By: Rob Cavuoto
Steve Morse
After an extensive tour of Europe and Asia earlier in 2014, Deep Purple is currently touring North America in support of their 19th studio CD, Now What!?.
On one of their last shows on this U.S. trek, the band stopped at the Mayo Center in Morristown, New Jersey, on August 24, 2014.
Deep Purple are the forefathers of heavy metal and wrote the book on steel belted screams and driving soulful riffs.
Though they have had many member changes and band iterations over the years, the focus has always been about the music!
The current make up of the band has three fifths of the original members, with Ian Gillian on vocals, Roger Glover on bass, and Ian Paice drums.
On guitar they have enlisted Steve Morse on guitar and Don Airey of Ozzy Osburne fame on keyboards.
The band put on a masterful 90 minute show. The five launched into “Highway Star” and never looked back, performing 18 of the classic rock songs that made them famous, like “Space Truckin’,” “Lazy,” “Hard Lovin’ Man,” and “Hush.” They squeezed in “Hell to Pay” and “Vincent Price” from Now What?!
It was awe inspiring to witness Steve Morse’s masterful and complex guitar technique, coupled with pure emotion on all the songs. In particular, he fired up on the instrumental; “Lost Contact.” His style stretches the boundaries of rock, jazz, progressive, and blues…sometimes fusing all into the same song.
Roger Glover and Ian Paice are cleary the backbone of the band, allowing the guitar to drive the songs that Ritchie Blackmore created some five decades ago.
Ian Gillian proves he still has his legendary chops and gave fans a more mature look at the world through them.
No Deep Purple show would be complete without playing “Smoke on the Water” the song off of their 1972 Machinehead album, that launched the birthing of millions of guitar players. The four chord Dorian progression is simple enough for most novices to handle and when amped to the max, powerful enough to a thousand ships. The song was performed before the crowd called out for encores and played with the same raunch and intensity as when it was first released.
The band is clearly on a mission to preserve the sanctity of classic heavy metal rock in its purest form, by using elements of rock, prog, and blues. Tonight was a Deep Purple night….and they were smokin’.
GALLERY
