Deep Purple Credit: Photo via earMUSIC/Ben Wolf
Six years after announcing its โ€œLong Goodbyeโ€ tour, Deep Purple isnโ€™t quite ready to call it quits yet, as evidenced by this weekend’s show at Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg.

The band even went out of its way to go above and beyond to make its so-called โ€œfarewellโ€ tour one of the biggest ones yet; one run of shows had Alice Cooper and Edgar Winter on the bill.
Whether youโ€™re angry to have spent extra to see the band behind โ€œSmoke On The Waterโ€ one last time or not, you have another chance to catch the purp on Saturday. Balcony tickets are still available, and the Mahaffey requires masks at most performances, so be sure to bring yours whether you end up using it or not.

Josh Bradley is Creative Loafing Tampa's resident live music freak. He started freelancing with the paper in 2020 at the age of 18, and has since covered, announced, and previewed numerous live shows in...