Here's a review sent in by CTC subscriber, Julio, from the gig at Teatro Plaza in Montevideo, Uruguay
on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007
QuoteDisplay MoreWell, last week I had the pleasure to witness legendary singer/bass player Glenn Hughes' show at the Plaza Theatre.
To picture the situation: How often do you step out of your home and say "Well, what shall I do now? Oh yes, there's a f***ing living legend from a band I grew up adoring playing a show just a couple of blocks away"??????
So there I went and at 9 PM *sharp* the thundering opening chords of DP's classic "Stormbringer" filled the room as I was just rushing in. From the start it was unbelievable to witness that Glenn still has his amazing voice *intact*. The guy sings and sounds exactly like he did over 30 years ago on that classic studio and live albums!! An inmensely powerful voice capable of going from whisper to roaring scream in just miliseconds.
The band was excellent, featuring a coupe of L.A. guys on drums (who did an excellent solo) and keyboards, plus the return of Swedish guitar player J.J. Marsh who again did an excellent job as he did way back in '99 (when GH's band first played here).
Lots of funk and soul ensued, mainly on songs from Glenn's latest solo albums ('Soul Mover' and 'Music for the Divine') interpersed with Purple classics.
Of the latest kind, the most impressive was a breathtaking version of MK.III's classic "Mistreated" (a.k.a. David Coverdale's signature song) on which the real star was J.J.'s excellent guitar playing including a long intro that perfectly captured the vibe of vintage Blackmore-led Purple. It almost felt like you were in '74 witnessing MK.III on tour at their peak, the difference being Glenn's screaming renditions of the familiar vocal melodies and the extended soul infused jam ending.
Like I said back in '99 and can reaffirm again, to me Glenn is the only DP member who can still perform at the same level he did at the band's peak and for my money is the only DP alumni than can accurately recreate the band's classic sound and dynamics onstage. Unlike the sorry excuse that nowadays carries the Deep Purple brand. In particular Marsh recaptured and expanded Blackmore's style *and* sound in an infinitely superior way to Steve Morse's mushy and overrated work in the current "Purple" (not that he even tries).
Strangely, no earlier solo material (excellent records like 'The Way it Is', 'Return of Crystal Karma', 'Building The Machine', etc, were ignored), no Black Sabbath, no Gary Moore, no Hughes/Thrall, no Iommi and I believe no Trapeze songs either.
On the minus side, I actually liked the '99 show better as this one lacked some fire due to a somewhat low volume level on the guitar and the setlist balance.
But back to the highlights: as a Purple fan who got very late into the underrated MK.IV lineup (featuring guitarist Tommy Bolin along both Coverdale and Hughes) it was great to witness excellent versions of classic tracks from that era like "Gettin' Tighter" and specially "You Keep on Moving" complete with a great rendition of Tommy's classic ending guitar solo by J.J.
For the encore, rapid fire versions of recent classic "Soul Mover" plus a somewhat rushed version of the inmortal "Burn".
So overall, an excellent lesson in real time (no f***in' sequencers, backing tapes or click tracks here) expertly played rock (with funk and soul influences).
But best of all? Glenn's farewell phrase: "See you next year!"