Skip to main content

Purple power


Wednesday was classic rock night in Cardiff, as M's treat we ventured to Cardiff Arena for Deep Purple plus guests. Unfortunate that it was the Arena - our moans about the acoustics are well documented!

Turned up a bit late, assuming the staff wouldn't be on time, but - horror -they were, and 1st band Thin Lizzy (yup, what remains of Thin Lizzy) were already halfway through their set. An example, perhaps, why longevity isn't always a bonus? I saw this lineup (John Sykes, Scott Gorham with Marco Mendoza and I can't remember the drummer - oops) in 20o3 at Sheffield's Leadmill on their own tour & they were excellent. This time, the atmosphere wasn't there and their playing, well, it was a bit loose and Sykes sounded tired. Compared to the tight sound & excellence of tribute Limehouse Lizzy - I know who I will see again! Limehouse Lizzy are, luckily, back in Cardiff later this year.

Main support Styx were on shortly afterwards, for apparently their first visit to Wales. Neither of us were familiar with their songs, & their sound was pretty much Journey but a bit heavier. Highlight for me was their cover of I Am The Walrus. This lot were, though, far more professional & did a great job, getting the crowd warmed up. Special guest was founder member Chuck Panozzo. Must mention here their singer/keys player Lawrence Gowan, with his rotating keyboard! Picture below. Styx have a proper website too!



The crowd were well & truly ready to rock when Deep Purple came on. This time, an improvement on last time - saw them in 2003 and was disappointed. There were a few new songs, which are ok but not a patch on the classics! Set included: Strange Kind Of Woman, When A Blind Man Cries, Highway Star, Space Truckin, Smoke On The Water, with Hush & Black Night for the encore. An excellent atmosphere (especially for the Arena), too! Lots of Purple-related websites for more info.




As an aside, Tuesday we tried out Jump at the Wales Millennium Centre, which was a highly entertaining martial arts comedy. A short storyline told through martial arts moves and expressions, including forays into dance (martial arts tango, anyone?), plus showcase moves to an instrumental rock soundtrack. We'd recommend this for theatre with a difference!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Music, Poetry and Cake (Gateshead and Lanchester)

Piano at the ready! (by M) After a good few months prep, the concert Piano Music and Poetry (organised through the Gateshead Piano Workshop folks) came around pretty quickly. As one of the participants, I was excited and also a little nervous about the prospect of a Paying Audience. The work paid off, as all the performers were excellent! Well appreciated by the compact audience. The format was in relation to National Poetry Day which was on 2nd October. Each performer chose a poem either in direct or indirect relation to their piece. A summary of the programme: Alan - Liszt Consolation No 4 and Mozart Adagio in B minor Graeme - Chopin Nocturne Op. 62 No. 2 with 'Uncertainty' by Adam Mickiewicz me - Clara Schumann, andante con sentimento with 'Clara Wieck und Beethoven' by Franz Grillparzer Jim - R Schumann Kinderszenen 1 and 7 with 'My child, we were just children' by Heinrich Heine Ernie - Debussy Clair de lune with excerpt from 'Fêtes g...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sounds of JUNOfest

Classical JUNOs performers Something of a musical melange weekend but an excellent set of events! Eschewing some of the bands and artists we knew, we chose less familiar sounds for our JUNOfest experience. First up was the Classical JUNOs in Concert event at the National Arts Centre , featuring both nominated performers and composers. The mix of contemporary music was brilliantly played by Christina Petrowska Quilico , Susan Hoeppner , Heather Schmidt and the New Orford String Quartet . Quilico amazed the almost 100-strong audience with her performance of Derek Charke's Sepia Fragments   in a reduction for piano; I found this piece a really captivating mix of earthly and ethereal elements. Quilico's second performance was of Ann Southam's Glass Houses No. 5 , an hypnotic piece which sounded both fiendishly difficult to play but also very clean and unembellished. Susan Hoeppner's excellent performance of Eldin Burton's Sonatina for Flute and Piano got the po...
Post a Comment
Read more

From Black Rose to Buena Vista

Two very different but equally impressive live experiences this last weekend. First up, our long overdue homage to the late, great Phil Lynott as Limehouse Lizzy returned to the Point on Friday 2nd March. Certainly on form (and not just lead singer Wayne Ellis, mmmm!) After a late doors, the band came on for a 2 hour set. They started off with Jailbreak (with added pyro), the rest of the main set comprising known songs like Dancing In The Moonlight, Warrior, Emerald, Johnny the Fox, Are You Ready, Killer On The Loose, Cold Sweat, Do Anything You Want To, Out In The Fields, Cowboy Song, Rosalie, The Boys Are Back In Town plus at least 1 early track. The encore included 1 verse/1 chorus from Sarah, Black Rose, Whisky In The Jar and another track. Excellent atmosphere, the place was sold out. The boys are back at the Point in December. Next on to crowd pleasers of a very different sort. M and I managed to get tickets for the sold-out Buena Vista Social Club show at Wales Millennium Centr...
Post a Comment
Read more