Deep Purple / Blue Öyster Cult
London O2 Arena
Veterans deliver a hit-packed, hard rock master class.
With only Buck Dharma and Eric Bloom remaining from their classic line-up, New York’s slightly less direct answer to Black Sabbath can still deliver a machismo-sweetening vocal harmony when roused. Ultimately garnering an enthusiastic response for a short ’n’ sweet set packed with absolute monsters: Godzilla, Hot Rails To Hell, Cities On Flame With Rock ’N’ Roll. (Don’t Fear) The Reaper could have done with more cowbell, but hey, when push comes to shove, what couldn’t?
Opening with Highway Star, Ian Gillan doesn’t make life easy for himself. There’s nowhere for a vocalist to hide as the iconic Machine Head powerhouse pinwheels from timber-shivering climax to pounding crescendo, but Gillan rises to the occasion and only improves, not least on a scintillating When A Blind
Man Cries. Roger Glover and Ian Paice masterfully syncopate an Olympic-standard Lazy, although Don Airey’s lengthy keyboard solo could do without donning metaphorical red nose and big shoes for Maybe It’s Because I’m A Londoner. Yet tonight truly belongs to Simon McBride. Steve Morse’s replacement (and perhaps surprisingly only the fourth guitarist in Purps history) is just astounding. That said, he doesn’t storm off, or throw his guitar at anybody, or mandolin a madrigal in tights, but you can’t have everything.