Deep Purple
In The Absence Of Pink

THE REVIEW

In 1985, the reunited Mk II lineup of Deep Purple returned to Great Britain after the immense success of their world tour following the album "Perfect Strangers" (released the previous year). The Purple performed at the Knebworth festival and despite the technical problems and the heavy downpour that erupted, they delivered an electrifying live performance.
The title comes from a phrase Ian Gillan said before a song, complaining about the continuous technical mishaps, he said: "What we all need now is a tremendous amount of pink. But, in the absence of pink, here's some blues".
The album was released in 1991 as a double CD and also suffers from rather poor audio quality, but it does not diminish the magnificent performance of Deep Purple.

The setlist is a mix of old hits and new songs, the result is excellent.
It starts with the classic "Highway Star", introduced by Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" performed by Jon Lord; Ritchie Blackmore plays the solo faster than ever, with his Fender strengthened by an even more electric sound. After the performance of "Nobody's Home", here's another classic: "Strange Kind Of Woman", but here the tensions between Blackmore and Gillan reappear. The guitarist, in the usual duel with the singer, plays notes too high for Gillan's strained voice, a dirty trick that would repeat over the years.
Space for two songs from the album Perfect Strangers: with "A Gypsy's Kiss" it almost sounds like listening to the Rainbow of the Turner era. It has everything: blues intro, Hard Rock, and neoclassical passages; afterwards the title track: "Perfect Strangers", the last great masterpiece of the Purple, listened to by the fans in respectful silence.
The first CD closes with a very fast "Lazy" superbly performed (complete with a drum solo by Ian Paice) and with another song from the new album: once again the AOR influence predominates with "Knocking At Your Backdoor".

Deep Purple are in great form, as noted on the second CD, which opens with a classic from Rainbow and Rock music: "Difficult To Cure", Blackmore leaves the scene to Lord and his solo paves the way to "Space Truckin'". In the usual performance by Lord, the keyboardist reaches peaks of skill never seen before, also revisiting the "Fanfare Of The Common Man" by ELP; here too Blackmore shows his discontent, performing a cacophonous guitar solo, very irritating to the audience's ears.

By now, however, it's a triumph, after "Speed King" and Black Night" (two classics from the album "In Rock"), the Purple close the concert with one of the most famous songs, surely the one with the most overused riff by all guitarists: "Smoke On The Water", simply perfect, with the audience singing the chorus and Gillan thanking the fans, a unique moment.

The Mk II lineup of Deep Purple returns stronger than ever (on stage), a happy period destined to last briefly.