LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA 96

It was recorded at the Olympia in Paris (mythical concert hall where Hendrix started his continental European career - November 1967 - amongst zillions of other great bands) This live set is absolutely no filler in your Purple collection. It really belongs to the best of their "offical" live repertoire. What's interesting to discover is :

1. Some tracks from "Perpendicular" which was really a good album.

2. The fact that they will play some very old tracks which were little performed at the time of their release.

The opener "Fireball" is one of them. It is one of the fastest number in the whole hard rock history. It ends with the riff from "Into the Fire"'s intro (from "In Rock"). Some words in French from Ian which is always nice to hear while playing in France. I guess that the Purple wanted to thank their older fan database by including less known number form their glorious Mark II era like "Maybe I'm A Leo" (from "Machine Head"). This song was my least preferred from the studio album but it is always nice to listen to it as a "souvenir" of my youth (I was eleven when I discovered the Deep (in 1970).

It is rather interesting to hear "Ted" just after this one because there are some similaraties although both numbers are separated by twenty-four years ! This one is also not my first choice on "Perpendicular". I would have liked them to play "Loosen My Strings" but this one will remain a hidden gem (like "Flying Of The Rat" and "Hard Lovin' Man").

Another fabulous song is "Pictures Of Home". IMO, the second best on "Machine Head" (after "Highway Star" of course). These songs are pretty similar in their struture. "Pictures" being more melodious. This live version is SUPERB. Morse doing an excellent job during his solo. A highlight.

I have already said my meaning about the current format for "Black Night" and "Smoke" : the audience participation just bores me to hell (even when I attend). So, no variation here. Both tracks are great as long as the audience is not involved. Jon Lord will perfrom a very good keyboard solo during "Black Night". The last two minutes are absolutely not worth and dull (you'd better edit them), even if Gillan is saying "Magnifique" after the track... (referring to the audience's performance).

"Cascades" was a good number from Perpendicular. This live rendition is almost double in lenght. We have the first "weird" sounds which will accompany several tracks till the end of the concert. I refer to a trio of trumpets, trombone and saxophone. What the hell is the need for this ???

In this song, they are not so present so it is not as annoying as in others. Morse again is brilliant. The mid section is incredible : you would say that Howe and Wakeman are playing with the Purple ! This part truely belongs to the Yes repertoire (as incredible as it might sound). Quite interesting. We'll get back to the hard rock side after four minutes or so.

The intro for "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming" is quite funny. Gillan describes this feeling as follows : "At times, you ordered something from the room service, and one hour later they still haven't delivered. So, there is only one cure for this : it is to go down at the bar, have a few glass of whatever it takes you fancy together with your friends and it's called "I Feel Like..."). This is not the first time that Purple's lyrics refer to the life of a band while touring. This rendition is at times harder than the studio one but the end of the song is quite emotional during Steve's solo. Wonderful.

"Woman from Tokyo" will finally been played in its full version ! It is only justice for this great number. During the supporting tour for "The Battle Rages On" they will shorten it to about ... two minutes. So, here we have the full version which is great.

Another very old one from "Fireball" : "No One Came". I liked (and still do) that song pretty much (as the whole album by the way - I rated it four star). The problem here (and it is more noticeable than on "Cascades") are the brass. Absolutely out of purpose. Are we at a Vegas show or what ???

"Rosas Cantina" was one of the weakest song from "Perpendicular" so I do not know why they included it in their tour. Useless. "When A Blind Man Cries" is a lost gem from their "Machine Head" period. It will be released as B-side for "Never Before" and "Lazy" (edited version). It is a fabulous rock ballad like the Purple will release very few (too few actually). I do not know if Steve Morse was involved in its inclusion in the set list for that tour, cause maybe it reminded him a bit of "Dust In The Wind" (although he was not yet with Kansas at that time). The Wakemanesque intro is a wonderful moment. The whole track is just splendid, but so different from the usual Purple catalogue (that' s probably why they did not release it on "Machine Head" although it deserved it with no doubt.

Next song will be introduced as : "A ballad for you, and it's called ...". We get some nice little classic notes from Jon and then the monster starts : "Speed King". No intro as is the European release of "In Rock" but we are turned immediately into this crazy Purple tune. This version is quite extended. It is quite jam oriented for about three minutes, then we get a good drum solo from the master for about 1'30", then back to the jam. It reminds me more of the early days of Mark II, when jam was a second nature during Purple's concerts. With "Speed King" this tendency will last quite a while : I attended one of their concert in September 1998 and it lasted at least for fifteen minutes. But, I'm not complaining. This was the last song of their show. Gillan will say : "You've been fantastic, even the cool ones".

The first encore will be "Perfect Strangers". It's a bit a pity that so few songs from their reunion album (already twelve years old, of course) will be featured. Actually, there was unfortunately never a promotional tour for this album (lack of confidence maybe) ?

When the band comes back on stage, he will mention that the Olympia is quite a special place for them. They came to Paris a few months before (in March 1996 at "Le Zenith") but were asked to come back and perform at the Olympia. And they said "Yes". Who can refuse to perform at the "Olympia" ? "Hey Cisco" as the second encore works pretty well. Hard rocking like hell. It is a marvelous song. Full of power and dynamics.

Before the last encore, Ian will start trying some French exercise but will leave the floor to Jon. Still, he wil start in English and after a few words he will switch to French to introduce the three French guests who where on stage (trompet, sax and trombone). You can realize he must know some good French since he will say in his speech : "A gauche, mais pas si gauche", which is a play on word to say : "On my left, but not as awkward".

Purple will close the show with the best song of the Purple's entire catalogue (together with "Child In Time" of course) : "Highway star". Is there a best way to close a Purple concert nowadays ? I do not think so.

The sound is great. The track list is great. The Purple was in a great shape. In terms of prog, there were about three minutes of it during "Cascades"and twenty seconds in the intro for "Speed King" and a minute or so during the intro for "When A Blind Man Cries". The whole rest of the album is 200% hard rock like Purple will always deliver in their live sets.

Four stars.

Share this DEEP PURPLE review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to ZowieZiggy
• Report this review (#107452)
• Buy DEEP PURPLE music online with PA partners
• Show all DEEP PURPLE MP3/Stream
• Go to DEEP PURPLE page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Live At The Olympia 96 page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for DEEP PURPLE related discussions