Deep Purple

SECC, Glasgow

25 June 2003

Those who have seen my other reviews will know that I had severe misgivings about the Wembley gig, and although I enjoyed the NEC performance much more there were still problems with the venue and the "package tour" format. So I still didn't really know what to expect from the SECC...

First of all, the SECC really does deserve the word "shed". Imagine a big... er... shed with no seating, no air conditioning, very little air of any sort in fact (it's midsummer and temperatures are in the 80s outside), and 5000 people... oh, and add into the mix a 15 minute queue to get a drink of any description... I'm amazed people weren't being rushed out to casualty... Anybody remember Knebworth? Imagine Knebworth but substitute sweat for mud and you've got a good idea of what was happening at the SECC! I think I lost five pounds last night...

As soon as I saw what the venue was like, I expected the worst. Lynyrd Skynyrd came on and played their typically excellent, crowd-rousing set. A fantastic reaction from the crowd... good for them, they deserve it, but it didn't look good for Purple. I was already exhausted, I was dehydrating rapidly, and the crowd seemed like a Skynyrd crowd. How were Purple going to follow that?

They followed it with the most scream-filled Highway Star I've heard for many a year. Gillan's voice was monstrous, he wasn't holding anything back. None of them were. The energy level was incredible. 110% effort? Deep Purple left 110% in the dust and kept on going, with the crowd behind them all the way. Honestly, there's nothing like a Glasgow crowd. Best crowd of the tour, and I think the band felt it as well. By rights we should have been passing out in droves but I guess Glaswegians are too tough to let a little heat exhaustion and oxygen deprivation bother them too much...

Highway Star ran straight into Knocking At Your Back Door, a total surprise (who complained that they never change the set list???), I haven't heard it for 10 years... Woman From Tokyo was also added to the set and that was it, everything suddenly clicked, everything was perfect: venue, crowd, performances, set list... by now I couldn't tell if I was sweating or crying, it was just seriously perfect. Best concert of the whole tour. Best concert ever.

That's all. Can't say any more. Thank you, Glasgow.