Deep Purple / Athens 1991 / 2CDR

The Joe Lynn Turner era, which has become a singular point in the history of PURPLE, while still producing the masterpiece “SLAVES AND MASTERS” that Ritchie Blackmore professes to be a favorite. Two masterpiece live albums that convey the scene will be released at the same time.
This work is the second one. This is an excellent audience recording that tells the whole picture of the first Greek performance “September 26, 1991 Athens”. The two works released at the same time this week are about half a year apart, even though they are European tours of “SLAVES AND MASTERS TOUR”. To get an idea of ​​what’s going on, let’s take a look back at the once-only world tour of the Joe era.

・ February 2-March 17: Europe # 1 (30 performances)
・ April 10-May 15: North America (9 performances)
・ June 24-July 3: Asia (6 performances)
・ August 16-24: South America (7 performances)
・ September 14-26: Europe # 2 (5 performances) ← ★ Coco ★
・ September 28 + 29: Israel (2 performances)

This is the 1991 DEEP PURPLE. It was only eight months from the beginning of February to the end of September, but in the meantime, I circuited around Europe, the Americas, Asia and Israel. The Athens performance of this work was the final day of “Europe # 2” at the end. In addition, the national character of Greece is also special. It belongs to Western Europe, and there is no image of a rock underdeveloped country because it has produced Vangelis, but in fact, the British and American bands started touring at almost the same time as Eastern European countries. The Athens performance of this work was also DEEP PURPLE’s first … No, it was the first Greek performance including RAINBOW. The recording was not known until now only for the literal pioneer performance, but this work finally saw the light of day.
This work, which conveys the scene of such a first appearance, is an exquisite audience that does not look like the rarity of the de-class. Especially wonderful is the powerful core. This is probably due to the venue. After all, the site “PAO Stadium” is an open space with a wide open sky. Although it is a stadium, unlike Britain and the United States, it has no walls or ceiling that reflects sound, despite the fact that it has a scale of 10,000 people (a feeling of scale similar to that of Nippon Budokan). It directly picks up the sound of PA with zero echo, and it is really powerful and easy to listen to.
The vivid sound is a Greek full show that first met Ritchie Blackmore, the founder of hard rock. The Israeli performance two days after this work is also left on the tour’s leading sound board masterpiece “ISRAEL FIRE”, so let’s organize the set while comparing here.

● 70’s Classics
・ Phase II: Black Night / Lazy / Highway Star / Smoke on the Water
・ Phase III: Burn (★)
● Reunion era
・ Perfect Strangers: Perfect Strangers / Knocking at Your Back Door
・ Slaves and Masters: Truth Hurts / The Cut Runs Deep / Fire in the Basement / Love Conquers All
● Others
・ Difficult to Cure / Hey Joe
* Note: “★” marks are songs that cannot be heard on the sound board “ISRAEL FIRE” two days later.

… And it looks like this. “ISRAEL FIRE” was unfortunately an incomplete version, but two days before that, this work allows you to experience a full show.
In fact, that experience is the life of this work. Already, the enthusiasm of the site is amazing from “Burn” at the beginning. As a reminder, the sound of this work is mainly the performance sound and vocals. I will not give it up. However, the breath of the audience can be felt intensely within the limit.
Moreover, the mood is unique. For example, “Burn” causes a tremendous excitement, but it is somewhat different from the “Well, let’s get excited!” While the shocking feeling of “Is this hard rock!” Blows out, we talk about the sight in front of us incredibly. In other words, there is a long-awaited feeling that “I’m in front of you! Is it DEEP PURPLE!”
The fresh mood only for the first meeting is similar to Eastern Europe, but it is still different. Unlike the communist bloc, the audience is familiar with the famous songs and sings, perhaps because they are a country where records are freely available. The next “Black Night” is so amazing that I have to laugh. The riff is a big chorus, the singing is a big chorus, and the chorus is a big chorus. The call and response of “Long Live Rock’n’Roll” was so terrifying that I had never heard it in the 70’s RAINBOW’s performance in Japan. Everybody, Ian Gillan, shouts a thick “Ah! Ah! Ah!” One octave below. It’s humorous if you listen calmly, but because you can sympathize with it, the spectacle with goose bumps comes in as a tsunami.
First meeting with DEEP PURPLE, first encounter with Ritchie Blackmore. In the case of us Japanese, the impact was left as “MADE IN JAPAN”. There was a feeling of tension that only Japanese people who respect Japanese people should not miss even one sound, but this work is different. This is a passionate Mediterranean country. The “happy and irresistible passion” blows out from the speaker, and even the joy of empathy and the longing for honesty are aroused.

Greece is unfavorable even after this work. The next DEEP PURPLE came in 2000, and Ritchie Blackmore was no longer there. BLACKMORE’S NIGHT’s performance in Greece was also realized, but the Greeks were able to witness “hard rock Ritchie” only on the first day of this work. This work vacuum packs such a historic show with the 1st Gene Sound.
Greeks will envy us when they hear “MADE IN JAPAN”, but we envy them with this work. It’s Joe’s era DEEP PURPLE, which is now treated as black history, but in Greece, which we didn’t know about, it stirs people up to this point. Here is the truth of the history of DEEP PURPLE that could not be known only from the album “SLAVES AND MASTERS” and the performance in Japan (which I saw in a mid-critic style). This work itself is a wonderful music album, but at the same time, it is a proof that tells posterity how British rock permeated and spread. This is exactly one of the world heritage sites of rock. Please correct your collar and face it with all your spirit.

★ First appearance audience recording of the first Greek performance “September 26, 1991 Athens”. Only in the open space stadium, there is no response, and the sole 1st gene of this work. It is the first time that DEEP PURPLE is drawn with its fresh direct sound … No, it is a full show that witnessed Ritchie Blackmore. At the beginning, “Burn” gave a shocking feeling, “Is this hard rock!”, And each song sang a riff, a big chorus, and a chorus. It’s a humorous live album that you can sympathize with when you listen to it calmly, but the spectacle with goose bumps rushes in as a tsunami.