COME HELL OR HIGH WATER

I have mixed emotions about this concert. I bought this recording on videotape around 1995, when I was just getting to know Deep Purple. A year later they released a new album, without Ritchie Blackmore, and gave their first concert in my hometown of Kiev. There are different opinions about this period of creativity, but for me this concert will always remain one of the epochal events, at least because it was one of the first performances of the band that I saw.

But if I try to evaluate this concert objectively, then there will be no serious criticism from me. This performance captured Deep Purple at another sharp turn in their turbulent history. Ritchie Blackmore left the band in the middle of this tour, again his feud with Ian Gillan (I think everyone knows this story). But this did not affect the quality of the music. Yes, previous commentators have mentioned the twisted version of Highway Star with a slightly crumpled solo by Ritchie Blackmore, and we can recall the still not properly sung Women from Tokyo and Lazy (with a wonderful drum solo by Ian Paice as compensation). But we can say a few good words about the luxuriously played Perfect Strangers with a pompous organ introduction, or about the incredible Beethoven's Ninth, well known from Rainbow's live performances. How Jon Lord plays here, weaving together different themes - psychedelia, jazz, classical, electronica and even rock and roll! This composition seems to have been written for him.

It seems that some songs sound even better here than on the studio albums. This is the already mentioned Perfect Strangers, and also - Knocking at Your Back Door and Black Night, one of the first Deep Purple songs with Ian Gillan on vocals. They especially clearly feel the unique concert energy, when all the musicians merge into a single whole and sound like a single organism, understanding each other at a glance, competing with each other, and all for the sake of one thing - music. I would also like to highlight the beautifully played semi-acoustic version of Anyone`s Daughter and the magnificent Child Time, where Ian Gillan's voice soars into the sky like a spiral, and Ritchie Blackmore's guitar explodes like a firework of riffs and chords. Also memorable is the very energetic performance of Enya, one of the most unusual Deep Purple songs from their latest album at that time. It found room for beautiful keyboard and guitar improvisation. But the no less energetic The Battle Rages On is played almost the same way as the studio version.

What else could be interesting about this particular concert? Obviously, this was the last performance of the classic golden line-up of Deep Purple. Ritchie Blackmore will soon leave forever. It is also here that one of the last performances of Child in Time will be heard, which Ian Gillan could no longer sing with the full force of his vocal cords. A new stage will soon begin, and it is this concert that closes the previous page of Deep Purple history.