“Unbelievable”. I counted Ian Gillan saying this at least ten times during Deep Purple’s first ever outing at the brand new Zenith Arena, just to the north of Limoges. This was his reaction to the incredible reception given to him by 8,000 rock starved fans in this quiet backwater of southern central France. 

After four decades of touring it must be something of a novelty for the band to experience a new venue, and it was with some bemusement that the band walked on to the stage at exactly 9.30pm French time. God only knows what Ian Gillan was expecting, because the roar of the crowd nearly took the roof off the new arena, and when the lights were turned on the crowd after Into the Fire, 10 mins in, and Gillan could finally see the audience in all their glory, he was visibly stunned. 

Limoges is a town of over 80,000 inhabitants, sitting slap bang in the middle of the Limousin region. It’s best known for porcelain, cattle and apples, and now counts an international rock venue as a major attraction. Thanks to the Zenith, Limoges is now officially on the map for bands touring France. If you’ve ever been to the Pyrenees, you’ve probably whizzed through Limoges whilst on the main A20 motorway between Paris and Toulouse. No more travelling nearly 3 hours to Bordeaux, the local rock fan can now enjoy himself in complete comfort in this purpose built hi-tech arena. I’ve lived in the area for two and a half years and this gig has been a long time coming! 

The band certainly rose to the novelty of the occasion, providing a blistering, adrenalin fuelled performance to a highly appreciative audience. Gillan was on top form, his voice showing no signs of the punishing tour schedule the band have been following this year.  Limoges was the final night of the 12 date French leg of the tour, this is followed by a 3 week break before restarting the UK tour in Newcastle. 

Steve Morse was in absolutely superb form, and put in a faultless performance.  The work rate of the man is simply astonishing, and he had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand during his main solo spot. He demonstrated the complete range of musical genre and technique from his repertoire, much to the surprise of a lot of the French fans who had never had the opportunity to see him before.

Don Airey’s opening onslaught on the keyboards during his own solo spot  set up vibrations which shook the Zenith to its foundations. Providing a clever blend of classical and rock, it all just looked so effortless. Having said that, we could have done without the corny French folk tune during the encore, which didn’t go down particularly well in my part of the audience! 

Talking of the encore, both Paicey and Roger Glover provided solos which defied belief, given that by this time DP had been on stage for nearly 2 hours!  How own earth can Ian Paice drum so fast at that time of night? And the piece de resistance on his own solo was the one (left-handed) snare drum roll which seemed to go against all the laws of physics, and human endurance. 

The set list leant heavily on the tried and tested classics, with only four songs from the recent Rapture of the Deep album. DP gauged this right for an audience that seemed pretty unfamiliar with anything put out after 1973!  Playing virtually all of the songs off Machine Head, and ending on Smoke on the Water, was a master stroke, as the audience were definitely there to take a journey back in time.   

The highlights for me – the manic rush of Highway Star, the boisterous emphatic Space Truckin’ and the exotic Perfect Strangers.  All dispatched with the musical dexterity and stage confidence that defines DP. I will never forget the 3 kids sitting in front of me leaping up to Speed King, singing along to every word, and rocking out to a song that was written even before their Dad was born! 

Support was provided by Café Bertrand, who came on early and left, well, quite early thank goodness. They provided an interesting insight into French heavy rock, and received a guarded welcome from the DP hungry audience.  To their credit, they tried hard but the audience’s musical taste was  mostly from another era. 

The Zenith Arena provided a superb venue, and considering that it had only been open a couple of weeks and DP were the third act to play there the whole experience was very impressive. The acoustics were great, and the whole layout of the place demonstrated the very best in modern arena design.  Looking like a spaceship rising out of the French countryside, access was so straight forward it put shame to many of the UK arenas. We were in our car, parked 50 metres from the entrance within 60 seconds of leaving our seat – not bad! 

Only one disappointment really.  France being France, things take time to get started, and there isn’t another rock group booked there until May.  However, what a group that is – Motorhead hits Limoges in 6 weeks time.  Hold on to your bérets, mes amies! 

By the way, rock tourists.  Ryanair and Flybe operate flights on a regular basis between Limoges and Stansted, Southampton, Liverpool and Nottingham, with Manchester and Newcastle coming on line in May.  The Arena is 5 miles from the airport.  A la prochaine fois?

Return To Gig Reviews Main Menu