Deep Purple performed on this day in 2007 at L’Olympia in Paris, France.
The Concert
This concert was part of the group’s Rapture of the Deep tour, undertaken to support the album of the same name. They were supported at this venue by Cafe Bertrand.
The setlist of this concert featured both classic songs from the 70s and cuts from Rapture of the Deep. The group also performed the rarely-played “Loosen My Strings”, “The Battle Rages On”, and “Into the Fire”. All four instrumentalists took at least one solo, Steve Morse between “Contact Lost” and “The Well-Dressed Guitar”, Don Airey before the beginning of “Perfect Strangers” (which has been the typical spot for keyboard solos since at least the early 90s), Ian Paice during “Hush”, and Roger Glover before “Black Night”.
Reviews of the concert make reference to the band performing well despite pressure, including chest pain for bassist Roger Glover, hip pain for Ian Gillan, and technical trouble for Steve Morse and his guitars. Said reviews also highlight Ian Paice hitting the drums so hard he startled Ian Gillan a few times! Afterwards, they reportedly received awards for 100,000 tickets sold in 2007.
This concert was recorded, and is in circulation online both in audio and video format.
The Venue
The venue, L’Olympia, is a particularly neat one. It was founded in 1888 by the co-creators of the Moulin Rouge, Joseph Holler and Charles Zidler, and is known for its red glowing letters announcing upcoming performers at the front.
It served as a movie theater briefly from the late 1920s-early 1940s before being converted to a music performance venue once more. While it was nearly torn down in the early 90s, it was instead given a preservation order and underwent restoration. Notable performers here include the Grateful Dead, the Beatles, Edith Piaf, and Dalida. It can seat 1,985 people. The venue still hosts events as of 2022 according to its site.
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- Edit on 2020-08-31: Updated formatting. Optimized for new site.
- Edit on 2022-04-15: Fixed images. Added some info about the setlist and solo spots.
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