Excellent 2 DVD release, but...for whatever reason, "Perfect Strangers" is omitted from the Montreux set! The band played it, but it's not on the DVD or the companion CD release. Why this happened is a mystery to me. It's a pleasant surprise to have the London Hard Rock Cafe set included here. A few of the tracks were issued on the Rapture of the Deep Special Edition CD, but I didn't realize the show had been filmed. Well worth the buy, and in my opinion, a better one than Montreux 1996, which was a bit of a truncated performance (11 songs, barely an hour and twenty).
I have been a Deep Purple fan for over 25 years and own many records, cds and dvds of them in concert. This particular dvd is one of their best period. Whenever Deep Purple plays at Montreux, it is bound to be a special event, and this show lives up to any expectation anyone could have. The band is tight w/ all their arrengments yet loose enough that they can improvise on some of their most known and popular songs and maintain the essence of what Deep Purple has always been. Steve Morse's guitar playing is immpecable, presice and fluid. Don Airey had some big shoes to fill w/ the departure of Jon Lord, but he shows on this dvd that he is on par w/ any keybord player in the history of rock music (as well as classical and jazz). Ian Gillan's legendary voice still rocks like it did when he first sang about the Montreux Jazz Festival back in '71. Ian Pace and Roger Glover show us why they still are one of the best drum and bass combos ever. In short, if you are a Deep Purple fan you will like this dvd. After all, can the 40th Anniversay of the Montreux Jass Festival get any better then Deep Purple headlining it?
I'm really surprised at just how magnificent of a performance this show turned out to be.
I admit, I went in expecting a bunch of musicians who should have retired years ago still dragging on and attempting to rock the house down but ending up sounding (and looking) like a sad image of what they used to be. I was 100% completely WRONG!
This performance absolutely rocks with just as much aggression and energy as, dare I say, the legendary Made In Japan live classic released back in the early 70's.
The biggest problem is that Ian Gillan can no longer hit the high notes without his voice falling apart. This was actually a problem 25 years ago around the time Black Sabbath's Born Again was released, but his voice has unfortunately gotten even worse. He just can't hit those high notes anymore, as evident by the way he was sweating and struggling to do so by pausing for a moment to build up the strength and attempt it. However, he has apparently developed an ability to hide this fact because he can still sing the more restrained verse melodies really well. He just can't scream like he used to back in the 70's.
Besides really botching "Space Truckin", Ian Gillan didn't become too much of a distraction with his vocal mistakes. Oh, and on an unrelated note, he sure does resemble William Shatner in the face!
I also admired the way Ian Gillan would communicate with the audience. He was very friendly, likeable and made jokes constantly. Of course, that one moment when he made what I consider a racist joke was very very odd and out of place to say the least. I know he meant it in a light-hearted way, but it was still a bit shocking to witness.
I really like the way Ian Gillan would introduce the rest of the band. He didn't do so all at once- he'd introduce one band member at a time, they'd perform an amazing solo for a few minutes, and then 20 minutes later Ian would introduce another band member and repeat the process all over again. It was amazing and allowed both the audience at the concert and those of us at home to appreciate these dazzling solo performances by the band members on their respective musical instrument when the time came to do so.
Steve Morse has officially won me over with his melodic guitar playing skills. He played the guitar very very well throughout the performance and I absolutely loved the majority of the notes he was hitting. A natural talent for being memorable, that just about describes his guitar playing abilities. He's no Ritchie Blackmore of course, and I admit I *was* hoping for a surprise appearance by Ritchie even though I secretly knew it wouldn't happen, but well... there you have it.
I did feel that "Smoke on the Water" was considerably softer than the studio version we've all been hearing for years now, but you know, most of the guitar solos and Ian Gillan's stage antics were always exciting and memorable enough that any complaints about the songs themselves weren't ever really worth taking into consideration. Definitely not worth comparing to other versions either.
Starting the show with "Pictures of Home" was a brilliant idea too. I loved it.
Overall, I'm surprised Ian Gillan still has the energy to make a concert like this happen, and the same applies to the rest of the band. This performance really proves that, no matter the age, with enough determination, a return to the glory days is entirely in the realm of possibility. I was certainly proven wrong about old guys reaching a certain age where they're no longer able to rock, because this concert lives up to the hype. A great show.
The 1st show & 2nd second both Smoke but the keys at the London Hard Rock are very very low in the mix.
Low enough to annoy this listner...who ever was on the mixing board messed up a quality show.
We should'nt have to strain our ears to here those keys !
The keys in Purple are necessary & needed.
still 5 stars though
Awesome live show. The video is sharp, the editing is perfect, the sound is clear and loud, and the band look and are playing great. Nice to see the band still keeping on, and they've really trimmed alot of the excess noodling and extended solos from earlier incarnations to now just rocking and jamming away. 5 stars
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