Thu, Sep 18, 08

From EuroWeeklyNews.com

The chosen venue for the ‘Deep Purple’ concert was the bullring in Estepona, a scenario chosen in the recent years by some of the most emblematic rock celebrities.The support band, Natura, opened the night at 9pm and made sure the public and the atmosphere was warm enough to welcome the Purples.

Natura is a local band from San Pedro, with a very compact sound and a convincing live performance. Very possibly this chance will mark a ‘before and after’ in their career.

At ten o’clock the show began. Deep Purple, with three of the original members (Ian Paice – drums,  Roger Glover – bass, Ian Gillan – voice) and two new ones (Steve Morse on guitar and Don Airey on keyboard) appeared on the stage.

The stage was a bit plain, but it was more than sufficiently made up for by the great and impeccable sound.

During the first part of the concert, the public was able to listen to some songs from their new album, ‘Rapture of the Deep’, before they went on to play the classics the public was waiting for, ‘Perfect Strangers’, ‘Smoke on the Water’, ‘Space Trucking’, etc… The capacity of Steve Morse, formerly of ‘Dixie Dregs’, to successfully merge the best rock tradition with new jazz rock airs should be highlighted. He also risked a solo, at the end of which he performed a brief collage of AC/DC, ‘Guns ‘n’ roses’ and Jimmy Hendrix songs.

It was, without doubt, a night to be remembered, featuring the unique sound of these renowned hard-rock and progressive-rock pioneers, who offered the Andalucian public one of their best shows, making both old and young vibrate to their moving music.