Deep Purple Manchester Apollo Oct 12th 2013
I decided at the last minute to go and see Deep Purple at Manchester Apollo last night. Its a couple of years since I’ve seen them and the nearest calling point of this year’s tour was Manchester. The concert wasn’t sold out, so I bought myself a standing ticket, printed it off on my computer. I was soon on my way down the A1 and across the M62 to Manchester, listening to “In Rock” as I drove down. I arrived just as support band Rockbox took to the stage. The Apollo seemed pretty full, with the stalls packed, and looking upstairs I could see very few empty seats. Rockbox were quite bizarre. They are a five piece; the singer used a loud hailer rather than a mike, and the four other guys were wearing red velvet school uniforms ala Angus Young, complete with devil horns and short trousers. The guitarist wore his amp in a satchel and had a speaker strapped to his belt. Two guys had drums hanging around their necks; one with a bass drum and the other with a snare and a couple of cymbals. And oh, there was also a guy with a huge horn, draped around him; I think it was a sousaphone. A pretty strange line-up and very different from the norm. Their set was all covers including Won’t get fooled again, Sgt Peppers, and Don’t stop me now. They went down well with the crowd, who found it good fun, and knew all the songs. 
I found a spot quite close to the stage, and Deep Purple came on bang at 9pm. They have just released a new CD “Now What?!” which is their 19th album, and their first for 8 years, and the set featured a few tracks from it. In fact, they started with a new song, which surprised me (and disappointed me a little as I was expecting usual opener Highway Star). Not to worry, however, as there were plenty of old classics for me. Each member took a solo during the set, which I usually find tiring, but last night the balance was OK, with each members instrumental piece working well, and not being over long. Favourites for me were (of course) all of the old ones: Strange Kind of Woman, Lazy, Into the Fire, Space Trucking, Smoke on the Water, and the encores Hush and Black Night. Ian Gillan’s voice was quite strong, with the usual screams intact. He is now in the habit of disappearing off stage between verses, presumably to take a rest, and a drink for his throat. They dedicated one of the new songs, Above and Beyond, to Jon Lord. Black Night closed the show at 10.45pm, and was just great. It took me a good 30 mins to get out of the car park; they pack the cars in nose to tail, so you are blocked in and can’t get out until everyone around you arrives at their car. I then got stuck in traffic driving through the city centre. I was home around 1.45am. It was good to see Deep Purple again, particularly in a relatively intimate venue. Just classic. The old ones are still the best. Setlist: Après vous; Into the Fire; Hard Lovin’ Man; Vincent Price; Strange Kind of Woman; Contact Lost (guitar Solo by Steve Morse); Uncommon Man; The Well-Dressed Guitar; The Mule (drum Solo by Ian Paice); Above and Beyond; Lazy; Hell to Pay (keyboard Solo Don Airey); Perfect Strangers; Space Truckin’; Smoke on the Water. Encore: Green Onions (Booker T. & The MG’s); Hush; (bass Solo by Roger Glover); Black Night
13 Oct
Deep Purple Manchester Apollo Oct 12th 2013
Posted October 13, 2013 by vintagerock in Deep Purple. Tagged: blues, concert, concerts, folk, gigs, heavy metal, music, pop, prog rock, punk, R&B, rock, rock n roll. 2 Comments
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Posted by dawn on October 18, 2013 at 5:01 pm
Fab deep purple not seen them since 1985 at knebworth.
Posted by vintagerock on October 18, 2013 at 5:08 pm
Thanks Dawn
I was also at the Knebworth gig it was wet but still great
Purple are still good today