This past Tuesday, Deep Purple made their first appearance in the WNY area in over 14 years inside the scenic Artpark venue. They are still supporting their latest effort “Now What?!” which came out in 2013. It’s a rare occurrence when the band plays anywhere in the United States, let alone the WNY area, so it was a real delight to see one of the bands that pioneered the hard rock and heavy metal genre. Today’s Deep Purple lineup consist of longtime members Ian Paice on drums, Ian Gillan on vocals, Roger Glover on bass as well as Steve Morse on guitar and Don Airey on organ/keyboards.
The band wanted to get things started off on the right foot and kicked it into high gear immediately by performing the classic, “Highway Star.” Their backdrop consisted of 5 very skinny video screens where they only used various ones at certain times to create a unique perspective.
Gillan joked when he introduced the song “Vincent Price.” “This maybe the darkest song we wrote,” he proclaimed. On the next track Morse displayed his solid guitar prowess on the beginning of “Contact Lost.” He was able to stretch his wings on occasion and this was one of those instances. The song “Lazy” heavily incorporates each member of the band, as it’s a mostly instrumental tune.
Airey showed why is one of the most talented keyboardists on the planet as he went back and forth between his organ and keyboard. His playing combines the quick skill of Liberace combined with his predecessor John Lord. The haunting tone of the organ led into the song “Perfect Strangers, ” and later, Morse, Gillan and Glover came together to sing the chorus of “Hell to Pay.”
Of course when Morse started to play the most recognizable chords of any rock song ever, “Smoke on the Water,” the crowd went nuts. Gillan let the crowd take over and sing the chorus and it was overwhelming.
The band has been a key influence in not only the rock and metal genre, but music overall. To not recognize the importance of that by giving them the high honor of an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is just mind boggling, and continues to prove how clueless and ignorant the voters are. For Deep Purple, the vast appreciation they received in Lewiston, NY, and undoubtedly every other venue they play, at least serves as sweet vindication for the band, proving they are a timeless and relevant force that can still rock the house.
Setlist:
Highway Star
Apres Vous
Hard Lovin’ Man
Strange Kind of Woman
Vincent Price
Contact Lost
Uncommon Man
The Well-Dressed Guitar
The Mule
Lazy
Hell to Pay
Keyboard solo
Perfect Strangers
Space Truckin’
Smoke on the Water
Encore:
Hush (Joe South cover)
Black Night
We would like to thank Maria Hays from Artpark for her assistance in obtaining credentials so BackstageAxxess can review the show.
