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Saw Deep Purple and Judas Priest Last Night


Steve Haynie

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A friend and I were going to travel together to see Deep Purple and Judas Priest.  At the last minute he called and said the babysitter plans for his son fell through, leaving me off to the show by myself with an extra ticket to sell.  I arrived about 15 to 20 minutes before show time to find a LOT of people trying to sell extra tickets outside the entrance.  To make things worse, there were ticket upgrades offered by LiveNation through their cell phone app for not much money to go from lawn seats to lower sections nearer the stage.  Another friend who had bought a lower level ticket for full price was sitting on the side section, so he ended up with my original ticket that was five rows back dead center.  I used the second row ticket my other friend gave up at the last minute.  There were several complete rows of tickets that were available in sections 1 and 3 on the floor the day of the show.  People who used the cell phone app were sitting in better seats for less money than some of the people around them.  The same thing happened at the Poison/Cheap Trick show in Atlanta earlier this year.  Tickets with unreasonable fees are now compounded with also being easily devalued.  Why buy tickets in a presale when you can get possibly better seats the day of the show for less money? 

The first band was The Temperance Movement, a UK band that sounds like a straightforward rock band from the 70's similar to some of those we have discussed on this message board.  They appear to be a little older than the young guys in their 20's going for that old vibe.  The concert was scheduled for 7:00 PM.  These guys were on stage playing about 6:50 PM.  One of the guitar players had a Tele, and the other had a Strat shaped set neck guitar made of mahogany with P-90's.  The name on the headstock was never impossible to read. 

Who was the band that brought in the most people?  Deep Purple has been touring around on their "long goodbye" for the last year or so, and Judas Priest has been away for a couple of years.  There were more Judas Priest shirts in those first few rows than any other band.  Some of the people in that area paid for the Deep Purple meet and greet.  Two guys next to me on the second row left about halfway through Deep Purple.  It was a Judas Priest evening. 

Emtering very close to showtime I saw a custom painted motorcycle near the merchandise stand.  People were getting their photographs sitting on the bike.  It is the motorcycle that gets used on stage during the show.  Remember that if you get a chance to see an upcoming show. 

Judas Priest played 15 songs, about 4 less than a show where they are the sole headliner.  The stage was decorated their way, plus the large video screen behind them was creating backdrops for every song.  Glenn Tipton let Richie Faulkner have a lot of room when he started with the band seven years ago.  The last time they toured supporting the last album Richie had the bigger stage presence and much of the guitar solos.  Last night solidified that.  Andy Sneap does play solos, but the majority of solos are Faulkner's.  Faulkner is also the flashier player on stage. 

Richie Faulkner has his own Epiphone signature guitar that is based on the Gibson Flying V he has been using.  Both guitars look roughly identical with the exception of the Judas Priest inlays on the Epiphone.  He played both equally last night. 

Andy Sneap played what I think were ESP and Gibson Flying V's.  There was also a red V with a more radical body shape that was used.  I think it was an ESP as well. 

Ian Hill, who once used a second generation Hamer Cruise Bass, played a couple of Spectors all night long.  One had black strings, and the other had normal strings. 

No amps were seen. 

Cameras swept the audience a few times leaving me gasping at how old the audience appeared.  Yes, there were young metalheads there, but there were far more people who have been following Judas Priest since the 70's.  There were horns up, but not so much headbanging movement going on.  On stage there was a generational thing going on, too.  Rob Halford can walk across the stage and BE the essence of metal.  Faulkner and Sneap can bend their knees and do all the stage moves that Tipton and Downing did 30 years ago.  Scott Travis looks very in shape, too. 

The hardest part of the show to get over is that there are only two people who have been in Judas Priest from the first album and the classic lineup.  In my mind it is not a tribute band yet.  Neither guitar player is playing old solos note for note.  They really are doing their own thing, as they should.  No one is forced to play only what Ace played.  Glenn Tipton is not separated from the band, either.  During Painkiller the video screen featured Glenn Tipton, and during No Surrender the official video which includes Glenn was showing.  The merchandise stand sold out of Glenn Tipton shirts before I could buy one.  The money from that particular shirt goes to charity. 

bsi_juda249.jpg

 

After getting a Judas Priest show worthy of a road trip it was Deep Purple's turn to show people that they can be heavy, too.  A big reason to want to see them for me is Steve Morse.  My guess is that one of the reasons they were able to hire him is because they like to jam through songs, although they are not known as a jam band.  If you watch and listen, you could imagine these guys being able to lengthen songs with extra solo sections or guest players.  Morse is not Ritchie Blackmore, nor is he trying to be.  Deep Purple has moved on.  Remember, they are up there jamming, anyway.  They also define "heavy" as opposed to "metal." 

The number of songs played was shorter, but the songs are longer.  The segue between songs was instantaneous, too.  One song began as the previous song ended many times during the show.  When Steve Morse got to do his guitar solo he played his own version of The Star Spangled Banner, perhaps because it was September 11th.  The band is British.  Morse is American, and the date has significance. 

Morse played at least three different guitars, all signature models of course, but one has a Floyd for doing the signature licks that mimic Blackmore's Strat tremolo.  ENGL Steve Morse amps were behind him.  I have no idea what was on the pedal board.  Steve Morse usually uses only a combination of long and short delays.  Most of his sound changes come from constantly manipulating his guitars on board knobs and switches. 

Don Airey threw in some stuff when he did a long intro Lazy, and later he had a proper solo spot in the show in which he played a little of "Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina..." and what I think may have something by Gershwin.  He was surrounded by keyboards and an old time synth, but I never saw the names.  There was a Hughers and Kettner head behind him as well as a couple of rotary cabinets. 

Roger Glover played two different Vigier basses, one with Luminlay dots on a maple fretboard.  His amps were T.C. Electronic

Ian Paice did not do a drum solo.  Ian Gillan acts so gentlemanly on stage.  Maybe it has to do with being the only guy in the band short hair unless Roger Glover is bald under that bandana he has wrapped around his head.  You can look at Glover and think "musician."  Gillan could fool a great number of people.  He sings in one of the biggest rock bands of all time.  Instead of playing "rock star" he faces the audiences respectfully.   

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I had tickets for Sunday night's show in New Jersey, but it's an odd sort of a place where the first 40 rows are inside a building without a back wall, and the rest of the "seats" are on a grass hill out int he open. My tickets were for out there, and I din't feel like putting out another 30 bucks to park to site in the rain for hours. I had been lookign forward to seeing Priest for months, and didn't even find out Purple was also on the bill until Friday! Glad you had a good time though, I'm a huge fan of Morse; he was a huge influence on me.

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Great catch to have both bands in one evening. I love both, although, for Priest I stopped following them in the early 80s. Love to put on the old records here and there. Especially, the early progressive ones. Never saw them live, however.

For Purple, I absolute love Ian Gillan's voice and singing. Have most of his solo stuff and some stuff were he's contributing his voice to other bands or events. Purple itself never had bonded to me on studio albums other than the Live in Japan and Concerto for Group and Orchestra. Which I both absolutely love. Somehow I prefer the succession bands like Whitesnake and Gillan more than the origin.

The last two Purple albums Now What and Infinite actually are stunning. Absolutely fantastic song writing, playing/singing and modern high quality very dynamic sound. They could do more of that before retiring though. Morse really grew on me in recent years. Didn't like his playing at first.

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14 hours ago, gtrdaddy said:

Sounds like a great time! Glad you enjoyed the show.

Ian Gillian is one of my favorite singers. He was the lead vocal as Jesus Christ on the original Jesus Christ Superstar. The man has an incredible set of pipes! Also a very good songwriter as well.

Did you know that horns up wasn’t intended as “horns up” to signafy “rock-on”, devil worship or the presence of demonic spirit, or praise of the devil in heavy metal?” It’s what everyone calls it today, but that’s not what it is. It is a generations old Italian hand signal used in superstition called “il Malocchio”, translating into English means “The Evil Eye.” Italians would use the gesture to ward off various types of evil, bad luck, envy and a few other things. If you had the Evil Eye you were said to be a jealous, unlucky, or bad person. They would make the “il Maloccio” sign to ward off or protect themselves from the affliction of the aforementioned while in the presence of those who were believed to be afflicted. 

This gesture was first used in rock music by Ronnie James Dio on stage performing with Rainbow in 1975 (another of my favorite vocalists). He got it from his grandmother who used the gesture on a young Ronnie when he misbehaved, shaking the gesture pointing at him saying “ I’m a gonna give you the Evil Eye if you don’t straighten up!” Dio told the story and talked about it on an interview somewhere years ago.

Through mispronunciation, the words “il Malocchio”  have been butchered into “the Malook”, and “the Maloik.” Christopher on the Sopranos used to mispronounce  it calling it the malook, along with mispronouncing half of the English language LOL!

Anyway, thought people that didn’t know that would appreciate the explanation and the story. 

Gene Simmons says he invented the hand gesture. He claims all the girls in the audience would stick their tongues out and wave at him because they wanted him. So he'd hold his pick in his middle and ring finger and wave back at them. Who knew.

Great report, Steve. Strange that the ticket computers didn't snap up all those tickets. Seems like with that lineup it would have been a sold-out show. 

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51 minutes ago, Ting Ho Dung said:

Gene Simmons says he invented the hand gesture. He claims all the girls in the audience would stick their tongues out and wave at him because they wanted him. So he'd hold his pick in his middle and ring finger and wave back at them. Who knew.

Great report, Steve. Strange that the ticket computers didn't snap up all those tickets. Seems like with that lineup it would have been a sold-out show. 

Eh. Steves' right... love 'em or hate 'em, these are bands who have an OLD fan base who are now looking at retirement or assisted living homes. Going out late on a weeknight is asking a lot. Plus, Verizon Amphitheater is in a northern suburb that can be an hour from Atlanta with normal traffic. It adds up to to a double bill that would have been overflowing 20 or 30 years ago, but today is better suited for the state fair circuit.

On the other hand, this weekend there will be probably 100,000 people for Music Midtown. Huge stages and lots of streets blocked off. Headliners are Kendrick Lamar, Imagine Dragons, and Post Malone. Also features artists such as Khalid, Gucci Mane, Sylvan Esso, and Chromeo.

No, I dunno much about any of them except I hate Imagine Dragons and love Sylvan Esso. Kendrick Lamar is... well he's good but not my thing. It's a different time, kids.

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4 hours ago, gorch said:

 

The last two Purple albums Now What and Infinite actually are stunning. Absolutely fantastic song writing, playing/singing and modern high quality very dynamic sound. They could do more of that before retiring though. Morse really grew on me in recent years. Didn't like his playing at first.

Agree. I think it helped that Bob Ezrin produced those albums. 

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8 hours ago, princeofdarkness56 said:

Agree. I think it helped that Bob Ezrin produced those albums. 

He should do it another time, hopefully.

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Great review, thanks a lot!

I don‘t want to play the smart ass, but two thing about the ‚horns‘:

Chris Moltisanti MAYBE pronounced „malook“ because that‘s the naples (Napoli) way to pronounce it (e.g. „neapolitano). If you recall the last episode of season 1 (IIRC) when Tony and friends are visiting Naples you can here some of the original accent.

When I lived in Italy the horns meant also „to put someone the horns on“ („mettere le corna“) - and this means nothing else then to have an affair/s*x with his wife/partner.  But that was in Rome and northern/middle Italy, and a variation of meanings depending on the region („malocchio“ in the south, „cornuto“ in the north) or even a multiple meaning is very likely...

 

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