Review by Shawn Perry
Photos by Ron Lyon
The last time Deep Purple visited the Orange County Fair was in 2007 when they shared a bill with Edgar Winter and Blue Öyster Cult. Tonight, seven years later, the Purple and Blue part of that equation returned to the scene of the crime. I last caught Deep Purple when they appeared at the Greek with an orchestra in 2011. Tonight was bound to be equally special because they would be rolling out tunes from their sensational 2013 release, NOW What?!. But first, it was up to Blue Öyster Cult to get the party started.
I’ve seen BOC at least a dozen times since 1976, and am usually astounded by their choice of songs. Tonight, they played the obvious ones like “Burnin’ For You” (a bit sluggish), “Godzilla” (a bit corny), and “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” (a bit more cowbell). Even better were those not-so-obvious ones like the opener “The Red And The Black” and “Then Came The Last Days Of May,” both long staples of BOC’s live repertoire, but still as mystical and eerily cool as they were in the early 70s.
Guitarists/singers Eric Bloom and Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser are the two original members, joined by guitarist/keyboardist Richie Castellano (with the band since 2004), drummer Jules Radino and veteran bassist Kasim Sulton, probably best known as a member of Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. All the players were on their marks, with Dharma and Castellano laying down a steady stream of leads and rhythms. Castellano jumped on the keys for the rumbling “Buck’s Boogie,” while Dharma and Bloom got down and dirty with a barrage of guitar chords. A brief, efficient set, and once again I’m thinking about all the other songs I wished BOC could have played, yet satisfied with each and every song they did play. A win-win situation.
It was just before 9:00 when Deep Purple came on. A simple set-up, no drum riser, a modest wall of amps, lots of space, no frills, no BS — this is what Deep Purple is all about. They opened with “Highway Star,” easing their way into the rhythm, getting a feel for the atmosphere. Singer Ian Gillan was donning shades and a Cayman Islands shirt, wrapping his familiar vocal chords around the melody, without overextending himself. The singer kept it smooth and easy for most of the night, refraining from the once-famous yelps and ear-piercing screams that began dissipating as the years set in. At his core, he’s a crooner in the classic sense of all great crooners before him.
One of the more pivotal points in the concert was when Purple dug out “Into The Fire” and “Hard Lovin’ Man,” two deep tracks from 1970’s In Rock, the first Deep Purple album to feature Gillan and bassist Roger Glover. As he has done in the past, guitarist Steve Morse masterfully played the signature parts and simultaneously made it all his own. The guitarist would get plenty more time for himself on “The Well-Dressed Guitar” as the show rolled on.
Of the three new songs, “Uncommon Man” rated most favorably, with keyboardist Don Airey caressing the verses with strokes of horn-infused accents and a neo-classical solo. The other newer ones “Vincent Price” and “Hell To Pay” rocked, but I would have preferred to hear the epic “Above And Beyond,” a tribute to founding Purple keyboardist Jon Lord and something they played in 2013 at shows throughout Europe. Those lucky Europeans seem to get their Deep Purple fix on a semi-regular basis, while us Yanks have to wait every three or four years.
Unfortunately, a majority of the people watching the show tonight didn’t have a clue about Deep Purple’s new music (which is probably why their visits are so infrequent). They came to hear the classics like “Strange Kind of Woman,” “Lazy,” “Perfect Strangers,” “Space Truckin’” and the mighty “Smoke On The Water.” A Deep Purple concert without these songs simply wouldn’t pass muster. The execution wasn’t as immediate and jarring as on Made In Japan (recently reissued and as powerful as ever), but most fans were none the wiser.
The encore was a little more inspiring as the band dabbled with Booker T. & The MG’s “Green Onions” before going for broke with “Hush” and “Black Night.” At one point, Glover and drummer Ian Paice engaged in a pulsating jam, and Morse brought it home with a stinging solo that dropped jaws and spurred on loaded questions of “Ritchie Blackmore who?” Afterwards, Gillan said, “We love you…take it easy…bye, bye…” — leaving many like myself wondering when they’ll be back. The likeliness of Deep Purple’s visits to this part of the world seems to grow dimmer with each year, making tonight’s performance even more special. Here’s hoping it isn’t their last.
