Deep Purple, the Montreux legend

This Wednesday, July 4, the famous British hard rock band performed at the Auditorium Stravinski, establishing themselves as one of the great legends of the Montreux Jazz Festival. Emotions and majesty were...

Last night, Deep Purple's appearance at the Auditorium Stravinski in Montreux after The Temperance Movement was unique. Unique, because their hit Smoke on the Water, whose riff quickly became the most famous in rock history, was composed in the aftermath of the 1971 fire at the Montreux Casino, which the band witnessed on the shores of Lake Geneva. Unique, because this was their farewell tour and therefore - perhaps - their last appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Reminiscent of 1996

Although their aforementioned anthem dates back to 1971, the band didn't start performing in Montreux until 1996. That year was a very interesting one: having just lost their famous guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, whose Fender Stratocaster was so integral to the Deep Purple sound along with Jon Lord's Hammond organ, the band released an album marking the arrival of guitarist Steve Morse, who has since ensured a certain stability to the band, which has gone through and gone through separations and reformations.

This album is Perpendicular, and it's a little gem. Recorded in Orlando, Florida, it's considered to be their most experimental album, with plenty of risk-taking on the musical front. The ballad Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming and it was an emotional moment to listen to the band perform it last night, with Ian Gillan struggling a little with his voice on the chorus, but undeniably moved and moving. Just like bassist Roger Glover, also a founding member, who feels like family when he plays on stage with his colleagues. And it shows!

A majestic spectacle

The staging was majestic, even a little kitschy. After the projection of a large iceberg with the faces of the five current members etched in ice, the hall plunged into darkness, with an orchestral introduction all brass and strings, giving way to the chords of the musicians, dimly lit by a small white light. It wasn't until the next song that the concert really got underway, with a giant horizontal screen behind the stage featuring psychedelic audiovisual backdrops and close-ups of Steve Morse quadrupled with each of his solos.

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Majestic, the show was above all for its instrumental quality, which remains the band's untouched signature. The solos of organist Don Airey, who joined Deep Purple in 2002, defy belief. You have to be there to hear it. We certainly miss Jon Lord, but the excellence of the level has been respected. What breathtaking notes! As usual, the band didn't hesitate to offer very long instrumental parts, much to the audience's delight. Ian Paice's drum solo, among others, will live long in the memory.

Many of the pieces followed on from each other with a musical transition, without a break. The result was a concert-album, a concert-concept. Some tracks from the new inFinite, including the striking Time for Bedlam, have demonstrated that the talent of their compositions does not belong to a bygone era. And then, the cult song Smoke on The Water resounded through the hall, perfectly interpreted. It was a historic moment, something that even the most perfect ignoramus can feel. Deep Purple are one of the three founding bands of hard rock, and at the same time, their genre is unclassifiable. This sound is unique. It was a magical evening.

Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © 2018 FFJM - Daniel Balmat