For The Love Of Purple Concert Review: Just As Good As The Real Thing

 

While it seems more uncertain that the real Deep Purple may not be able to come back to Australia any time soon, some of these local Tribute bands are just as worth seeing. And for Deep Purple tribute bands, one of the best ones comes to mind - Australia's unsung heroes, a group called For The Love Of Purple. The band is somewhat of an Aussie supergroup featuring members from other classic bands such as Mental As Anything, Richard Clapton, & The Radiators. The group has been active from as far back as about 2007 and have made quite a name for themselves. As a massive Deep Purple nut since a young age, I first heard about these guys from a friend in Radio who showed me a video of them performing live somewhere and just said "What do you think of them?". I was blown away, as they capture the sound and feel of the classic Deep Purple MK 2 & 3 line ups from the 70's perfectly. Other people have tried but failed to replicate Ritchie Blackmore's guitar tone in the past, however the guitarist of For The Love Of Purple, is insanely good and has somehow spot on managed to replicate Ritchie Blackmore's famous 70's Strat amp tone perfectly. 

 

I first saw For The Love Of Purple live in 2024, and was immediately blown away. They have the same energy and are truly seasoned performers, a master of their craft. And we're all here for the love of Deep Purple. I saw them again in 2025, and again in January 2026. All of the locations I had seen them so far was at the Bridge Hotel, a small but really nice club in Sydney that can hold about 250 people, so it's very intimate. Sometimes big bands go there as well as tribute acts. Even bands like Rose Tattoo, Pseudo Echo, Chiorboys, The Angels and Midnight Oil have all played here in the past. 

 

Two other times i've seen For The Love Of Purple I took a friend along and we list a lot of the songs we hope they'd play every time. Last time, my friend said I hope they play Bloodsucker and they did. This time, I said I hope they'd play Mary Long, and when the set list dropped I was pleased to see it on there. A great thing about seeing some of these tribute bands is that they can have a chance of playing what the real Deep Purple don't usually play anymore in their set. 

 

 

For the January 31, 2026 show, The Bridge Hotel (or as most Sydney-siders like to call it, "The Bridge") was sold out in front of the full capacity 250 people. We're all here because we love the music of Deep Purple. For The Love Of Purple love the music of Deep Purple and it shows. If you shut your eyes you'd just think that Deep Purple MK 2 are performing it sounds just like them. They kick off with Highway Star, with the complete "Made In Japan" intro tune up and all and burst straight into it from here and the audience just goes bonkers. Next up is Woman from Tokyo, followed by a great version of the Fireball classic Demon's Eye, the set mostly comes from classic Deep Purple albums like Machine Head, Who Do We Think We Are, Burn, Stormbringer, Fireball and In Rock.

 

 

I feel some people in the crowd might think the real Deep Purple may not come back to Australia anytime soon, not after the Pandemonium Rocks festival incident of 2024 where they along with several other bands were unconventionally booted from the line up. The real Deep Purple have a new album coming up in 2026, but sadly looks like Australia remains off the touring schedule once again (even coming as close as Japan and Jakarta, but no new Australian dates yet) so people have realized seeing tribute bands is the next best thing. But I think there's nothing wrong with that. It's great to share support of your friendly neighbourhood local musicians. Bands like For The Love Of Purple continue to keep Deep Purple music alive in the smaller parts of the world, especially for the guys like me who can't afford to travel overseas to see their favourite band. I have seen the real Deep Purple live a few times back in the mid 2000's and early 2010's and they always put on a good show too, but their last visit to Australia was over a decade ago!

 

I'd say anyone who loves Deep Purple MK 2 and 3 would love For The Love Of Purple. Check them out. This was supposed to be their only show at the 'Bridge for the year, but it looks like it was so popular that they've added a new one for October 21 2026 at the same venue.

If the real Deep Purple don't come back to Australia anytime soon, these guys are the next best thing.

 

For The Love Of Purple

 

The Bridge Hotel - Sydney Australia 
January 31 2026

 

Set list:

SET 1:

01 Highway Star
02 Woman From Tokyo

03 Demon's Eye

04 Never Before

05 Pictures Of Home

06 Child In Time

07 Strange Kind Of Woman

08 You Fool No One

09 Perfect Strangers

 

SET 2:

10 Burn

11 Mary Long

12 Lazy

13 Soldier Of Fortune

14 Might Just Take Your Life

15 Stormbringer 

16 The Mule / Drum Solo

17 Smoke On The Water

18 Space Truckin' / Mandrake Root Improvisation

 

Encores:

19 Speed King

20 Black Night

 

10/10

 

Review & Photograph Credit - Cameron Hons