Utilita Arena, Birmingham 25/10/2022
Tuesday 25th October, my 34th birthday and I find myself on a train en route to Birmingham to see one of the greatest rock bands the world has ever seen, the mighty Deep Purple. To say I was excited is an understatement. This was going to be a great birthday celebration!
Support act, Blue Öyster Cult arrive onstage and launch into the opening chords of ‘Transmaniacon MC’ – I thought the sound engineer was struggling a little to get the sound just right in the first few songs. It was very echoey, almost distant, but I’m pleased to say that after the first few songs, he got it sorted!
By the time BÖC launched into ‘Burning for You’, from their 1981 album Fire of Unknown Origin, I’d say the sound problems had been ironed out. ‘ETI’ was a fan favourite and I’ve got to complement Richie Castellano, what an incredible guitarist. ‘The Last Days of May’ was stunning, ‘Godzilla’, another fan favourite and there was definitely no call for ‘more cowbell’ as the band launched into the final song, ‘Don’t Fear The Reaper’. I enjoyed the opening set and would be very keen to see a headline BÖC show!
The main event however, the reason we were all there was to see Deep Purple. Like I said, I was so excited. After a quick change over the lights dimmed and it was time!
Opening with Highway Star, this sounded pretty damn close, if not identical to the record. Don Airey’s keys and organs bringing that huge crescendo, obviously extended for the stage, before finally Ian Gillan appears onstage to a huge applause! He starts singing. Wow! I have to say, I wasn’t expecting it to be that good! 77 years old and he has STILL got it.
‘Pictures of Home’ follows and then Ian Gillan announces they were to play some new material from their last original album Whoosh! They’ve since done a covers album; What followed were two fantastic songs that felt like they belonged on one of the classic Purple albums. ‘No Need to Shout’ and ‘Nothing at All’ were both great.
Guitarist Simon McBride is absolutely sensational, closer in sound and style to Blackmore perhaps. He well and truly works the stage and fits in well with the rest of the band. His first time to shine comes in ‘Uncommon Man’ which Isn Gillan dedicates to Jon Lorde – Simon McBride’s solo is truly epic! He made that guitar speak!! I was in guitar heaven.
‘When a Blind man Cries’ and ‘Anya’ follow, and then an amazing Keyboard solo from Don Airey! Another magical moment- there really does need to be more keys in rock!! He is absolutely stunning.
I was having an absolute blast, this was a great night, on my birthday too!! ‘Perfect Strangers’ leads into an excellent rendition of ‘Space Trucking’, that leads into the final song of the set, ‘Smoke on the Water’ – by now everyone is on their feet and the whole crowd, air guitar in hand, played along with ‘that’ riff… or maybe that was just me!!
The band disappear, then after a brief moment they’re back and launch into their encore, first up, it’s ‘Hush’, fun, funky and very cool and the crowd are well and truly lapping it up. Ian Paice, the engine room of the group is relentless and looking incredibly cool, donning his shades! A true rock and roll drummer.
Hush leads into an amazing bass solo from Roger Glover, he makes the bass do things that I didn’t even think were possible. Less conventional bass playing, more bass acrobatics; I watched and I was well and truly awestruck! Following Roger’s incredible bass solo, the final song kicks in, ‘Black Night’, yet another foot to the floor rocker. The energy onstage is magnificent and I didn’t want it to end!
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. What can I say about my birthday night out seeing Deep Purple? Well, here is a band who have been going a staggering 54 years, admittedly they’ve had a few line up changes along the way, but they still sound as fresh now as they did way back when. Hats off to Simon McBride who has injected extra energy into the group, Ian Gillan shows no sign of slowing down, vocally or physically and Don Airey, Ian Paice and Roger Glover all blew my mind!
Overall, a wonderful night of full on rock and roll! I came out absolutely buzzing and If you’ve never seen Deep Purple, you are missing out!
