IAN GILLIAN – Contractual Obligation #2 Live In Warsaw (2019)
Three years ago IAN GILLIAN did a short tour of Eastern and Central Europe backed by the Don Airey Band and various local orchestras conducted by Stephen Bentley-Klein. The last three shows of the tour were recorded and are now being released as a series of three live albums, each in a different format (perhaps to make our lives more interesting).
This “Contractual Obligation #2: Live In Warsaw” is released on 2-CD, Contractual Obligation #1: Live In Moscow on Blu-ray, while Contractual Obligation #3: Live In St. Petersburg on 3LP vinyl only.
Still fresh from the success of the Deep Purple studio album “Now What?!”, and just a few months before the release of the latest and equally successful album “inFinite”, Ian Gillan accepted the offer to tour for a month in Eastern Europe with a full rock show, accompanied every night by a different local orchestra.
Gillan decided to recruit the Don Airey Band, which features the guitar talent of Simon McBride.
All shows were truly unique, with Airey and McBride delivering perfect performances night after night. Deep Purple material (including rarities like “Razzle Dazzle” or “Anya”) went hand in hand with Gillan solo songs and surprises for those into the deepest catalogue.
The title is a humorous reference to Ian Gillan’s notorious reticence to pay any attention to his own or Deep Purple live releases (as he explains in the album liner notes: “I never listen to myself”).
This live album might well be one of the nicest chapters in Gillan’s solo production ever and a reminder about how great his solo music and concerts have been over the years.
Very well recorded and mixed. Highly Recommended
CD 1
1. Hang Me Out To Dry
2. Pictures Of Home
3. No Lotion For That
4. Strange Kind Of Woman
5. Razzle Dazzle
6. A Day Late ‘N’ A Dollar Short
7. Lazy
8. Rapture Of The Deep
9. When A Blind Man Cries
CD 2
1. You’re Gonna Ruin Me Baby (with Grace Gillan)
2. Ain’t No More Cane On The Brazos
3. Difficult To Cure (Beethoven’s Ninth)
4. Anya
5. Perfect Strangers
6. Hell To Pay
7. Demon’s Eye
8. Smoke On The Water
9. Hush
10. Black Night
Pre Order:
www.amazon.com/Contractual-Obligation-2-Live-Warsaw/dp/B07RY4B76T
