Deep Purple / The Battle Rages On European Tour 1993 France 2nd show Le Zenith SOUNDBOARD (2CDR)

CD01:
01 Opening
02 Highway Star
03 Black Night
04 Talk About Love
05 A Twist In The Tale
06 Perfect Strangers
07 Difficult To Cure
08 Jon Lord Keyboard Solo
09 Knocking At Your Back Door
10 Anyone's Daughter
11 Child In Time
12 Anya

CD02:
01 The Battle Rages On
02 Blues
03 Lazy
04 Ian Paice Drum Solo
05 Space Truckin'
06 Woman From Tokyo
07 Paint It Black
-(Encore)-
08 Hush (Audience patch)
09 Speed King (Audience patch)
10 Smoke On The Water (Audience patch)

Lineup:
Ritchie Blackmore - guitar
Ian Gillan - vocals
Jon Lord - keyboards
Roger Glover - bass
Ian Paice - drums

This recording is taken from the soundboard/line feed of Deep Purple’s performance at Le Zénith in Paris, France, on October 19, 1993. This tour featured the band’s seventh lineup and served as the final tour for guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. The European leg was intended to promote the album *The Battle Rages On* (released in September), and a Japanese tour had also been scheduled; however, the year became a historic turning point for the band when Ritchie Blackmore abruptly departed during a concert in Helsinki in November. The performances from September and October—the early stages of the tour—were quite strong, offering an engaging setlist that blended tracks from the new album with classic hits. Ritchie’s guitar work is particularly notable, featuring numerous improvisational phrases, and vocalist Ian Gillan is in excellent form, making for a highly enjoyable listening experience. The sound quality is consistently high, as it is sourced from a soundboard (SBD) recording. An excellent audience (AUD) recording is used for the encore, but it blends in seamlessly, allowing for an enjoyable listening experience.