Mark Potts reviews

Main Setlist:
Devil's Road
• I Surrender
• Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll
• Death Alley Driver
• Dark Days
• Can't Stop The Flood
• Seventh Star
• Mistreated
• Jealous Lover
• Stormbringer
• Better Man
• King Of Dreams
• Ride The Storm
• Spotlight Kid

Encore:

• Highway Star
• Burn

I'll sum up the JB's appearance of Hughes Turner Project in two words: HOLY SHIT!

Until last night I had never before seen Glenn Hughes perform live, in spite of many attempts to do so. Joe Lynn Turner I had seen with Rainbow, back on the Difficult to Cure Tour. I knew he was good. Glenn Hughes though, is a different kettle of fish entirely.

A few weeks ago, I was listening to a radio interview with Ulrich Roth, talking about Glenn Hughes. He said he'd seen an HTP show in Germany and was blown away by Hughes' voice. I can see why. He said that the most amazing thing was that you suddenly realise that all the things he sings on his CDs, he can do live as well, and with more power than on the recording. This was the thing that blew me away too. Personally, I've only ever seen two other singers who could do that: Chris Farlowe and Al Green. HTP's rendition of Mistreated is nothing short of astonishing and just leaves you standing there, mouth hanging open, astounded not just at the power of Hughes' voice, but at the dynamic range as well.

That is not to say that JLT is weak in the larynx department. Far from it. He can hold his own, no doubt about it, but the beauty of this collaboration is that, whilst they are both singers, they perform in totally different styles. They compliment each other beautifully and do not compete. Even on songs where they both sing, each has his own region to work in and they produce a very impressive sound. Turner has his party pieces too, probably more in number than Hughes, which he performs brilliantly.

For me, King of Dreams was probably the high point, by a whisker, from Spotlight Kid and I Surrender but, really, it is just a matter of microns between them. It all added up to form a beautifully balanced, well thought-out show.

The songs which Hughes and Turner perform together are outstanding and are so powerful that it there should be a warning on the door to the wearers of wicked syrups. It is quite possible that you could quite easily lose your toupé at an HTP show.

The new HTP material is most enjoyable and as strong as anything else in the set, but it is with the Deep Purple songs that the roof really started to creak and peel back. Mistreated loosened all of the slates, Stormbringer splintered a few beams and when they launched into Highway Star, the roof definitely lifted several feet. Burn finished the evening off and it was appropriate as HTP had most definitely set the house on fire.

Any complaints? No. I could suggest a few songs that I would have loved to have heard, such as some of the Hughes Thrall material, Can't Happen Here, Into the Void, but between them they could come up with a setlist that lasted two days and they would still miss out something that someone wanted to hear. I got my money's worth and then some. If HTP come to a town near you, to use one of Glenn's song titles, Beg, Borrow or Steal, but go and see them. If you don't you'll miss out on one of the classic rock gigs of the year.

Review copyright © Mark Potts, 2002.