DEEP PURPLE – Perfect Strangers Live [2 CD] (2013)

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Eagle Rock has just released “DEEP PURPLE – Perfect Strangers Live”, a double CD/DVD combo recorded in Melbourne, Australia, when the long-awaited reunion of the classic Mark II lineup of Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice headed out on tour to present their comeback album ‘Perfect Strangers’.

This Deep purple MK 2 reunion show is an absolute killer concert with a band firing on all cylinders, and I am quite surprised by their performance here. It is after all a very early reunion show and the band was still tweaking it’s performance (the Australian leg of the tour was considered a ‘warm-up’, hence not even a stage show like in 1985).
But that’s precisely what makes this double live CD so enjoyable.
You can hear power here: Deep Purple sounds incredibly tight, powerful and heavy. There are many goosebumps inducing moments, when the interplay between the band, the sound they create and the energy with which they play easily matches the glory of their heyday.

Ian Gillan delivers mighty impressive screams & shouts and sings some songs better than on any reunion and Morse era recording you will find. Such as “Highway Star”, a fantastic performance by the big Ian. He leaves his mark and he does it strongly, which is not something I can say for any other Deep Purple live record that doesn’t have a 197xx date.
Ritchie Blackmore simply rocks. He seems to be on fire, re-charged, enthusiastic with this fresh reunion. Just listen his phenomenal guitar work on “Under The Gun”. What a ‘dangerous’ solo, somewhat similar to its studio counterpart, but bigger, heavier and crazier. Only Ritchie can do that and pull it off.
But there’s more highlights.

“Strange Kind of Woman” does indeed have a great trading of licks between then friendly Ritchie and Ian. But let’s not forget Ritchie’s main solo. It has all the qualities we like from him; the notes breath, they are not randomly thrown in and the playing is clear, fluent and a nice small piece of inspired ‘heavy-blues-rock’ soloing, if we can name it. Done RB style of course.

Rainbow’s “Difficult To Cure” has a guitar intro that features one of the best examples of Ritchie’s classic noddlings I’ve heard. At 2 minutes, it is a very inspired piece, full of classical runs, volume swells, and beautiful fingerpicked melodies.
There is great Blackmore to be found elsewhere, such as in the bluesy intro to “Gypsys Kiss”, the melodic “Knocking At Your Backdoor” and some mighty impressive runs in “Child In Time”. “Speed King” rocks in a great way too, trading licks between Ritchie, Lord and Gillian. Great when one would play a motif and the other would finish it so well.
The immortal “Smoke On The Water” sounds fresh in a very good version plenty of playfulness and improvisation. Sometimes I do not think I want to hear it played live ever again, but I was pleasantly surprised by this 1984 version.

“DEEP PURPLE – Perfect Strangers Live” is a good one.
Ritchie Blackmore had one of his crazy inspired nights, precise and flashy, delivering tons of terrific solos, and we can hear Gillan still screaming in top form.
Jon Lord easily matches Ritchie in instrumental prowess, dishing out those great Hammond solos we all know and love (and a particularly excellent solo piece). Glover and Paice are as tight as ever and Ian Paice often seems energized by either Lord’s or Blackmore’s daring improvisations and he adds his own to the mix.
This is really very much a BAND performance, with a great friendly atmosphere between these talented musicians.
Recommended.

CD 1:
01 – Highway Star
02 – Nobodys Home
03 – Strange Kind Of Woman
04 – A Gypsy’s Kiss
05 – Perfect Strangers
06 – Under The Gun
07 – Knocking At Your Back Door
08 – Lazy

CD 2:
01 – Child In Time
02 – Difficult To Cure
03 – Jon Lord Keyboard Solo
04 – Space Truckin’
05 – Black Night
06 – Speed King
07 – Smoke On The Water

BUY IT !
www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-Strangers-Live-2cds-Dvd/dp/B00E80YNJM
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