von Joanna Ostrowiecka

ROSTOCK EXCITEMENTS-
Deep Purple + Five Men On The Rocks, Rostock, Parkbühne IGA, 5th June 2006

Beautiful town. Beautiful venue. I prefer open air shows to those in closed halls where acoustics are often poor. The Parkbühne IGA is very nice, especially the roofs over the stage. Me and Zenek were surprised to meet some people who were at the Düsseldorf gig. It was very nice to see them again! I heard Uriah Heep would play in Rostock as a support. Unfortunately they couldn't... But the German band, "Five Men On The Rocks", was very good. They played covers, but what covers! "Stairway to Heaven" and "All Right Now" for example. All musicians looked cool, especially the vocalist in his red shirt, black top and starred blue jeans. The play was cool as well, I wish it lasted a bit longer. The audience welcomed the band warmly.

I was so glad to see Deep Purple live again, but why did they play two ROTD songs only? The scenery was poor, too. No sparkling screens, no film, no "Rapture" cover... But the gig was great as usual.

Ian looked fine in his white shirt and blue jeans. Why doesn't he want to wear this sort of trousers more often? They make him 10-20 years younger.

The show has one weak point only: something wrong with instruments. Steve's guitar was too loud. Sometimes I couldn't hear Ian. His harmonica was scarcely audible, too... If I stood in the middle, I'd hear him better, but then I couldn't see the stage :).

Never mind. I had a great time independently of all. So had the band. I've never seen the guys smiling and showing off so much. Big Ian was the craziest man on the stage, jumping and waving his hands. He even stuck out his tongue at a cameraman :))). I burst my sides with laughter.

As for the ROTD songs, "Things I Never Said" and "Rapture of the Deep" were played. "Before Time Began" was taken out. Interesting... Ian is very proud of this song. Apart from the newest record, the band played "Smoke" and other old hits, of course. And we had some surprises again. "Hush" was played in the middle of the show, not as an encore. And "When a Blind Man Cries" came back. It was so fine to hear it again!

Awesome gig. I only wanted the band to play much longer. Even if they did it five hours, it wouldn't be enough. Thanks, both Ians, Don, Roger, Steve, you were great! See you next time...