The boys were back in town. Well, boys might be stretching it. Three bands with histories came out to entertain Glasgow, and entertainment is not stretching it. The players who make up Thin Lizzy may lack a vital ingredient personnel-wise and, while they're not as lithe, they compensate with industry and an adherence to the rock band as circus principle. Flame-throwing, trapeze walking, juggling - or musical equivalents - they're all here, rocking along on a precision wave of drumming.
If Lizzy are the circus, touring mates Styx are a good natured pantomime. An amalgam of superior chops and well-choreographed instrumental and vocal arrangements, their set was memorable more for the souvenirs - beach balls, frisbees, plectrums - they dispensed from the stage than the songs. All good clean fun, though, even if the spinning keyboard console and a determination to make every song-ending longer than the last wore thin.
Considering they're approaching their 40th anniversary, Deep Purple sound in remarkably fine fettle. Again, there's an absence of certain personnel, but the essentials are in place: guitar heroics, quasi-classical keyboard patterns and Ian Gillan wailing. But for bassist Roger Glover doubling as Willie Nelson's twin, it could be 1971, especially with drummer Ian Paice lending his swinging style to the music. Classics such as Strange Kind of Woman were dispatched with concision and the Moroccan-flavoured title track of their new album suggested that there's still creative life in these old dogs yet.
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