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The annual Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland is well known as a two-week celebration of the world's best jazz music, but also for its roster of all stars from other genres, especially rock, pop, blues and soul. They've invited the likes of David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, and Marvin Gaye to the fest over the years.

On its 40th anniversary, from June 30 through July 15, 2006, Montreux celebrated its past and present, inviting acts ranging from Steve Winwood, Taj Mahal and Paco de Lucia to Morrissey, The Strokes and The Deftones. But Deep Purple is perhaps the rock band most closely associated with the festival, see the Montreux-based story behind 'Smoke On The Water' on the DVD and hence headlined the final night. They delivered a blistering, unforgettable 100-minute performance that was captured on film and released last year (Eagle Eye Media).

As if that wasn't enough, you get a bonus DVD of an intimate hour-long performance by DP at what was then a newly reopened Hard Rock Café in London, England, on October 10, 2005. Plus, there's over 20 minutes worth of band interviews, totalling over 186 minutes of entertainment.

The classic Deep Purple (Mark II) lineup of Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (axe), Jon Lord (keys), Ian Paice (drums) and Roger Glover (bass) may never get back together, but aside from Gillan?s aging vocal chops, the current group is almost as strong as its ever been. Guitar virtuosos Blackmore and piano wizard Lord have been replaced by two heavyweights for a long while now, Steve Morse (Dixie Dregs, Kansas) since 1994 and Don Airey (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Andrew Lloyd Webber) since 2002, respectively.

Along with Judas Priest, Queen and other hard rock/metal giants of the '70s, Deep Purple were among the first to incorporate the kind of speedy heavy metal riffs into their sound that would influence thrash metal pioneers like Anthrax and Metallica in the '80s. But like many of the greatest bands in the world, Deep Purple was more than a hard rock band, they never called themselves a 'heavy metal' band. They incorporated blues, jazz and prog-rock into their albums over the last four decades. And for nearly 3 hours over 2 DVDs, DP celebrates both Montreux's legacy as well as their own.

Purple fans young and (mostly old) will be pleased with the amount of classics included in the Montreux set, including nearly all of the landmark Machine Head album (and even a b-side from that era, 'When A Blind Man Cries'. 

De gegevens:  

Colour: PAL
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Runtime: 60 minuten
Geluid: DD 2.0, DD 5.1 en DTS

Setlist:

Fireball
I got your number
Strange kind of woman
Kiss tomorrow goodbye
Lazy
Rapture of the deep
Wrong man
Perfect strangers
Highway star
Smoke on the water