Glenn Hughes Live

Supported by The Damn Truth

OCT 25th 2023 - Electric Ballroom, Camden, London, England

The Classic Deep Purple Live tour.

Reviewed by Robert Corich

Hitting the stage looking slicker than ever the enigmatic Glenn Hughes and his band commenced proceedings to deliver a thundering version of ‘Stormbringer’ to a ready and willing crowd.

Fathom and fury like no tomorrow came to mind watching this icon of rock deliver one of Purple MK III’s signature songs. The opener of Glenn’s second album with Deep Purple, the current delivery by Glenn and his band really does give the tune a new lease of life. Storm-bringers indeed.

Cheers abounded from delighted old schoolers as they recognised the opening bars to ‘Might Just Take Your Life’, the first ever single released by the MK III Deep Purple fifty years ago and it sounded as good today as it did back in the day.

A solid reworking of ‘Sail Away’ kept the pulse pumping before the band launched in to the vibrant drum beat of ‘You Fool No One’, a super tune that Purple in days gone by used as their vehicle to jam. ‘You Fool No One’ at the time superseded the slot ‘Space Truckin’’ and ‘Mandrake Root’ had filled previously with DP MK II & MK I respectively.

Although Glenn had added in snippets of ‘High Ball Shooter’ to great effect I did think much of the noodling within the overall track was a massive opportunity lost.

Just imagine if ‘Lay Down, Stay Down’, ‘What’s Going On Here’ and the never previously aired live ‘A200’ and ‘Coronarius Redig’ from the ‘Burn’ album sessions had been included, even if only as part of a medley.

Not only would that have kept the Purple anoraks happy (of whom many were clearly in attendance) but it would also redress the failure to have played the complete ‘Burn’ album in its entirety as had been more than implied a year earlier and still is today if the tour posters are anything to go by.

A more than adequate version of ‘Mistreated’ followed before Glenn moved into ‘Come Taste The Band’ territory with a superb renditions of ‘Getting Tighter’ and ‘You Keep On Moving’ ensuring the band left the stage on a high.

With the crowd going crazy after the delivery of eight Hughes/Coverdale period classics the band returned to the stage to deliver the only MKII tune of the night with a stunning version of ‘Highway Star’. This got the crowd pumping even more. Hughes vocals on the entry parts of the song were both haunting and sublime.

Following the MKII classic was the ever popular ‘Burn’ and tonight’s rendition of what has become Glenn’s signature tune was certainly no disappointment.

In summary, a great gig, lots of fun had by all but I know many of the Purple aficionados know Glenn has missed a trick not including the few unaired songs (or at least snippets of them) from the ‘Burn’ album in this current set. To have heard those aired live for the very first time anywhere would’ve made this tour extra special.

Let’s hope the missing tracks can be included in the next leg of the adventure. Burn and beyond…

Openers The Damn Truth were damn good! An entertaining 40 minutes or so delivered by the Montreal based Canadians where there were definite shades of Darby Mills with Headpins & BTO from days gone by. No bad thing and TDT are certainly a band to watch, they could well be taking care of business before you know it.