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Deep Purple: Live at Montreux 2006-They All Came to Down to Montreux (DVD)
Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan has repeatedly told rock writers that his band is not a classic-rock band. Hell, he even seems offended when he has to make such a statement. But at it's core, Deep Purple is, indeed, a classic-rock band – even if Gillan and company did rely on a handful of newer songs during its 2006 set at the Montreux Jazz Festival, commemorating the event's 40th anniversary. Truth be told, that new material ("Wrong Man," "Rapture of the Deep" and a special song written specifically for the occasion called "Too Much Fun") sounds a lot like Purple's older boogie-rock material. Not that there's anything wrong with that. In fact, Deep Purple seems to have found its groove again, with three of the five members who recorded 1972's Machine Head - featuring the song that made Montreux famous, "Smoke on the Water" - augmented by extraordinary guitarist and keyboardist Steve Morse and Don Airey. In fact, much of the reason for Purple's resurgence in recent years can be attributed to Morse, a weathered road warrior who seems youthful compared to the rest of the band's members. On the other hand, Gillan (who dresses young but whose graying locks and straining voice reveal his age) clearly struggles. At times, he appears winded and misses vocal cues, content to let the band take over on long jams for "Space Truckin'" and "Hush." But his harp solo on "Lazy" is still mighty impressive.
Live at Montreux 2006-They All Came to Down to Montreux breaks from typical releases in the Live at Montreux series by including some serious extras in the form of interviews with band members and an hour-long bonus DVD of a gig recorded at London's Hard Rock Café earlier in 2006. That raw show, on a cluttered stage, stands in stark contrast to the clean and classy Montreux set and features in-your-face camerawork, as well as an unexpected airing of "Perfect Strangers." The set adds value to this package but doesn't detract from the main event.
Track Listing
DVD 1-Montreux
1. Pictures of Home
2. Things I Never Said
3. Strange Kind of Woman
4. Rapture of the Deep
5. Wrong Man
6. The Well-Dressed Guitar
7. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
8. When A Blind Man Cries
9. Lazy
10. Keyboard Solo
11. Space Truckin'
12. Highway Star
13. Smoke on the Water
14. Hush
15. Too Much Fun
16. Black Night
DVD 2-Hard Rock Cafe
1. Fireball
2. I Got Your Number
3. Strange Kind of Woman
4. Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
5. Lazy
6. Rapture of the Deep
7. Wrong Man
8. Perfect Strangers
9. Highway Star
10. Smoke on the Water
Added: August 5th 2007 Reviewer: Michael Popke Score: Related Link: Official Deep Purple Web Site Hits: 2617 Language: english
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Deep Purple: Live at Montreux 2006-They All Came to Down to Montreux (DVD) Posted by Pete Pardo, SoT Staff Writer on 2007-08-05 06:27:55 My Score:
This companion DVD to the Live at Montreux 2006-They All Came to Down to Montreux CD shows just how relevant and solid Deep Purple still are as a band. Ivigorated by the additions of Steve Morse (who has now been in the band over a decade!) and Don Airey, these rugged veterans seem to be enjoying themselves more than ever, and are perhaps tighter as a musical ensemble than they have ever been. This 2DVD set contains the full performance at Montreux Jazz Festival from 2006, featuring a host of new songs of their then brand new Rapture of the Deep CD, plus your usual classics from the catalog. As much as the band is on fire here, it's pretty obvious that singer Ian Gillan struggles with some of the early material nowadays, as he tries to scream and hit those high notes but he really can't. His voice now seems better suited to the newer material and the slower bluesy numbers than the screaming demon he needs to be on early tracks like "Highway Star", "Strange Kind of Woman", and "Space Truckin' ". Bonus material on the first DVD is mainly interviews with the band members on all sorts of topics, and is a pretty revealing watch. The 2nd DVD features a shorter set at London's Hard Rock Cafe, almost like a bootleg show compared to the Montreux gig, but very intimate and in your face. The sound is not as full and bombastic as the Montreux concert, but the band is still ripping and Gillan sounds a bit better here.
All in all, a very solid way to spend a few hours with one of rock's all-time classic heavy bands.
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