On a night when shades of gray tinted most of the audience, Deep Purple discovered a fountain of youth on the CN Centre stage.
They got down to the business they started 44 years ago and took Prince George on a Space Truckin' trip back through time.
No doubt, the years have taken their toll on one of the longest-surviving cavemen tribes of rock, but Deep Purple can still belt out fine renditions of the songs that made them famous, and their nearly two-hour show Thursday -- the 15th of their 17-date Smoke on the Nation tour -- was a treat to behold.
Touring parts of Canada they've never seen in what the boys are calling their "heaviest winter on record," the night got off to snappy start with Highway Star, one of five gems they dug out of Machine Head, an all-time classic album that no doubt started many a baby-boomer's record collection.
Sporting a walking cast on his right foot, lead singer Ian Gillan's torn Achilles tendon is still on the mend, but there's nothing wrong with his vocal chords. While he might struggle to hit some of the high notes, ruling out such classics as Child In Time from the set list, Gillan got the fans out of their seats with a power-packed Strange Kind of Woman, where he stepped into an echo chamber trading licks with the lead guitar of Steve Morse. Gillan's vocal caravan led the band into the Kashmirian tones of Rapture of the Deep and he then stopped to pick up his Woman From Tokyo, a real crowd-pleaser.
Morse, the sole American in a band of Brits, whose fame grew out of his work with Dixie Dregs and Kansas, strummed a few bars of spot-on AC/DC Back In Black early in the set, then showcased his slow blues precision to spark a light show of audience Bic lighters during When a Blind Man Cries, a song former Purple lead guitarist Ritchie Blackmore refused to play in public. Morse had a tough act to follow when he took over the job in 1994, but showed P.G. audience why fans in Guitar Player magazine picked him best overall in his profession five years running.
The Mule kicked the rest of the band backstage for a break, giving drummer Ian Paice a chance to mount a solo attack on the skins, at one point using only one hand to tap out a dazzling drum roll. Paice has been in the band since 1968 and behind those dark shades was showing no signs he's ready for the retirement.
Don Airey took over from Jon Lord in 2001, having played keyboards for a who's who of rock -- everybody from Ozzie Osbourne and Blackmore's Rainbow to Jethro Tull and ELO. He was fun to watch, especially when he started banging on his Hammond organ, conjuring up images of a diabolical Phantom of the Opera to lead into a funk-laden Lazy. The slick playing of Morse made that one of the musical highlights of the night.
Perfect Stranger was another zenith, and the Purple's colossal hit Smoke On the Water prompted hundreds of cell phone users to switch to video to record the moment, no doubt already posted several times on YouTube. Thankfully, the bootleg police were non-existent.
The encore started with Hush, one of their first big hits, and just like the song title suggests, Gillan's 66-year-old voice was turned down a couple decibels. But the band was there to pick up him and headed for the homestretch with a Roger Glover bass solo that gave him his rightful place at centre stage. Black Night, a single from 1970 that ended up on the 25th anniversary of the In Rock album, ended a great concert that will no doubt leave 1,700 Deep Purple fans feeling fortunate they witnessed some of the genuine gods of rock bringing down the house.
Local band Highball Riot, a collection of College Heights-area locals that includes lead singer/rhythm guitarist Kenny Pyne, Andrew Dorish on lead guitar, Sam Wright on bass, Fraser Blues on drums and keyboardist Aaron Hornak, found out a week before the gig they were opening for Deep Purple and won over the audience with their peppy ska/speed reggae covers and original tunes.
At one point, Pyne thanked his lucky stars for the chance to share the same stage with music legends: "You're watching people's dreams come true," he said. "I could die after this."
Following the show, the guys in Deep Purple applauded Riot's set and asked if they'd be playing with them this weekend in Victoria and Vancouver, but they hadn't been booked. If they keep playing like they did Thursday, they'd be wise to start lining up their own crew of Highball roadies.
