Head-banging and innumerable fashion fuax pas were back (as if they’d ever left) at the Journal Pavilion when the Scorpions, Deep Purple and Ronnie James Dio took to the stage in Albuquerque in a flashback to a very different time.
Classic hard rocker Ronnie James Dio took the stage to start things off for the early evening show. Dio warmed up the already pumped crowd with his up-tempo hard-rockin’ style. A somewhat different kind of rocker in the fashion of Alice Cooper, Dio looked like he had never missed a beat.
After a very sufficient set from the hard rockers, Dio gave way to another legendary hard rock band, Deep Purple.
Deep Purple, which gained its biggest success with the early 1970s release of the album “Machinehead,” has been through its share of rough times – but after all these years can still rock a house. The members of Purple have been playing and touring together on and off since 1969. Though they did rock the Pavilion, I was set aback at the sight of the band.
I expected a bunch of hard-rocking long haired guys, but when they came out, lead singer Ian Gillan looked a little more like one of the Beach Boys than one of the pioneers of heavy metal.
The band played old songs as well as new, pulling out everything from “Smoke on the Water” and “Highway Star” to a still-in-progress instrumental interlude. Purple played an extra-long opening set, closing with one of their first hits, “Hush” and one of their most recognized hits, “Smoke on the Water.” Though the sun had set by the end of their time on stage, things were only beginning to heat up at the Pavilion.
After a few minutes of changing the stage from the Deep Purple decor to the classic Scorpions style, the already-wild crowd had worked itself into a pretty well contained frenzy. As the lights went up on the Scorpions, the people in the crowd could contain themselves no longer. Just to make things a little harder on security, lead singer Klaus Meine threw out over a dozen drum sticks to fans who were clawing and biting their way towards the souvenirs.
The Scorpions came right out and blew the roof off the Pavilion. Wearing the same old clothes from the mid-to late-80s and playing like it hasn’t been ten years since they were at the top of their popularity, the Scorpions showed why they are classic rock legends.
Playing all their greatest songs, from “No One Like You” to their 2000 version of “Hurricane,” the Pavilion crowd was captivated by the high energy show.
A nearly fully packed Journal Pavilion saw a reunion of classic rock ‘n’ roll icons, that showed that rock ‘n’roll is rock ‘n’ roll, no matter what year it is.
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April 11, 2024
