Opinion - Thales de Menezes: Deep Purple balances the rock band's new and old sounds well

The last day of the Best of Blues and Rock Festival, held in the outdoor area of ​​the Ibirapuera Auditorium, in São Paulo , over two consecutive weekends , was the one that had the best line-up to represent the event's proposal.

There was also a show by the new national band that really does blues and rock, Hurricanes; a very good American artist still little known in Brazil, Judith Hill; and a giant band, to fill the venue for 15 thousand people. In this case, the legend Deep Purple.

Since 1991, when the band first visited Brazil, it has not been that difficult to see Deep Purple on a Brazilian stage. They have played more than 70 shows so far, on 15 tours around the country. And this intense frequency is not a privilege of Brazil. Deep Purple simply does not stop recording and touring.

There are 23 studio albums, and the most recent, "=1", had already been presented to Brazilians on last year's tour, which included a stop at Rock in Rio .

They don't rest on their laurels. They could play shows full of old hits and the audience would love it. But the band wants to showcase their new work, including six tracks from "=1" in their repertoire.

So they left out rock anthems like "Strange Kind of Woman," "Child in Time," "Perfect Strangers" and "Woman from Tokyo." But the band is smart enough to understand the importance of hits, so they opened the night with "Highway Star" and put in "Smoke on the Water" and "Black Night" at the end.

The Deep Purple currently on stage is a hybrid. It brings a monstrous rhythmic kitchen, with Ian Paice, 76, on drums, and Roger Glover, 79, on bass, members of the band's classic lineup from the early 1970s, which also had Ian Gillan on vocals, Ritchie Blackmore on guitar and Jon Lord on keyboards.

Don Airey has been in the band since 2002, replacing Jon Lord, who died in 2012. He is a great keyboard player, but even after two decades in the band he still can't escape comparisons with Lord, perhaps the best on the instrument in the history of rock. But he was nice enough to include excerpts from "Aquarela do Brasil" in his solo moment in the show.

Simon McBride, 46, the only one in the current lineup who hasn't lived past 70, has the tough task of replacing two classic musical signatures in the band. After Ritchie Blackmore was Deep Purple's first great guitarist, Steve Morse held the position from 1994 to 2022 and won over fans. McBride is good, but not that good.

And Ian Gillan, 79, does his best, but he is the member who highlights Deep Purple's long road. His voice is no longer the same and some of the band's songs are very challenging. Some biographers say that the group chooses "Highway Star" to start the show today because after a few songs on stage Gillan is unable to sustain the long high notes of this great hit.

But the balance of all these conditions still guarantees an unmissable rock show. The old songs are sensational and the new crop is good. It would be difficult to find a fan disappointed with what they saw on stage.

The Hurricanes, who opened the day, were formed in 2016 in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, and at Ibirapuera they rightfully earned the humorous nickname of "Brazilian Black Crowes". They put on a show with no room for relaxation, no talking. One song quickly followed another, with great musicians with long hair and beards, with the complete wardrobe of the southern American rocker, right down to the hat.

The band played material from their two albums, "Hurricanes" and "Back to the Basement." Several blues songs at different speeds, with solo opportunities for everyone.

Vocalist Rodrigo Cezimbra is a good frontman. Few people were already at Ibirapuera when the band took the stage. Anyone who wants to experience the band's live performance can watch a series of live sessions on YouTube .

Judith Hill has a powerful voice that easily moves between pop , soul and R&B. Still little known in Brazil, at 41 years old she boasts a list of very famous names when she presents her biography.

Also a guitarist and keyboardist, Hill has been a backing vocalist for, among other illustrious artists, Michael Jackson and Prince . Her first album, "Back in Time", released ten years ago, had some tracks produced by Prince. This album includes the irresistible ballad "Cry, Cry, Cry", a highlight of her repertoire. But she favored songs from her fifth studio album, "Letters from a Black Widow".

Her show was a pleasant surprise, with a sharp band full of relatives, with her father playing bass. Hill has a great voice and demonstrated great talent on the guitar, with an obvious influence from Prince, shaking up the entire audience, which was almost full of Deep Purple fans. The performance in São Paulo was, therefore, an excellent calling card for the singer to the Brazilian public.