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In the 1983 and 1984, three of my all-time favorite
albums were released: Dio's Holy Diver, Scorpions' Love
at First Sting, and Deep Purple's Perfect Strangers.
At that time if these three bands had toured together I probably
would have had a heart attack. But here we are almost 20 years later
and these legends of hard rock have now come together for a huge
summer tour. And while these bands may not generate quite the same
excitement today that they once did, the lineup alone is enough
to generate a serious buzz of anticipation before the show.
It's a warm summer night in Concord and the sun
is still shining bright above the Western horizon as Dio hits the
stage, and instantly one of the biggest drawbacks of outdoor shows
in Summer becomes clear: certain bands simply should not perform
outside during daylight. The combination of a three-band bill and
the Concord city noise curfew means that Dio is playing at 6:00;
thus a half-empty amphitheater and no light show to speak of. The
second point is key for two reasons: first, Dio's music, with all
its dark imagery of swords and dragons, requires a light show (and
smoke and lasers too) to create the right ominous atmosphere, and
second, Ronnie and his bandmates, with the exception of his latest
guitar stud Doug
Aldrich., could certainly use some artificial
light and stage effects to help conceal the fact that they are starting
to look a little old and saggy. As it is, the bright daylight is
not kind to Dio and his long-time rhythm section of bassist Jimmy
Bain and drummer Simon Wright. And although I think Dio's performance
suffers because of the light conditions, this is a rock and roll
show after all, not a beauty pageant, so I will leave it at that.
They start of with the title track to their latest album
Killing the Dragon, which is another no-no in my book. The
deck is already stacked against the band with the time-slot, empty
seats, etc., so why not come out swinging with something that will
get everyone in the beer lines to giddy-up and get their butts to
their seats? I'm talking about "We Rock", "Neon Knights",
or "Stand up and Shout". Killing the Dragon was
just recently released and I'd be surprised if half the audience
has even heard it. I don't understand why bands do things like this,
but then it gets worse! The second song is "Egypt, the Chains
are On". Yes, it's an old song off the awesome Last in Line
album, but it's also a slow, plodding dud of a song that's possibly
my least favorite from the classic period of the first three Dio
albums. I love Dio but this is not a good way to start the show.
Fortunately, Dio still has a penchant for combining
old songs into seamless medleys, so the next thing I know Egypt
has segued into Sabbath's "Children of the Sea". Finally
we are rocking! Aldrich's riffing rides calmly on top of the fat
rhythm laid down by Bain and Wright, and Dio's voice soars back
to 1980 when Heaven and Hell emphatically put Sabbath back
on the map after the whole meltdown with Ozzy over the previous
few years. Good stuff.
Next is another/other new song "Push",
one of the better cuts from the new album, and from there they concentrate
on the old stuff from Dio's long and distinguished career. Rainbow
is represented by "Man on the Silver Mountain" and "Long
Live Rock and Roll", "Heaven and Hell" is the only
other Sabbath number, and the rest are Dio classics: "Stand
up and Shout", "Holy Diver", and the standard show-closer
"Rainbow in the Dark". It was a tough gig but in the end
the music was there, the sun had disappeared, and the dragon had
been slayed.
A lot of people don't remember that Ian Gillan
replaced Dio in Black Sabbath in 1983 and Gillan himself probably
WANTS to forget it. While I still love the resulting Born Again
album, it's been well-documented that Gillan is less than thrilled
with that little piece of his career. But you can't argue that Deep
Purple is where his classic English blues voice belongs.
Purple's current lineup includes Steve Morse on
guitar and Don Airey on keyboards, who replaced Ritchie Blackmore
and Jon Lord respectively, as well as Gillan and the ever-present
Roger Glover and Ian Paice holding down the beat. They open with
"Fireball" and the now sizable crowd is immediately into
it. Gillan looks like he should be on the beach, with his white
linen pants and bare feet, rather than on a stage, and his short
gray hair doesn't scream "rock singer" either. But as
soon as he opens his mouth his unmistakable voice takes over, sounding
as good as it did in 1972.
They slide right into "Woman from Tokyo"
and Glover starts prancing around with a devilish smile, holding
his bass like a rifle, looking like he's still having a grand old
time up there after all these years. Morse's guitar playing is amazing,
but not too flashy or over-the-top. Like all the best guitarists,
he makes the most insane licks seem effortless, often messing around
with his bandmates or the audience while his fingers are wailing
away, doing their own thing with or without their owner's attention.
He is fun to watch.
The whole band sounds great, the sky is dark, and
there's a light show, thankfully, and it's all working tonight.
Since Perfect Strangers is my favorite Purple album, the
highlight for me is the trio of "Knocking at your Back Door",
followed by "Space Truckin'" and then right into "Perfect
Strangers". Another highlight, unexpectedly, is Don Airey's
keyboard solo. Airey manages to make it interesting and enjoyable
by including music as varied as the Dracula theme (Bach's "Toca
et Fuga") and Star Wars, as well as the piano midsection from
Ozzy's "Revelation (Mother Earth)", which he played on.
It's a rare treat when a keyboard solo is anything but a bore.
Predictably, "Smoke on the Water" closes
the main set, followed by encores of "Hush" and "Highway
Star". "Hush" has always sounded more like a Santana
song to me; it's one of those songs that they have to play, and
everyone seems to love, but I personally can't stand. I always hate
it when one of a band's biggest hits is also one of my least favorite
songs, and "Hush" is a perfect example. But luckily "Highway
Star" saves the day, an all-time classic hard rock song that
still sounds fantastic, and tonight's version rocks the house. If
I was rating Deep Purple's overall performance tonight I'd probably
give them a 7 out of 10.
The Scorpions are rightfully headlining tonight,
judging by immediate burst of energy that rushes through the Pavilion
crowd as soon as the German rockers hit the stage. I barely have
time to take a breath after the lights go down before Rudy Schenker
is right in front of me belting out the riff to "Coming Home".
Note to Dio: always open with a classic scorcher to get the crowd
pumped up and on their feet. "Coming Home" fits the bill
perfectly, and there's no let-up as "Bad Boys Running Wild"
is next, and then "The Zoo". An absolutely solid opening
assault, and from there the Scorpions own the Concord Pavilion;
they can do no wrong.
Matthias Jabs doesn't look much different than
he did in 1984, and is surely still popular with the ladies in the
audience. Klaus Meine hasn't lost anything off his inimitable howl,
and Schenker is just a maniac, with his spiky bleached blond hair,
mouth wide open, and his awesome array of Flying V's â still a consummate
rock star loving the limelight after all these years.
The stage set is nothing fancy: drummer James Kottak
is perched on a good-sized drum riser and there are plenty of crowd
lights, but it's all about the music tonight. The awesome instrumental
"Coast to Coast" remains a featured centerpiece, "Dynamite"
is a bit of a surprise, but a pleasant one, and "Big City Nights"
is still a sing-along favorite. For "Blackout", Rudy even
appears with his head bandaged and two bent forks across his eyes,
re-enacting the classic album's cover â very cool! The encores are
even more predictable than Deep Purple's: first is "Still Loving
You", the blueprint for many an 80s power ballad, and then
of course, "Rock You Like a Hurricane". These two songs
really made them stars in 1984 and here we are 18 years later and
they still resonate with power.
The curfew and 3-band format means that the Scorpions'
30-year career has to be reduced to a 13-song set, which means that
some of my favorites like "Rhythm of Love" and "Loving
You Sunday Morning" have to be excluded. But they definitely
make the most of the time they have, it's almost all classics from
the 80s, with nothing off the failed Eye II Eye record from
1999. It's just a great show built on a solid catalog of catchy
yet heavy songs from a succession of classic albums, starting with
Lovedrive in 1979 and ending with Love at First Sting
in 1984. Those albums have aged very well and as long as the band
continues to concentrate on that period of their career then they
should be able to put on blistering shows for years to come. Yes,
their sting is still lethal.
The 3-band summer amphitheater tour seems like
it's going to be around for a while, and although it sounds like
a great deal for the fans, as I've said there are some drawbacks,
mainly short sets and Dio squinting in the sun. But in tonight's
case I think the pros beat out the cons and while the three bands
didn't manage to fill the Pavilion, the thousands who were here
certainly were treated to a solid classic rock show. Thousands of
perfect strangers together, the lights go down as they stand up
and shout and happily get rocked like a hurricane.
| Backstage Fun |
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Ronnie James and C.C Rock crew
memeber Peter sipping a cold one after the show. |
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Metal Matt's wife Grettel with Klaus Meine.
Hey Klaus, watch that hand. |
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Klaus getting fresh with Ian. |
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Metal Matt, James Ornsby(The Chef), and Rudolf
Schenker shooting the breeze backstage |
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