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IAN
PAICE & GLENN HUGHES
on stage together for the first
time in 32 years!
Childline
Rocks
IndigO2,
London,
13th March 2008
Roger Daltrey
Lulu
Glenn Hughes*
Ian Paice
Thunder
Marillion
The Zombies
Russ Ballard
Fish
hosted by Bob Harris
*Glenn
Hughes will be appearing at the Deep
Purple Convention,
3rd May, 2008
Watch Glenn & Ian performing
Mistreated at the soundcheck |
Charity concerts are
invariably ramshackle affairs, with the music secondary to
the cause. Last night's show at London's IndigO2 was far
from that.
With a good mix of artists,
'house band' and co-organisers Thunder kicked things off
with some of their most well-known numbers. Danny Bowes
was in his usual top form, showing why he is truly one of
Britain's finest voices. Messrs Coverdale and Elliot will
have a hard job following him when Thunder open on the
Whitesnake / Def Leppard tour in July.
Most pleasant surprise of the evening was the Zombies.
Colin Blunstone showed that he too had a great voice,
while Rod Argent's Hammond playing makes one wonder why he
isn't listed alongside the likes of Lord, Wakeman and
Emerson as one of Britain's top keyboard
players.
After a rousing 'She's Not
There' Blunstone left the stage to be replaced by Russ
Ballard: Arguably the man who put Rainbow back in the
black. It was the first time he and Argent had shared a
stage for about thirty years according to host Bob Harris
and they did the inevitable 'Hold Your Head Up' with
Argent really excelling with a lengthy Hammond
solo.
A three-piece Marillion quietened
things down a bit with an acoustic set, then it was time
for Glenn Hughes and Ian Paice to share a stage again for
the first time in almost 32 years to the day (Liverpool
15th March, '76). With Thunder's Luke Morley doing a solid
job on guitar they cranked out 'Mistreated' and Hughes
took the chance to show off his vocal talents with a
lengthy improvised closing to the song that had many in
the audience aghast by his immense range. Glenn's keyboard
player Anders Olinder kicked off the second number, a somewhat
surprising 'Might Just Take Your Life' with Danny Bowes
sharing the vocals and working well alongside Glenn.
Paicey was superb on this, lifting the song by adding new
fills reminiscent of his playing in Paice Ashton
Lord.
Hughes
then left the stage, Russ Ballard returned and did his
biggest hit 'Since You Been Gone'. I wondered if it occurred
to Paicey if he ever imagined he would perform on a song so
closely associated with Rainbow? Paice remained on stage
as Fish tackled Alex Harvey's Faith Healer.
The appearance of Lulu
excited the crowd even more and her rendition of Shout,
backed by Thunder was stunning and one of the highlights
of the evening. If you don't believe me just ask fellow
Purple fan Nigel Young who was also in the
audience!
Roger Daltrey was the last
act to come on and after his second number 'The Kids Are
Alright' departed, forgetting he still had one more song
to do! He returned a minute later, putting it down to age
before finishing with the excellent 'Behind Blue
Eyes'.
More or less everyone returned to the stage for the final
number 'With A Little Help From My Friends' although
Daltrey wasn't one of them, and he did give the impression
that he didn't seem concerned with mixing with the other
stars but that aside, despite the song appearing slightly,
although expectantly, under-rehearsed it was a great way
to finish the evening for this worthwhile cause. (JB)
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