Deep Purple / The House of Blue Light European Tour 1988 Sporthalle (2CDR)

CD01:
01 Intro
02 Highway Star
03 Strange Kind Of Woman
04 The Unwritten Law (incl. drum solo)
05 Blues
06 Dead Or Alive
07 Perfect Strangers
08 Hard Lovin' Woman
09 Child In Time (edit)
10 Difficult To Cure
11 Jon Lord Keyboard Solo
12 Knocking At Your Back Door

CD02:
01 Lazy
02 Space Truckin' (guitar crash)

-(Knebworth, England - June 22, 1985)-
03 Difficult to Cure (Beethoven's Ninth)
04 Jon Lord Solo
05 Space Truckin'
06 Ritchie Blackmore Solo
07 Space Truckin' Reprise
08 Encore Break
09 Speed King
10 Black Night
11 Smoke on the Water

Lineup:
Ritchie Blackmore - Guitar
Ian Gillan - Vocals
Roger Glover - Bass
Jon Lord - Keyboards
Ian Paice - Drums

This release captures Deep Purple's performance at the Sporthalle in Cologne, Germany, on September 25, 1988, during their European tour. This tour served as promotion following the release of the studio album *The House of Blue Light*. It marked the final tour for the "Mark V" lineup, as vocalist Ian Gillan would leave the band after this run of shows. Although this era is often viewed critically due to the well-known friction between Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Gillan, the performance on this release is exceptional and powerful. Both Ian and Ritchie are in fine form, delivering a superb show that truly embodies the classic Deep Purple sound. The recording vividly captures the raw energy of the live event, including a realistic capture of Ritchie's guitar-smashing finale during "Space Truckin'." As a bonus track, the release includes eight songs from the concert at Knebworth, UK—performed shortly after the band reunited with its Mark II lineup—recorded via soundboard (SBD). Thanks to the use of an SBD source, the audio quality is consistently high, allowing for an enjoyable listening experience.