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Deep Purple - Live 2004
Wembley, 13.11.2004 and Brighton, 16.11.2004

von Joanna Ostrowiecka
ENGLISH GIGS FEVER

So many Deep Purple concerts I've already seen. In Berlin, in Paris... why not in England then? I've never been there. So I decided to go to London during their latest tour.

As I've just edited my first book about meeting Ian Gillan (see picture below - lw), I wanted the band to be the first who would get it from me, so I tried to get b/s passes after the Wembley gig, for me and Zenek, my larger half. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get them, but I got two ones for the Brighton show. Cool! I'll go to two gigs with pleasure, I thought.

The Wembley Arena is a very nice venue though its acoustics aren't too good because of some scaffoldings under the ceiling. On our seats, we were squeezed like herrings in a barrel. And in my opinion, there were too many supports. We couldn't wait for "our" band though Dean Howard, Thunder and Peter Frampton played very well.

When Purple entered the stage at last, all the audience stood up, got crazy and didn't want to sit down until the end of the show. The band is loved so much in England! Unbelievable.

During the "Contact Lost" tune everybody kept silence. Londoners are very nice people. Steve must have been happy. He played perfectly, as usual. In general, the whole band played perfectly. Their condition was incredible. And they surprised us two times or more. The first surprise was "Demon's Eye". Ian forgot some lines of the lyrics, as usual, but he performed the song in great style. Everyone wanted to dance. Those seats, although quite comfortable, were getting in our way indeed! Never mind. We were shouting and singing most of the time. It was only a pity that the band sang too few songs from the "Bananas" record. I missed "Walk On", "Sun Goes Down" and "Doing It Tonight".

The scenery was dull- some pictures of banana trees. But we loved those white, blue and green lightnings dancing all over the stage during "Perfect Strangers". The hit of 20th century indeed!

Unfortunately, the best gigs always end too soon. Only three encores- Purple never play more. Two ones without surprises, but the third one was like a bolt from the blue... although our seats were quite far from the stage, Zenek noticed two fellows at the keyboard at some point. Wow! Who is it? Jon Lord??? Oh, yes! What a pleasure! Nobody expected such a surprise. I thought I'd never see Jon Lord with Deep Purple live. Thanks a lot, Mr Lord for such a great gift! It really was very kind of you. It was wonderful to hear two best organ players together.

I wondered what else I'd see in Brighton three days after. Maybe we'll see Jon Lord again? Unfortunately, he couldn't come up.

We were standing close to the stage that time, so we could see much more than in London.

Poor Steve, he apparently had some trouble with his amp. I saw he was a bit nervous. His guitar sounded too loud, we couldn't hear the singer. Another discomfort was the Brighton audience, rather impolite. But there were many amusing moments, too, for example when Ian was trying to choke Roger a little. They looked very refined without a doubt:))). Steve was amused, too.

Unfortunately, we dislike those ditties "I love my wife, I love my dog". We prefer "O sole mio":))). And the band played only two encores that time. What a pity.

We got into backstage quite soon. Amber, a new DP tour manager (very beautiful, by the way), informed us the band hadn't too much time because of their urgent departure for Plymouth, and she asked us to wait for them a little. Ian turned up first that time. I was afraid the band would have too little time for us because of lots of people waiting for them. But I managed to give my books to all musicians. As Ian Paice was too tired and he couldn't come to see us, Amber agreed to pass a copy to him. And she managed to get some autographs from him, so I got everything that I wanted: all DP members signed my own copy. I also gave my book to Amber, of course. She was very glad.

Don, Steve and Roger were very surprised and happy to receive this book. I was glad as well. I hope they brought me good luck. What's more, Roger said he was in contact with Jon Lord, and he agreed to pass a copy to him, too. Cool! I was lucky that night indeed.

Our session ended with my taking a photo of Amber and my husband together. She was surprised. In general, that night in Brighton was very nice for all of us.

Now I wonder if all these persons who got my book will read it. There is a summary in English, so they can do it with no problem. Have a nice read, Amber, Don, Ian, Jon, Paicey, Roger, Steve:))). See you at the next gig. Hi!

Joanna Ostrowiecka
Wembley 13th Nov. and
Brighton 16th Nov. 2004