The mood is set from the start as Prokofiev’s ‘Romeo And Juliet’ segues into the high octane opener ‘Highway Star’. Purple classics are dusted down and spit-polished by the mind-bending interplay between Steven Morse and keyboardist Don Airey. ‘Fireball’ explodes, ‘Strange Kind Of Woman’ smoulders, and an inspired Bach/Mozart/Jerry Lee hybrid solo introduces an electric ‘Perfect Strangers’.
Ian Gillan’s knowing leer gets free rein on ‘Mary Long’, and recent(ish) tracks such as ‘Rapture Of The Deep’ and ‘Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming’ sit well beside the older tunes in a set packed with highlights.
A key talking point is of course the world’s most famous rock riff. ‘Smoke On The Water’ is duly played and sends the crowd into ecstasy as air guitars are taken out of their cases and follically-challenged heads are banged in unison.
How to follow that? An encore of ‘Speed King’, complete with Everly Brothers and Elvis medley and a crowd lustily yelping along to ‘Black Night’. Proof positive that old rockers can still burn the place to the ground.