A couple of days ago, no less an eminence than Ritchie Blackmore, a founding member of the legendary rock band DEEP PURPLE, joined his surviving former bandmates on-stage in Wantagh, NY, for a rendition of their most famous song. This is the three-chord riff that everyone, and I mean everyone, knows – it is the one that every Boomercuck fan wants to hear played 10 times in a row, because MUH NOSTALGIA.

(Much-deserved) grumblings about Boomercucks and their stupid reminiscences aside, I have to say, that would have been quite something to see:

There is much and more we could write about Ritchie, who was for decades known as a ROARING asshole, even by the standards of rock musicians, and especially rock guitarists. But the plain FACT is that his guitar playing, style, tone, and writing, were all foundational elements of one of the greatest bands in music history.

I grew up listening to DEEP PURPLE. It was a major part of my teenage years, believe it or not – thanks to my dad, who introduced me to that particular style of music. (In return, of course, I introduced him to IRON MAIDEN, RUSH, and similar bands, so I think it was a fair trade.)

Now, my entire understanding of the band comes from Steve Morse’s time with them – and, as far as I am concerned, Morse is perhaps the most amazing guitarist who ever picked up an axe, given the sheer versatility of his skillset. Morse played with Purple longer than any other guitarist, and in my opinion their latter-day albums were some of their best, particularly Purplexed.

But, with Morse, they never quite matched the ferocity and power of the original “MkII” and “MkIII” line-ups.

Nor should they ever have been expected to do so. By that time, DEEP PURPLE had been around for some 30 years – you CANNOT expect a bunch of 50-year-olds, as they were at that time, to play at the same level as they did in their 20s.

Today, of course, most of the band members are in their seventies and eighties, except their current guitarist – I’ve lost track of the band for the past decade or so, and I cannot remember who it is since Morse left. And yet, Iain Paice is STILL capable of dishing it out in ways that make drummers a quarter his age sit up and go, “holy shit!”:

If anything, that clip of Blackmore playing rock music again, reminds me of a reunion of the first RAINBOW line-up – minus, of course, the very dearly missed Ronnie James Dio and Cozy Powell.

Rock never got better than the 1970s, when the British bands reigned supreme – this was the time of legends like LED ZEPPELIN, THE WHO, and of course Purple itself.

All I can say is that the fans in Wantagh saw something truly special that night – and, having been in Wantagh for a gig or three, including at least one RUSH concert, and one IRON MAIDEN gig, I can say for certain that it is a damn long drive out there. Having Blackmore on-stage like that, just made it truly special.