Glenn Hughes

Glenn Hughes needs no introduction as a vocalist, bass player or rock legend. But I really didn’t know what to expect when asked to review this gig, as I am quite wary of classic artists, however respected, revisiting their decades-old back catalogues in case it ends in disappointment; singers, in particular, can be cruelly exposed by decreasing vocal ranges and all too often things are better left in the past. But, tonight in Glasgow, in the case of Glenn Hughes, I found an artist very much on form, and going for and hitting high notes that few of his or any generation would dare.

Warming the crowd up was English blues rock guitarist, Laurence Jones and his band. Displaying an impressive technical ability, and benefitting from a great guitar sound, Laurence squeezed every ounce of emotion out of his Telecaster as the gradually swelling crowd warmed to a mix of original material and particularly covers of “All Along The Watchtower” and “Fortunate Son”. But they were really only here to see one act.

In deciding to embark on this tour, Glenn Hughes and his band sought not to replicate the studio sound of classic Deep Purple, but instead to recapture the live experience in which much of this material took on a life of it’s own. To do this he put together a band who he thought would be capable of this task and of supporting him on vocals and bass - Danish guitarist Soren Anderson (of Scandinavian rock band the Electric Guitars, Mike Tramp and Marco Mendoza), fellow Dane Jesper Bo Hansen on keyboards and Fernando Escobedo on drums.

Over the course of an 1hr and 50 minutes Glenn Hughes and his band delivered an 11 song set. Set opener ‘Stormbringer’ rapidly dispelled any doubts that Glenn could still sing and then some, and was followed by ‘Might Just Take Your Life’ and “Sail Away”. But, for me, it was on “Gettin’ Tighter” that the band really hit their groove – probably one of the highlights of the gig. “You Keep on Moving” was then followed by “You Fool No One” wrapped around a strong version of “High Ball Shooter”, interspersed with keyboard, guitar and drum solos.

Fans of classic rock are divided over who they believed to be the best vocalist in Deep Purple; after all, few bands can boast of having featured Ian Gillan, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes all within their ranks. And even fewer bands can boast of a stronger run of four classic rock songs than set closers “Mistreated’ and “Smoke on the Water”, followed by deserved encores of “Burn” and “Highway Star”. Without antagonising Purple purists, what is beyond doubt is that, on the basis of tonight’s performance, Glenn Hughes is still more than capable of taking on and delivering classics from different eras of the band in addition to demonstrating the more soulful side to his voice, as when seguing from “Smoke on the Water” into Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind”.

While the evening was about celebrating the classic music of Deep Purple live, it was disappointing that Soren Anderson, a great guitarist in his own right, was not given more space to do his own thing and that the guitar was not further up the mix.

As might be expected, the audience was largely of an age to have followed and listened to Deep Purple in their prime, to have seen it, bought the t-shirt and not to be easily impressed … and this Glasgow audience was impressed.

For those who have missed seeing him on the current tour, Glenn Hughes returns to the UK to perform a second leg of Classic Deep Purple “Live” from 14-24 May 2019.

GMcA