My summer concert began with rock sounds this year and I'm talking about Deep Purple, who in recent years have often visited our country but I saw them for the first time... This means that i have no comparison from other years... This Friday night therefore I found myself in the enclosed basketball court of Elliniko and I take down our impressions. Set List
1.Highway Star
2.Hard Lovin 'Man
3.Maybe I'm a Leo
4.Strange Kind of Woman
5.Rapture of the Deep
6.Silver Tongue
7.Contact Lost
8.Guitar Solo
9. When a Blind Man Cries
10 . The Well Dressed Guitar
11 . Almost Human
12. Lazy
13.No One Came ;
14.Keyboard Solo
15.Perfect Strangers
16.Space Truckin '
17.Guitar Solo
18. Smoke on the Water
Encore:
19. Hush Play
(Billy Joe Royal cover)
20. Black Night
Vasilis Papakonstantinou 09:00 - 10:10
At exactly 9 am in the arena of the stadium, Vasilis Papakonstantinou had already started the evening and the crowd is already warmed up enough! The tiers of the stadium were filled and the arena is filled to 2/3 approximately. Always smiling Vasilis with enough energy performed all those songs we love and have marked Greek rock. The surprise of the evening was certainly Tania Kikidi on Drums and a very good and strong performance by her of Thunderstruck by AC/DC, where most of the stadium was dancing and singing nonstop.
Deep Purple: 10:30 - 12:20
Having made the necessary changes in the scene, lights are lowered and then appeared Deep Purple with grey in their hair with Highway Star and the welcome of the crowd was quite warm as you can see from the relative video at the end of the article. It seems that they had come with "fervor" and in conjunction with the crowd's mood, the evening would rock and roll quite nicely.
As far as the band itself and Ian, who is at an age where a man's strength begins to be limited, would meet the requirements of a live, I think we all pretty much been considered it before their appearance. Eventually Ian did very well but there were moments that you could easily understand that he had difficultly. The timbre of his voice, however, has not changed significantly.
In fact throughout the concert at the track moments where he did not sing he went to the back of the stage and hid behind a screen, a fact that I personally could not justify. Also from the set list you would have noticed that there are several solos and more over long ones to rest his voice, at least that's the impression left on me.
The other band members also had a significant presence. Steve Morse on guitar roused us all and made us dance enough. The solo pieces, which included a small sample of several well-known classic rock hits, amazed us and the mastery and passion with which he rewarded us. The same goes for Don Airey on keyboards, who in his solo among others played a part grom Children of Piraeus and had the whole stadium bowing before him.
The set list was similar to what they have presented in other countries this year on tour, with songs that have become extremely successful and beautiful ballads. It was a complete set that covered a lot I would say.
If I had to pick one as the best moment, it would be the starter Highway Star, Strange Kind Of Woman, of course the solos on guitar and keys, the very melodic Contact Lost, When a Blind Man Cries, a very powerful Space Trucking, a favorite of all "rockers" and not only Smoke on the Water and Hush.
The crowd was what you take pleasure in seeing in a concert. Wide range of ages, families with children 10-12 years old. Pretty warm most of the time and sometimes maybe a little quiet. It is worth to mention that Ian had a very good contact with the crowd and often thanked us for our presence.
Finally, the organization was fine. Easy access, great ventilation, sound great too, a rare event for concerts indoors.
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