DEEP PURPLE
Fête de l'Humanité
Parc de La Courneuve - La Courneuve (near Paris), France
September 12, 2009

Deep Purple performed near Paris in 2009, at the festival La Fête de l’Humanité, held on a nearby city called La Courneuve.

La Fête de l’huma is organized by France's communist party, and seeing this was absolutely worth the 15€ entrance fee!

I arrived to the place right on time, just before Deep Purple’s start.

I’ll just write just a few lines about the show, because the festival itself was an attraction.

Deep Purple played a classic setlist of well-known songs, mixed with some less famed favourites.
All band members were in good shape and played like the renowned musicians they are.

I’ve heard rumours that Ian Gillan was having problems with his voice on recent shows, but he did a great job here.

The stage was customized with a great lightshow that reminded me the one from Pink Floyd.

Now, let me tell you about the place. I felt like travelling in time, or maybe going to a circus.

The audience during the show had nothing to do with the one for which Deep Purple played at the Olympia Hall last time they were in town.

A lot of people out there were like tourists at the concert, not fans.
People were screaming the riff from Smoke On The Water from the beginning until the end of the show. Of course, that’s the only song most people knew.

During the slow part of Child In Time, you could see people moshing and slamming.
And I had to change place several times because people around me were talking (between them or on the phone), making fun of the band, and clearly didn’t care about what they were playing (Except for hearing Smoke On The Water, of course).

It's OK not to know the songs, but that’s a lack of respect towards the band and the rest of the audience.

Fortunately, Deep Purple did a great job. The band was pleased to see so many people and they played great.

After the show we took a walk around the festival area: Communist symbols everywhere, only sausages and fries to eat, flags of Cuba and the USSR flying (and not a single flag of France), images representing President Nicolas Sarkozy badly, while glorifying the Che Guevara and Lenin.

Also, there was not a single policeman around. That was weird, especially when you know that French Police are everywhere as soon as there is a demonstration or an event organized (Outdoor concerts, Fête de la Musique…).

I hated the place, but it was fun to be there.
I don’t like to talk about politics on this website, but I found that this Saturday night was like a travel back in time, to a place that ceased to exist in Europe by the late 80’s.

In the 2009 the world was celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Just outside Paris, some people were celebrating the time when it stood up there.
Well, at least that’s the proof that there is freedom of speech in France.



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Setlist Deep Purple – Fête de l'Humanité, La Courneuve, France – September 12, 2009

01. Highway Star
02. Things I Never Said
03. Strange Kind of Woman
04. Rapture of the Deep
05. Fireball
06. Contact Lost
––– Steve Morse Solo –––
07. Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
08. The Well-Dressed Guitar
09. Wring That Neck
10. The Battle Rages On
––– Don Airey Solo –––
11. Perfect Strangers
12. Space Truckin'
13. Smoke On The Water
14. Southern Rock Wobble
15. Hush
––– Roger Glover Solo –––
16. Black Night

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