (lots of Purpendicular Tees; even saw a few Dregs shirts), and with every nuanced note, Steve just wowed…over and over again. That being said, Don continues to amaze, his sound is so Lord-esque that you really do a double-take, and his spirit and attitude (along with intense chops) make him fun to watch, fun to listen to, and a awe-inspiring instrumentalist in general.

And that brings us to Gillan. I really want to use some expletives here, but for the sake of keeping this review family-friendly, I'll just say that he was 'flippin' out-of-this world! Into the Fire is so frighteningly powerful, that you look at this man, and you instantly want to rush the stage! For me, Strange Kind of Woman was a real highlight. Odd, because that's a fairly straight-forward tune…but his voice was SO warmed-up by then. The high-notes, the middle-eights "ooh…my soul" section, all of it spot-on. Oh…and Highway Star? Yeah..could have been 1972. Space Truckin? I nearly had an accident, it was so good. And the new tunes really rocked live as people have said (indeed, I missed 'Woman From Tokyo', but 'Kiss..' was rock solid) So, d o you catch my drift? Ian G. is an inspiration at 60+, and is a force to be reckoned with. I don't know how he does it…I just hope he keeps doing it! An inspiring show, and a reminder that real rock music, and more importantly, real live performance still exists in all it's glory…the glory of Deep Purple.

The set list: Pictures Of Home / Things I Never Said / Into The Fire / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye / Contact Lost / Well Dressed Guitar / Knocking At Your Back Door / Lazy / Airey Solo / Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Highway Star / Smoke On The Water. Encore The Battle Rages On / Hush.

review: Jason Levine

The mighty Deep Purple rolled into Sun City and a good time was had by all! The Edgar Winter Band opened and did a real good job warming up the crowd. At our show there was security in the aisle at front to stop fans from approaching the stage. About the third song our security guard vacated his folding chair, so Ian came down and grabbed it and tossed it backstage. An open invitation for the crowd to move,which was promptly accepted! Being in the 3rd row I ended up within 10 feet of the stage (YES!!!)The only difference in the song list was they did Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. .No sound problems here and the band enjoyed themselves as much as the fans .If youv'e never them, you're missing a hell of a show!!

review: Robin Hendricks

Since Deep Purple missed the northwest part (Seattle to be exact) of The United States on this tour, which I have been waiting 3 years to see again. I e-mailed fellow DPAS member Michael Wolfe from Great Falls, Montana and asked if he was interested in meeting in Las Vegas, since they missed his state too. To cut a long story short, my wife and I flew to see Deep Purple on the 18th of August and meet up with Michael at the Hard Rock Hotel where I was staying, and Deep Purple were playing at 'The Joint', inside the casino).

Very hot 105 degrees outside, cool air conditioning inside. Great show! The set list was: Pictures of Home, Things I Never Said, Into There Fire, Strange Kind Of Woman, Rapture Of The Deep, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, Knocking At Your Back Door, Contact Loss, Well Dressed Guitar, Lazy, Don Airey Solo, Perfect Strangers, Space Truckin', Highway Star, Smoke On The Water, Encore: The Battle Rages On, Hush (including Paicey solo.)

In my opinion they were too loud for such a small venue. It reminded me of the first time I saw them in May 1973, when they were pumping 120 decibels, just weeks before Ian Gillan quit. I would have better pictures but they would not let me take pictures with my Nikon camera so the photo here is taken with an iPhone!

review and photo: Harry Heathman III

Deep Purple played in the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel. Opening band was some threesome called Burning Brides. Purple came on shortly after 9pm and tore into Pictures of Home followed by Things I Never Said. Gillan introduced Morse for the best guitar solo you’ll ever see (Contact Lost / Well Dressed Guitar). Blew away the crowd. To me, Knocking At Your Back Door was the ultimate song of the show, I’ve always enjoyed it, but wow, this was the quintessential version. Everything about the band showed just how tight and talented they are. Sadly this was the first time I have ever seen them, I never realized how much I'd missed not seeing them before. I saw Gillan live when he came through Vegas for this Gillan’s Inn tour, this was even better. For such a mixed age-group of fans, everyone was on their feet the whole time.

review: Mike Essig

This was the penultimate show of the North American tour with the finale scheduled for the next night in Dallas. As such I wasn't sure if the guys would be tired or inspired. The answer was clearly ultimately professional, experienced and, yes, inspired.

Since reviews from fan sites and media alike have generally been favourable (if not glowing at times) I wasn't too worried about this show, but still and all I hadn't seen the band live since 1996 and like many others I have seen more than a few classic rock bands on summer (nostalgia) tours they probably shouldn't have undertaken. However, Deep Purple proved they are still a vital band. Oh sure they played the obligatory greatest hits but the new material was strong as was the performance level and musicianship. Highlights for me were the blues sensibility of Steve Morse which was showcased to great effect on the bluesy romp "Lazy", an outstanding arrangement on "Woman from Tokyo" incorporating some really nice keyboard and guitar transitions, and Don Airey's solo piece leading into "Perfect Strangers" (which always gives me chills live).

The sound and mix at the Verizon Wireless Theatre were good and I would say the place was about 80% full.

For those keeping score the setlist was:

Pictures of Home / Things I Never Said / Into The Fire / Strange Kind of Woman / Rapture of the Deep / Woman from Tokyo / Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye / Steve Morse solo ~ Well Dressed Guitar / Knockin' at Your Back Door / Lazy / Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Highway Star / Smoke on The Water. Encores: Battle Rages On / Hush.

My only critique was that at ~1:35 this was perhaps a shorter show than it could have been. There was a non announced opening act - Maneaters of Tsavo (a band from San Antonio) who were fine but clearly knew their purpose on the night and played a tight and suitably short 25 minute opening set.

review: Jim Corning, Houston, Texas

This was my first time to see my favorite band of all time, and my only regret after the show is that I never went to see them before.

I was about three rows from the stage in front of Roger Glover and Ian Paice's side of the stage. It was standing room only on the floor and from what I could tell the balcony section was filled to the brim. This was a packed house. About 9:10 p.m. the lights go down, the organ starts and suddenly Ian Paice, my favorite drummer bar none, fires up the drum intro to Pictures of Home. The show is on! From then on it was a barrage of loud (and I do mean LOUD) rock and roll. Bam Bam BAM! No bull, non-stop, machine gun rockin’. Next was Into The Fire, My Woman From Tokyo (which had everyone in the venue singing) Highway Star, Space Truckin’, Rapture Of The Deep and Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (both off the new album), Strange Kind of Woman, Knocking At Your Back Door, Perfect Strangers, Lazy, I Got Your Number, and of course Smoke On The Water. Each member got a solo and I never realized how great a bass player is Roger Glover . The man is a monster on bass and he is very charismatic on stage. You could tell he was having a great time. Of course my highlight was Paice’s drum solo. Steve Morse did a solo that encompassed guitar riffs from several rock classics such as Day Tripper, I Can’t Explain, Purple Haze, Strawberry Fields Forever (yeah kind of strange but really cool), and Sweet Home Alabama. That last one caused Roger Glover nearly to stumble he was laughing so hard. They encored with Speed King and Hush. Ian Gillan did not disappoint me one bit. He sounds incredible.

It was the greatest show I had ever seen, from the wonderful music to the energy of the band working the crowd. I couldn’t have been more thrilled.

review: Brad Hyman, photo: Mark Jones (for a full gallery of snaps from the show, click the photo)