Customer Reviews

Deep Purple:With the London Sy

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This DVD is from a 1999 performance by Deep Purple, along with various guests, including the London Symphony Orchestra. They probably should have called it "Deep Purple And Friends", for reasons that will soon become obvious.

The show gets off to a slow start, with two ballads featuring Purple keyboardist Jon Lord on grand piano and the orchestra. The first, Pictured Within, has a singer named Miller Anderson on vocals. The second song, Wait Awhile, features Sam Brown, a female vocalist who has recorded several solo albums, and has also toured with Pink Floyd as a backup singer. Neither of these songs is very good, and are the primary reason why I'm not giving this release a five star review.

After the dull opening, Lord and orchestra are joined by most of his Deep Purple bandmates, bassist Roger Glover, drummer Ian Paice, and guitarist Steve Morse, along with Ronnie James Dio. With this configuration (plus a few backup singers and violinist Graham Preskett) the group performs two Glover penned songs, Sitting In A Dream and Love Is All. These songs are drawn from Butterfly Ball And The Grasshopper's Feast, a conceptual work that Glover released in the mid 70's. It's interesting that the band would choose to spotlight such obscure songs, but I think in the end, these two songs are played rather well.

Following this, Dio and Morse both leave the stage, and the remaining three members of Purple and Preskett, plus the infamous Kick Horns (who ruined many a classic song when they toured with The Who in 89) tear into the classic Purple instrumental Wring That Neck. I suppose if this was someone else paying tribute to Purple, I'd regard this as a great arrangement, but I was expecting to hear Steve Morse play on this track. Like I said, it's a good arrangement, and I suppose the band gets points for trying something different.

After this, show the REALLY picks up steam, as they present Lord's Concerto For Group And Orchestra, a piece that Purple originally recorded in 69, and which hadn't played much since then, until circumstances brought upon the inspiration to resurrect the piece 3 decades later.

So, what does the Concerto sound like? Well, it sounds like exactly what I had imagined it to be, ie a mix of an orchestra playing classical sounding music with the classic Purple sound. Some of the orchestral interludes seem to go on a bit, but I think in general, it's very successful in mixing classical and hard rock music. There's a couple bits during the second movement, where Ian Gillan sings, but it's mostly an instrumental piece.

After the Concerto, the band performs a handful of 90's era songs, before ending the set with Pictures Of Home. The encore is, of course, Smoke On The Water, performed with the full cast of musicians, along with members of The Steve Morse Band and a second guitarist who isn't really identified (he's not mentioned on the back cover, though presumably his name is amongst those listed under the word "Guests" in the closing credits). Dio and Gillan trade off on vocals, and suprisingly, the orchestra, Kick Horns and even the back up singers (I HATE back up singers, what does a rock group like Deep Purple need back up singers for?) sound great.

To those who demur at the idea of Deep Purple without Ritchie Blackmore, I might point out Steve Morse is a genius. He's had a long career playing with The Dregs during the 70's as well as The Steve Mores Band and Kansas during the 80's. He twice got so sick of the business of the music industry that he quit and took a normal job, but found the pull of playing music too strong to stay away from his first love. He does a perfect job at filling Blackmore's shoes.

As I said before, the only reason I'm giving this DVD a four star review instead of five is because of the two boring Jon Lord songs that open the disc. I think it would have been better if they had started out with a few Purple songs, then the Concerto, then more Purple material to wrap up with. Maybe they could have stuck the songs the songs featuring Miller Anderson (WHO IS Miller Anderson, anyway?!), Sam Brown and Ronnie James Dio in the middle someplace, but I think it was a bad idea to start with them.

Anyway, I think this is a nice release, and once they get into the actual portion of the show that features Deep Purple, it's fantastic.

Sorry, I am a fan of the original Deep Purple from the days of Ritchie Blackmore and "Made in Tokyo" live album, or Machine Head style of playing... if this is your expectations, this video of a more recent incarnation of Deep Purple will let you down. They are not the same group as the early 1970's Deep Purple. I am not a hard core Deep Purple fanatic that will blindly like and worship anything labled "Deep Purple". I want and prefer the original bands material. So this DVD was a let down to me. It may not be for you.

What a surprise this CD was! Little did I expect to find the opening song giving me 'goose bumps' the whole way through it. Then the second song was equally as great...amazing! What fabulous voices highlighting the gustsy and diverse nature of songs by Deep Durple. I knew little about Deep Purple before buying this CD, but now I'm hooked and want to find out more! Deinately reccomend it highly.

Nice DVD...starts out mellow, with guest vocalists and the orchestra with Jon Lord in charge. Concerto for Group and Orchestra kicks in, and is great. Differences in the '69 version for sure (which is worth buying, also). The group rocks out more..all original members except Blackmore replaced by Steve Morse who can handle the guitar duties great. would have been a great concert to have been at--they did it all.

It is blasphemy! Steve Morse butchers the songs with his funky off pitch string bending. He has the most horrible vibrato. If no one else notices it they need their ears checked. Steve Morse is left handed but plays righty which is the problem with his vibrato that cannot be ignored. Yngwie Malmsteen would be better fitting in Deep Purple but he is too into himself and his controlling other players to have joined this legendary band.

This is a single disc DVD, taken from two nights. The running time is two hours. There is also a double CD version of this show that contains 3 more tracks. Video and sound quality are excellent. There is an option for stereo or 5.1 sound. The only special feature is printed words (not even a video interview) from Jon Lord explaining how he wrote the concerto.

The first songs of this show do not include any members of Deep Purple. It is the orchestra and guest vocalists doing some of the more recent Deep Purple songs. They are actually very interesting and sound better than the original studio versions.

Members of Deep Purple slowly join in the act. Finally when Ian Paice comes for Wring That Neck, the group is complete. The version of Wring That Neck is excellent. It is done as a quasi-blue grass number, but supported by an orchestra.

After Wring That Neck, the group goes into Concerto For Group and Orchestra. It is 55 minutes long. It is not much different than the original, except for some Steve Morse guitar solos. If you already have the original, this new version is not different enough to warrant buying this DVD.

On the final four tracks, Deep Purple comes out front, with the orchestra now in the background. There are some very nice guitar solos from Morse.

Most of this DVD consists of newer songs. Wring That Neck, Smoke on the Water, and Concerto are the only classic songs included.

Deep Purple started out as a pioneering cross between a progressive/art rock band and a hard rock band. Jon Lord was the leader and led the band in more an art rock direction. After 3 albums, they kicked out the original singer and bass player and replaced them with Glover and Gillian. Lord has his final art rock production, Concerto for Group and Orchestra, released in 1970. It wasn't the first time a rock group was backed by an orchestra, but it was the first for a hard rock band. This album did not do well, and that was the last of Deep Purple's experiments. After that, Ritchie Blackmore became more of an influence and the group moved to harder rock sound.

My favorite Deep Purple studio albums are the first three and In Rock, when they still had the progressive and innovative sound. But, they were their best live, on albums like Made in Japan and Live and Rare.

I have always loved the Concert for Group and Orchestra. The new version is excellent (sound, image and direction); however, the old one excels. Why? First, in the new one there is a feeling of something already accomplished. Lord and company do not have to show anything: everybody in the public and even in the orchestra know the concert works and is good. The uncertainty, the encounter with the unknown, is missing here, while it was the great sensation on the first version. Second, the great selfindulgence of the past is also missing. The solos, particularly the guitar ones, are reduced, in order to adapt to an economy prone musical industry (do not bore the audience with long experiments, seems to be the order). Third, times are not the same. Sixties audience was the perfect frame for this kind of music: adventurous, innovative, iconoclast. Those are the reasons for not giving five stars to this DVD. Everything is OK, but, unfortunately for rating, there is an exceptional precedent. Get it for image, sound and extra songs; however, do not forget that there is a better one. By the way, I do not belong to the sixties generation, so my appreciation has nothing to do with nostalgia.

As others mentioned before, this video is great.What impresses me the most is the excellent performance of Steve Morse.Watching him play his guitar is absolutely fabulous.I was lucky enough to see the live show of this concerto twice,once in Belgium and the other time in Holland.The video differs slightly from those life performances.It's a pitty that the tape does not include "Night meets light" and the beautiful intro to "Smoke on the water".What I regret the most however, is the fact that the camera is not always focused on Steve Morse while he is soloing.For instance there are a few moments of amazing guitarwork during "Pictures of home" where the camera is showing members of the orchestra.During such important soloparts the camera should better stay close to the performing artist.Nevertheless when there's nothing interesting on TV, wich is mostly the case in our country, I put my tape of DP on and enjoy it over and over again.

As others mentioned before, this video is great.What impresses me the most is the excellent performance of Steve Morse.Watching him play his guitar is absolutely fabulous.I was lucky enough to see the live show of this concerto twice,once in Belgium and the other time in Holland.The video differs slightly from those life performances.It's a pitty that the tape does not include "Night meets light" and the beautiful intro to "Smoke on the water".What I regret the most however, is the fact that the camera is not always focused on Steve Morse while he is soloing.For instance there are a few moments of amazing guitarwork during "Pictures of home" where the camera is showing members of the orchestra.During such important soloparts the camera should better stay close to the performing artist.Nevertheless when there's nothing interesting on TV, wich is mostly the case in our coutry, I put my tape of DP on and enjoy it over and over again.

In 1969 Deep Purple broke new ground by writing and performing The Concerto for Group and Orchestra. Thirty years later, they did it again, only better. I have owned the LP, CD, bootlegged VHS tape, and the laser disk of the original recording. Now with the CD and DVD, my collection of one of the most amazing classical rock concerts ever made is complete. Now if I can just see them live...

Deep Purple was the first band to truly demonstrate the concept of Symphonic Rock. YES, Tull, and even Metallica are all Johnnie Come Latelys.

How does one improve upon perfection... get this DVD and see for yourself. And to the guy who commented on Steve Morse (the new kid), Morse makes Ritchie Blackmore seem like an old arthritic blues picker... Steve Morse reinvented Deep Purple and it shows.