Shaky start, climbs up, boils over
Published 2024-08-06 00.30
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full screen Ian Gillan, who turns 80 next year, is unfortunately contemporary Deep Purple’s weakest link. But he is not one to give up. Photo: Ebba Rangemo / Rockfoto
CONCERT Deep Purple is no longer a tumbling live band that makes big headlines. But with an infectious joy of playing, a convivial atmosphere and new song material, the hard rock veterans go quite far.
Certainly after a shaky start.
Deep Purple
Place: Furuvik Park, Furuvik. Public: Missing number but probably around 7,000 people. Length: One hour and 40 minutes. Best: ”Portable door”, ”Anya” och ”Bleeding obvious”. Worst: First half of the game. The reason is Ian Gillan’s strained voice. Question: Why don’t they delete “Highway star” from the live repertoire?
PINE VIK Once upon a time was Deep Purple the world’s loudest live band. They broke decibel records and scared parrots in Australia.
Those days are definitely over.
This side of the turn of the millennium, the iconic hard rock group has changed its guise to something considerably calmer. In peace and quiet, the band members enter the stage to unfold a cuddly ball of blues and prog-dipped hard rock.
Unfortunately, they immediately beat themselves up with “Highway star”. The glory days have never felt so far away. The iconic song, whose discharges Ian Gillan couldn’t even manage 20 years ago, has transformed from a fast Ford Thunderbird to a permobile desperately trying to keep up with the pace on the autobahn. The singing is downright painful to endure.
But the advantage of starting at the bottom is that you can only climb upwards.
And that’s exactly what Deep Purple does. Slowly but surely, in front of an unusually patient audience, the numbers and Gillan’s voice grow in strength.
The riff no longer strikes like blinding lightning, but occasionally – as during the eternal beauty “Anya” – it sparkles about the group. Especially if the holy trinity Ian Paice, Roger Glover and Don Airey who still look like they’re having an awful lot of fun together. Little Lindfors “Music should be built out of joy” was written with them in mind.
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full screenDeep Purple. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg / TT News Agency
The happiest are Airey and Glover, who apparently dipped their nylens in cotton candy before the gig. Their mile-wide smiles and bursts of joy leave few park visitors untouched.
And it is often to them that my attention and gaze wander when Gillan takes the lead from otherwise excellent classics such as “Space truckin'”, “Lazy” and “Hard lovin’ man”.
Even the 78-year-old’s mumbled chatter leaves clumsiness in the record.
The material from the latest album “=1” does not.
“Portable door” and “Bleeding obvious”, which soar majestically far beyond traditional song arrangements and better suit Gillan’s current form, are striking reminders of the Brits’ greatness and the collective competence behind their music.
The indisputable crowd pleaser “Smoke on the water” later whips up the mood and transforms the calm that has been over the area into a gentle folk party worthy of a Monday night. The audience’s devout singing can be heard all the way to Solliden in Stockholm.
The subsequent encores “Hush” and “Black night” finally bring the simmering pot to a boil.
Then the weak start is almost forgotten and forgiven.
Deep Purple play at Gröna Lund in Stockholm on Tuesday 6 August.
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FACT
All the songs
1. Highway star 2. A bit on the side 3. Hard lovin’ man 4. Into the fire 5. Uncommon man 6. Lazy sod 7. Lazy 8. Portable door 9. Anya 10. Bleeding obvious 11. Space truckin’ 12. Smoke on the water Extranummer: 13. Caught in the act 14. Hush (Joe South-cover) 15. Black night
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