DEEP PURPLE
Live in Concert 72/73

The greater portion of Live in Concert 72/73 is a performance from March 1, 1972, at Copenhagen’s Boldklub in 1972, hot on the heels of the release of Machine Head, the album that introduced “Smoke on the Water,” “Space Truckin’” and “Highway Star.” Recorded for Danmark Radio, Denmark’s national radio and television station, the show had lain dormant in their archives for 15 years. Live… is the only known full-length concert ever to be filmed of the “Mark II” version of the band in the 1970s: vocalist Ian Gillan, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, bassist Roger Glover, keyboardist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice.

A year later (May 1973), the same roster played a concert at Hofstra University in New York. Shown here are three songs from that show, which was filmed for Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert TV program and includes the only known footage of Purple performing “Smoke on the Water” during that era. At this time, Gillan had already served notice to the rest of the band that he would be quitting—he and Blackmore had never gotten along very well.

It was ever thus for Deep Purple: since their inception in 1968, there was always much coming and going. The “Mark II” lineup had formed in 1970, and its fractious nature renders the band the clearest influence on Spinal Tap. Nonetheless, Live in Concert 72/73 is absolutely devastating. From Gillan’s berserk shrieking in “Child in Time,” to the mind-melting, reckless improvisation in “Highway Star” and “Space Truckin,’” to Blackmore’s still startling six-string virtuosity, to the brutal pounding the band gives “Fireball,” this is the kind of rock they don’t make anymore.

Live…also includes a bonus song, “Burn,” from a performance at the 1974 Cal Jam in California courtesy of the “Mark III” edition of the band, featuring Gillan’s replacement David Coverdale, who would go on to lead Whitesnake. Additionally, Live… includes a commentary track from Purple fan Jon Kirkman, and is in stero, 5.1 and digital DTS surround. Run time is 127 minutes.

Track Listing
Copenhagen, March 1972 (black and white) (90 minutes)
1. “Highway Star”
2. “Strange Kind Of Woman”
3. “Child In Time”
4. “The Mule”
5. “Lazy”
6. “Space Truckin'”
7. “Fireball”
8. “Lucille”
9. “Black Night”
New York, May 1973 (color) (27 minutes)
1. “Strange Kind Of Woman”
2. “Smoke On The Water”
3. “Space Truckin'