Deep Purple - Perihelion DVD

The classic line-up of Deep Purple, like that of Yes, was always much more than the sum of its parts, so Perihelion, a near-as-damn-it reunion gig, has more going for it than cynics might contend. We get Ian Gillan (now shorn of his shoulder-length locks--no more cries of "Gillian!"--and looking remarkably like Robert Palmer), Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice, with Ritchie Blackmore's guitar duties now handled by Steve Morse. The band takes a couple of numbers to warm up, with Gillan's voice in particular taking a while to shake itself down and Morse tending to... fumble and overplay in the first instance, but this soon passes and we're off on a trip through the best of the Purple catalogue. Tracks include "Woman from Tokyo" and a superb rendering of "Lazy", dedicated to the late Tony Ashton and introduced by a scorching Hammond solo from Jon Lord that quotes nicely from Ashton, Gardner & Dyke's r 'n' b (in the old sense) classic "Resurrection Shuffle". Other highlights include the obligatory "Smoke on the Water", the obligatory drum solo (neither too long nor too silly), and Gillan doing a few of his legendary vocalised guitar impressions. Listen out also for "No-one Came", "Fools" (one section of which is as close as Purple ever came to playing jazz) and the wonderful "Hey Cisco", dedicated to the long-retired actor who played the Lone Ranger in the classic TV series but was forbidden by the studio from earning the odd $200 to supplement his pension by opening supermarkets in costume. As Gillan explains, the band couldn't find a rhyme for "Lone Ranger"! --Roger Thomas [show more]

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