It has only been about a year and a half since Thin Lizzy last hit town. For Deep Purple, it's been much longer since I've seen them. I was hoping for for a great night of 70's hard rock veterans at The House of Blues Las Vegas.

John Sykes and Scott Gorham lead Thin Lizzy through their nine song, 45 minute set. New drummer Michael Lee and bassist Randy Gregg gave the twin guitar attack of Sykes and Gorham room to roam. The opening number, "JAILBREAK", and "DON"T BELIEVE A WORD" set the tone. Before the band went into "EMERALD" they dedicated the show, like all their shows, to the late Phil Lynott.

"STONE COLD SWEAT", a song cowritten by Lynott and Sykes, lead into "BAD REPUTATION". The romantic "I"M STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU" went over well on this Valentine's Day weekend. John and Scott did red hot dual lead runs on "THE COWBOY SONG" and "THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN" to end a great opening set.

Deep Purple took the stage with Steve Morse, who has taken over since the departure of Ritchie Blackmore. Newest member Don Airey has taken over keyboard duties from the retired Jon Lord. The rest are from the classic lineup- drummer Ian Paice, bassist Roger Glover and vocalist Ian Gillan. Gillan lead the band through a new song "SILVER TONGUE" clad in what looked like white pajamas. "WOMAN FROM TOKYO" showed Airey to be a breath of fresh air. The notes that used to come so easily to Ian Gillan he now seems to have to strain to reach, but reach them he does.

"STRANGE KIND OF WOMAN" was sandwiched between two new tunes, the average "I GOT YOUR NUMBER" and the very good title track from their new CD BANANAS. "KNOCKING AT YOUR BACK DOOR" lead into instrumentals by Steve Morse. "CONTACT LOST", written about the Challenger tragedy, lead seemlessly into "WELL DRESSED GUITAR". On these tunes, Morse showed the fans what a remarkable guitarist he is. Don then did a wild keyboard solo that included a tease of the theme from The Simpsons and the Star Wars theme, much to the delight of the packed house.

When Ian returned after that instrumental interlude to rip into "PERFECT STRANGERS", he looked like he was dressed in black P.J.'s. This lead into Purple doing the entire MACHINE HEAD album. The band launched into "HIGHWAY STAR", which even the most casual fan knew. The faithful rejoiced with the seldom played "MAYBE I'M A LEO", "PICTURES OF HOME" and "NEVER BEFORE". A song recorded during the MACHINE HEAD SESSIONS but not originally released, "WHEN A BLIND MAN CRIES", featured Ian on harmonica on this rocking blues song. The order of the last three songs were inverted to end the set on an extreme high. "SPACE TRUCKIN'" roared into "LAZY" before the Deep Purple anthem "SMOKE ON THE WATER" brought the set to its fitting conclusion.

The band returned for "SPEED KING" which included a 50's medley. Then Deep Purple went back to where it all began. They went into the song "HUSH", which got their career started. They left with the fans screaming for more.

We would like to thank Rasmus Heide at The Highway Star for all his help. To check out all you need to know about Deep Purple go to the highway star website at The Highway Star

Photography by Carol Michaud. copyright 2001-4 Brown Ink

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