I remember Watching the Sky, Fingers to the bone, Any Fule Kno That and Jack Ruby in the summer of 98, all well recepted
I don’t recall ever hearing Jack Ruby in Italy.
for sure Almost Human, Evil Louie, Watching the Sky, Seventh Heaven, 69 They were the tour’s staples.
I don’t recall ever hearing “Any Fule Kno That” live; they had probably already dropped it from the setlist.
Fingers to the Bone
Almost Human
Watching the Sky
Any Fule Kno That
Evil Louie
Bludsucker
Seventh Heaven
Were all played on the main Abandon Tour in 1998, but not everything was played every night. 69 was added for the 1999 dates, so 8 tracks played in total.
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That doesn’t really support the case of considering Abandon a failure.
They never played “Fingers to the Bone” at the concerts I saw, either.
I think that, alongside Machine Head, it was the DP album most heavily represented in the live setlist during the subsequent tour.
I saw a later gig where they played it. It worked and I was happy to hear it, but it wasn’t exactly a song where DP could stretch out live so I’m unsurprised it didn’t become a staple song of the then set.
https://youtu.be/rmKe97WfPKs?is=aGQqCxqBDOGny-vA
Uwe, really? Check this out, Sophia, Nov 28th, 1998, one of the finest Deep Purple concerts ever. Steve plays a passionate intro (even sneaks couple of chords from Greensleeves), and then Jon gets some space for his exquisite piano work. I was once told that Bulgarian TV deleted this broadcast from the tapes, which is a humanity crime. Official release of this very show would be a gem in the crown of Purple live catalogue. The audience was nuts for them and they were so truly on fire, fed well from this torrent of energy and love. Pictures of Home on this night had a wonderful jam at the end, led by Steve, lasted for 11 minutes. There were quite a few instances of this show being something absolutely special.
PS. I got Abandon on my walkman phone Flavio. Today forecast gives rain and thunderstorms in Gdynia, so I might as well be committing to writing the 2026 re-take of the albums’ review.
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The vivid discussion about Abandon doesn’t support the assumption the album being a flop either. Regarding the tracks played live - I have seen some statistics about the frequency the songs got an appearance - the numbers ranging from 22 for Evil Louie up to 150+ for Watching the Sky and Almost Human. If we count Bloodsucker/Bludsucker as a genuine Abandon Track, that’s probably the one that stayed in playlist for the longest time - making an appearance on Infinite Live Recordings aka Live at Hellfest 2017
Was Absndon a flop…? That depends on how you define a flop. Believe it sold less than Purpendicular in many territories on release.
But, i’ve always thought this was down to EMI’s lack of promotion. The label wanted the band back to promote the 30th Anniversary, and pumped the budget into promoting 30: A Very Best of, rather than Absndon. 30 got the TV advert, for example.
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Wonderful harmonica 
The harmonica always adds a touch of charm mainly for those who already have it (Isn’t that true, Karin? 
).
I disagree - I’ve got a dozen on the shelf and no one ever says I have charm 
You can tell yourself that; that’s what I do 
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For me the harmonica is the element that totally ruins the pastoral climate of the song, it fits there less than my fist to anyone’s nose. But I have to admit that Ritchie’s slide and Ian’s harmonica bore and irk the hell out of me. This is sloppy factor in the sonic scape of DP that I completely could do without. They both just don’t technically and emotionally rise to it enough, IMO, to make it a truly value added soundwise.
Thanks for the gift, Martin!
Jon gave us the final gem with his piano solo.
Unfortunately, on subsequent albums, Purple never again produced a hard-prog track rich in interest and rhythmic stop-start dynamics, like this marvel that is Fingers to the Bone.
But all the songs have this stop-and-go quality that always keeps things interesting for my ears.
Oh Martin, what shall I do with you? Disliking Ian’s harmonica and Ritchie’s never short of ingenious slide playing … I think I’ll need to invade again, where is my Panzerkampfwagen II? 
Question: How can use of a harmonica in a song about the plight of Midwest farmers faced with foreclosure of their farms be inappropriate? 
But I’m deeply indebted to you for providing that clip, dzięki!, Jon’s piano solo is a gem! I just put the Panzerkampfwagen II back into the garage!
Listening to Ian’s performance on the song, it strikes me that he could do the verses better today with his matured voice and that the fact that the verses were back then perhaps a little too low in register for him while the chorus was a little too high might have played a role in the song not being played that often live. Ian doesn’t sound comfortable with it.
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What can I say? Just that I feel sorry for you 
Yes, maledetto, what a bummer comment by Martin that was. The slide guitar version of the KAYBD riff midsong is fucking gorgeous!
Dear Boys. Stop your whining. We all have things we like, and we all have things we don’t. I never was into harmonica at all, and it’s not my fault Gillan uses it and in an pedestrian way, rarely fitting the scene. For slide - give me Duane Allman or Rory Gallagher - then I’ll take it. BUT! To admit that I’m not completely blind to a slide skill scarcely appearing in Ritchie’s work - I admit - the way he soared up the fretboard on KAYBD in Knebworth 1985 was a blast, even if that was more-less one off, really. You can ask Dougie White what it means when Ritchie takes the slider on the finger, he told me that face to face in late 2024. You can read it as an eloquent way of giving everyone I’m bored sign, instead of using the middle finger directly to the camera. Confirmed (un)officially by his co-players.
Whilst I learned to play harmonica because of Gillan. Was OK at it for a while. Even got paid for a few gigs…
In fact, after my very first gig, someone came up and complimented me on my playing and did I have any tips for a learner. Turned out I was only one chapter ahead of him in the “Teach Yourself Harmonica” book. 
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Oh my, according to Tom Dowd the slide playing of a drug-ridden Duane was so sloppy on Layla and other songs from the Derek & the Dominos album, they had to wipe half of his takes for being unbearably out of tune. If that is your standard, Martin, I’ll never insult Ritchie as sloppy again. 