Smoke on the Water and Dust in the WInd… Kansas and Deep Purple at Planet Hollywood!

Kansas and Deep Purple played Planet Hollywood on Thursday, September 10, 2026.

Anyone listening to classic rock radio these days, be it satellite or terrestrial, is sure to encounter at lease three Kansas and three Deep Purple songs in regular rotation. The two bands, one from America, one from England, remain rightfully revered as icons in the rock genre, with sprawling and impressive discographies that certainly aren’t limited to the hits. And on September 10, both bands rocked a stage in Sin City at Planet Hollywood.

The property now known as Planet Hollywood was formerly the famed Aladdin hotel and casino, at one point known for being a mecca for some of Vegas’ greatest rock and metal concerts. In fact, heavy metal legends Iron Maiden even played their first American concert on the Aladdin stage! In the early 2000s, the Aladdin was demolished and rebuilt, still using the Aladdin name, but was rebranded as Planet Hollywood not long after. The venue entrance is located in the hotel casino’s Miracle Mile Shops, although disappointingly, like so many other resorts in Vegas, Planet Hollywood does now charge for parking, That didn’t stop this from being a pretty packed house for rock fans though!

Kansas kicked off the evening’s festivities. This American rock band has gone through numerous lineup changes over the years, to the point that the incarnation that currently tours no longer has any original members. I know that’s definitely a turn-off to some, but as a rock and roll fan I won’t deny that the musicians currently assembled under the Kansas banner definitely know what they’re doing, and they know how to pay homage to the musicians who wrote these tunes and brought them to life. A whopping seven band members were on stage, but each was a master of their craft. We got the obligatory expected hits including “Dust in the Wind,” “Carry On Wayward Son,” and the title cut from the POINT OF KNOW RETURN album, but the band also wasn’t afraid to dig deeper into the catalogue. The biggest and most pleasant surprise for this fan was hearing the lengthy epic title track from the band’s sophomore album, 1974’s SONG FOR AMERICA, being played to an enthusiastic crowd. It would’ve been nice to have heard “Can I Tell You” or “Play the Game Tonight,” but that’s a minor complaint at most. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not as familiar with the Kansas catalogue as the Deep Purple one, but this performance left me enthusiastic about digging deeper!

Probably my biggest issue with the evening was just how long of a gap there was between the Kansas and Deep Purple sets; this should’ve been a relatively quick change out, but ultimately Deep Purple didn’t get to start playing until well after 10:00 PM. And keep in mind this was a weeknight! The result was an excruciatingly late show, which was not needed. Personally, I would’ve rather had Kansas and Deep Purple perform as standalone headliners on separate nights for this very reason; both bands have the discographies (not to mention the talented personnel!) to pull it off.

Deep Purple’s first album came out in 1968. Their newest one came out earlier this year. They’ve literally been releasing albums for nearly 60 years. How many musicians can say that, let alone that they’re still making GOOD new music? Much like Kansas, Deep Purple has had a ton of lineup changes in their six-decade history, but their current lineup retains three members of the classic MK II lineup: Vocalist Ian Gillan, drummer Ian Paice (the only man to be on every Deep Purple album ever made), and bassist Roger Glover. The lineup is rounded out by keyboardist extraordinaire Don Airey (Ozzy Osbourne Band, Rainbow, Whitesnake) and new guitarist Simon McBride, who replaced longtime Purple axeman Steve Morse (Morse, ironically, had also been a member of Kansas at one point in his career). And of course, an epic video presentation played on the screen before the members took the stage, building the suspense.

When a band has been around as long as Deep Purple, there’s understandably some skepticism as to whether they can still deliver on the live stage. Just about a month prior to this concert, Ian Gillan just turned 81 years old! I’m pleased to say that the band delivers in this regard. Gillan was clearly struggling at a few moments in the show, but for the most part still had that recognizable voice from so many classic Deep Purple records (unsurprisingly, “Child in Time” isn’t in Deep Purple setlists anymore). The rhythm section was no less excellent, with Glover and Paicey holding down the low end in fine form. This is a REAL rock band, with no bastard backing tracks anywhere in sight. And bless them for that.

The other members of the group were no less excellent. Don Airey is a man I have no reservations saying is my favorite living rock keyboardist today. His solos beautifully showed off just how diverse he is when it comes to musicianship; he even incorporated parts of the organ solo intro to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Mr. Crowley” into these moments; Airey was the original keyboardist on that classic Ozzy song. The real MVP of the night who took me by storm was guitarist Simon McBride, the newest member of the Deep Purple family. This guy could shred like crazy and more than did justice to his predecessors in the band.

And what of the setlist? When you’ve got about 60 years worth of music to choose from, narrowing that down can be a difficult task. Most of the obligatory hits were here, including “Highway Star,” “Space Truckin’,” and “Smoke on the Water,” the latter of which getting plenty of crowd participation. Several tracks from the band’s most recent two studio albums featuring McBride, =1 and SPLAT!, made the cut as well. As is the norm for Deep Purple shows for the last 30+ years, no songs from other singers’ eras of the band are performed, with the exception of the cover of Joe South’s “Hush,” which was performed by original singer Rod Evans way back in 1968 (although a studio rerecording of it from the 1980s with Gillan does exist). Surprisingly, a few deep cuts made it in, including “Into the Fire” from 1970’s Deep Purple in Rock (Gillan and Glover’s first studio record with the band) and the MACHINE HEAD era B-side “When a Blind Man Cries.”

This is perhaps the one part of the show I somewhat took issue with – The setlist could use some work. Not counting solos, 13 songs were played. There were too many new songs, and too many solos. Don’t get me wrong; unlike a lot of people, I LOVE it when older bands make new music; it’s a necessary outlet for their creativity, and bands like Deep Purple are actually still capable of making new tunes that rock as hard as anything they did in their prime. But this means roughly half of the show was new songs and solos. The biggest problem here is that this left no time for the band to perform one of their biggest hits, “Woman From Tokyo,” the omission of which shocked this fan. I’m all in favor of including a few new songs and solos in the set, but they shouldn’t come at the expense of fare like “Black Night,” “Speed King,” “Knocking at Your Back Door,” or “Call of the Wild.” Still the performance was great, and I consider myself damn lucky I still get to see 3/5 of the classic MK II lineup doing their thing, with some equally talented players rounding out the lineup.

Kansas and Deep Purple are both classic rock legends. Kansas, despite lack of original members, absolutely rocked the house with a great mix of hits and deep cuts and a solid array of musicians paying homage to what came before. And Deep Purple’s current lineup is surprisingly strong, and making good new music. Their setlist was a bit heavy on solos and new cuts, but I won’t deny the musicianship is strong, and that’s what counts in the long run. Both bands impressed this theater full of Vegas rock fans. If they hit up your town, they’ve definitely got enough gas left in the tank to deliver. Thumbs up!