Deep Purple @ Fremont Street Experience 8/15/14

One kick ass thing about Vegas is all the amazing free shows we get around town and most of them are on Fremont Street Experience. I don’t like to brave all the craziness of Fremont but for legendary Deep Purple I went ahead and took a chance of dealing with traffic, parking and all the freaks of nature that inhabit downtown Las Vegas. I was very lucky to aquire a VIP pass through Mark from Rockoveramerica.com, or I wouldn’t have went down. At least in VIP you can breathe and see the shows pretty decently without too much hassle.

I really love Deep Purple and this was the third time seeing them for me. I realized that I didn’t know most the songs they played except Highway Star, Perfect Strangers, Smoke on the Water and Space Truckin. They played a lot of their new CD “Now What?” and they played a great new song called “Hell to Pay”, off that new CD which I really dug. Looks like I need to listen to more Deep Purple CD’s of old and reaquaint  myself with some serious classic rock/metal.

For a band that has been around almost as long as I have been alive, you couldn’t tell, as Purple still has their chops and Ian Gillan can hold his own as a vocalist to this day. They have been around since 1968 and have had many band member changes over the years and many of them singers. The main member that must have been a major blow when he left was Ritchie Blackmore, who then formed Rainbow. They called in the Dixie Dregs guitarist Steve Morse who is a monster of a guitar God on his own. He still shreds for Purple to this day with much enthusiasm as he smiles the whole show. Then you have some other legendary musicians in this band that have been there since day one. Drummer Ian Paice, who has kept the beat alongside Roger Glover who plays the bass like a master, for many of the years that they have been together. Of course we lost the amazing talent of Jon Lord who retired in 2002 and then passed away in 2012. Don Airey of Ozzy Osbourne fame has been the keyboard/organist since Lord left. Airey is a Maestro on the Hammond Organ and he does play that up live. This night he did an incredible organ/key solo that was gave me goosebumps. Not to be out done Steve Morse did a guitar solo to die for and many of the fans were in awe!

The show was amazing and I was glad I got to see this legendary band again.

You can check Deep Purple out on their site here:http://www.deeppurple.com/

  • Client: Rockoveramerica.com
  • Year: 2014
  • Agency: Photography of Leah Burlington