Starstruck in the Presence of Lee Kerslake: Deep Purple

22nd October 2022

Glasgow Hydro

A few weeks back I went to see Roxy Music to listen to a seventy-something geezer whose voice was on the cusp of leaving him. BF still sounded fine, but I rather feel this would be the last time Roxy Music would be undertaking such a lengthy tour.

Very similar situation with Ian Gillan this evening, I noted: the voice still recognisable, if palpably weaker with a narrower range.

But the jarring difference here was that whilst Bryan Ferry looked like a dapper late-middle-aged country squire in gladrags for the evening, Ian Gillan looked old. Well, of course he did, I hear you say - the vocalist has recently turned 77.

But the poor chap also looked unwell. Shuffling about the stage, his hand holding the mike generally shaking as he sang - I was jarringly put in mind of Joe Biden. That Gillan frequently wandered to the rear of the stage during any instrumental break, did make me wonder if he was taking every opportunity to take oxygen or summat. And some of his rambling song introductions bordered upon the surreal.

As for the music? Well, fellow Mark II members Roger Glover and Iain Paice provided as solid a rhythm section as one could hope for in a pair with a combined age of 150 years. Keyboard player Don Airey made a decent fist of Jon Lord's former parts - but the whole business was, in truth, held together by new guitarist Simon McBride. He barely looked taxed by Ritchie Blackmore's classic parts nailing the Highway Star guitar solo perfectly. Mind you, he had probably already learned it in his teens, and been in all likelihood been teaching it for years.

Highway Star had opened the set and Gillan, I felt, did just fine there, but he really toiled with Pictures of Home - which I felt an odd choice to play, even though it is one of my personal faves.

The setlist then took in a trio of tunes I was unfamiliar with:

No Need To Shout announced its arrival with a bit of a nod in the direction of the Stormbringer riff, before settling down to a fairly standard rocker featuring some rather witty lyrics, one could easily imagine being directed by Gillan to Blackmore during one of their frequent tiffs. Although, I rather wondered if Donald Trump was the true target.

Nothing at All was an altogether slower shuffle of a number, with some distinctly proggy noodling from McBride and Airey and was, in my opinion, the most aurally simulating of the three.

Uncommon Man - dedicated here "to our old friend Jon Lord" - by contrast, although enjoying a vaguely eastern vibe, didn't really go anywhere of interest.

A lengthy intro by Airey brought me (and I wager, as fair few of the wrinklies around me) back onto familiar territory with Lazy; Gillan in fine, fine voice here, even finding enough puff to give his harp a fair old blow.

The slightly flabby half-hour then ensued, before the business closed with a bit a Greatest Hits set. Space Truckin' is never been a song I have had much time for, since being compelled by mates back in the day, to sit through the bloated Made in Japan rendition so many times. And as for the lyrics (Gillan's I assume) least said....

Smoke on the Water, by contrast was just great. I have seen so many guitarists over the years (Ray Fenwick, Steve Byrd, Bernie Tormie and even Ritchie Blackmore himself, when I think about it) bolt on some sort of teasing intro onto The Riff. McBride, to his credit, just got on with things. And if Roger Gover's bass arrival did not quite have the iconic impact of the MIJ recording, I could live with that.

For an encore, we first were treated to a rendition of Hush, the band's 1968 top five US hit. It is an interesting rather than essential addition to the band's historical canon, but I rather doubt it would have ever seen the light of day at a post 1970 DP gig ever, had Kula Shaker not raised the song's profile considerably back in 1997.

An Entwistle-esque bass guitar solo by Glover heralded the arrival of Black Night - a song which for me, along with Paranoid, ushered the arrival of heavy metal into the mainstream back in the Summer of 1970.

Mount Rushmore turned into a glacier.

Deep Purple - Glasgow 2022

Simon McBride

Ian Gillan

Roger Glover & Iain Paice

Probably not Don Airey's most macho pic.

Deep Purple - Glasgow 2022

Deep Purple set list

Highway Star

Pictures of Home

No Need to Shout

Nothing at All

Uncommon Man

Lazy

When a Blind Man Cries

Anya

Don Airey keyboard solo

Perfect Strangers

Space Truckin'

Smoke on the Water

Encore

Hush

Roger Glover bass solo

Black Night

Before Deep Purple we were presented with a short, concise set by Blue Oyster Cult. The first few songs of which I missed, as the lads did something I do not think I have encountered before: a band coming on stage early! A good ten minutes, I am sure, and Burnin' For You was well underway as I took my seat.

What then followed was a half-hour or so of fairly tame, pretty lumpen American AOR. Things did brighten up a bit with Hot Rails to Hell, a piece clearly designed to showcase for the not-inconsiderable geetar talents of long-term members Buck Dharma and Eric Bloom. And by gum, these lads can play a bit.

Godzilla, by contrast, was exactly the sort of Gumby-esque nonsense Spinal Tap was brought into existence to make extinct.

The band closed their support set with the Biggie......but it was all a bit blaaaaah. The magical guitar sound, at least from where I was sitting, was dishwater weak. And those sumptuous harmonies all but missing.

But what should I expect from OAPs?