Ian Gillan (Photo by Jim Summaria)

Deep Purple came out driving fast with their song “Highway Star” from their 1972 album “Machine Head” on Friday at Credit Union 1 Amphitheater in Tinley Park, and they never took their foot off the pedal.  

The tour is titled “1 More Time.” but I hope they keep on coming. The music and energy is still there. Original drummer Ian Paice, longtime bassist Roger Glover and singer Ian Gillan (in great voice) performed like they did back in the ’70s. Guitarist Simon McBride had big shoes to fill (Ritchie Blackmore, Tommy Bolin and Steve Morse preceded him in Deep Purple) and was amazing all night long. Keyboardist Don Airey replaced Jon Lord in 2002 and was excellent.  

Deep Purple is touring supporting their new album “= 1”. It’s rare that bands from the classic rock era create new music and Deep Purple has come out with a superb album of rock ’n’ roll. Highlights they played from that album were “Lazy Sod” and “Portable Door.” The crowd reaction to the new songs was highly favorable, but when the show was winding down Deep Purple hit the crowd with a rambunctious version of “Space Truckin’” also from their Machine Head album.  

Longtime bassist Roger Glover and Deep Purple original drummer Ian Paice. (Photo by Jim Summaria)

With stage lights a little low, guitarist McBride hit some of the most famous guitar chords in rock history and the crowd went wild. The song, of course, is “Smoke On the Water”. With everyone standing and singing along, Deep Purple then left the stage to an enormous ovation, but returned quickly with their version of the Billie Joe Royal song “Hush,” followed by “Black Night” from their 1972 “Deep Purple in Rock” album.

The band was exhausted, the audience was exhausted, but everyone left totally fulfilled with a night of exceptional rock ’n’ roll music done Deep Purple style.  

An exceptional show by some exceptional veteran musicians.    

The 2024 version of Yes was the opening act for Deep Purple on Friday night. Longtime band member guitarist extraordinaire Steve Howe leads the band. He joined Yes in 1970 and first appeared on their third album, “The Yes Album,” in 1971. The band played “Yours Is No Disgrace”, “Starship Trooper”, “Clap” and “I’ve See All Good People” from that album in their abbreviated set.  

Howe is a master of the guitar and along with keyboardist Geoff Downes keeps the Yes name alive and well. And yes … Yes … played “Roundabout” for an encore.