There are certain things that have to be factored into life: Boris Johnson will self-promote; Five Guys is overpriced; and Deep Purple (and their spinoff bands) will plague the audience with solo spots. Thankfully, those solos are no longer quite as interminable as they were in the days when the band would only fit nine songs into their set because everyone had to have a moment in the spotlight. Tonight, Don Airey’s two keyboard solos and Simon McBride’s guitar spot only occupy 15 minutes of an otherwise tight set of just shy of two hours.
The rest of the time, Deep Purple are not just surprisingly good, but actually good. At 79, Ian Gillan isn’t going to be asking for Child in Time to be returned to the set to test his falsetto scream, but his voice is strong and true, and he can summon a roar when needed, as on Into the Fire. Ian Paice, 76, thunders around his drum kit like a man a quarter of his age, while bassist Roger Glover is one of the few 78-year-olds who can still pogo on stage.
