Legendary British rock band Deep Purple held a concert on Saturday, July 13 at the stadium Tasmajdan. For the previous performances of this band, I always looked for an excuse why not to go, since Blackmoore is not playing, they are already old, they will not live up to expectations. However, every time I would repent after hearing the comments. This time I said to myself – It’s weather. At a time when bands perform with only one original member, the current line-up of Purple still features three members from the famous MK2 line-up (Gillan, Paice i Glover). Besides them, there are also guitarists Simon McBride who joined the band in 2022 as a replacement for Steve Morse and keyboardist Don Airey.
The start of the concert was announced for 9:00 p.m., and the mercury in the thermometer did not drop below 30 degrees that evening, so we entered Tašmajdan just before the beginning. At first glance, we noticed that the stadium was quite full, and that this will be another well-attended concert by this band in Belgrade. Considering that this is not the first concert in Belgrade, it can be said that, along with Iron Madden, they are definitely one of the favorite bands in our area. As announced, at 9 p.m. the lights went out, and the intro started playing over the public address system.Mars, the Bringer of War“. The first bars of the big hit “Highway Star” the audience welcomed with enthusiasm, singing along with Ian Gillan. Immediately afterwards, there was a lowering of energy with the premiere performance of the new song “A Bit on the Side“, from the new album announced for July 19, less known to the audience. Then followed two tracks from the famous album “In Rock” – “Hard Loving Man” and a real stoner from the riff “Into the Fire“. The sound is decent from the beginning of the concert, while the rhythm sections of Glower and Paice sound like they were in their best days. Who would have thought that they are approaching their eighties?
This was followed by one of the (later) numerous solo points of the concert, for which guitarist Simon McBride was in charge. The new guitarist fit in great. The band adapted the performance and the set list to Ian so that he could push the concert, after all he is 78 years old, we can’t expect him to sound like before. Newer Tracks “Uncommon Man“ i „Lazy Sod” were followed up on the famous “Lazy” from the album “Machine Head”. Another single from the new album “Portable Door” was presented to the audience, and after him “Anya” great track from the album “Battle Rages On”.
A new solo part followed, this time Don Aiery showed his virtuoso skills on the keyboards, like Jon Lord used to. Another novelty “Bleeding Obvious” with a great riff. The performance opened the interesting question of how this song will sound in the studio version, so he is eagerly awaiting the release of the album. The finish of the concert was of course reserved for well-known hits, “Space Trucking” in which the rhythm section once again dominated, and then with a big scream and the very finale of the show, one of the most legendary (and the first to be learned on the guitar) rock ’n’ roll numberSmoke on the Water“. The audience enthusiastically sings every word of the global hit.
The band then leaves the stage, only to return for an encore after a short break. Two big, unforgettable hits were waiting for us there.Hush“ i „Black Nightaccompanied by a heated atmosphere for the perfect closing of the evening at Tašmajdan.
As we left the stadium, I realized that I was really under the impression of the concert, happy that I finally had the opportunity to see and listen to the legendary band. There is only regret for a few hits from the last tour that there was no place for now, but Deep Purple certainly showed why they are an undisputed force decades back on the world rock scene.
Author: Miloš Cvetuljac
Photo gallery – Deep Purple – Belgrade
Source: balkanrock.com
