“Highway Star” is one of Deep Purple’s most famous songs, preceded only by “Smoke on the Water.”
There have been hundreds if not thousands of covers of these songs done by different artists. Some tried to adapt the originals for new genres, others just tried to pay homage in the same style.
These Chilean buskers went above and beyond a crowd’s expectations when they covered one of these hit tunes outside of a train station in Santiago.
Their set up may not look like much, but they definitely made it work.
Even with a very basic drum set, this drummer managed to sound perfectly professional—and not only that, but he’s also the singer! It’s insanely hard to sing (or in this case, scream) and drum this song out at the same time!
That’s how you know someone has serious talent.
One commenter/musician, mrfester42, fawned over the performance, saying:
“For those who don’t know, this is NOT an easy song to do and even harder to get a full seamless sound with only a three piece band AND sound big outside in the open air. These guys are good and they’re very tight and they do real justice to this song.”
The bass player strums perfectly in time—he looks like he could play this song in his sleep!
On top of that, the guitarist is pulling off heavy metal without a big amp or any effect pedals. You don’t see that every day!
Santiago de Chile has a population of 5.5 million people, and these men are playing just outside Tobalaba station, which is one of the busiest in the city. It’s a great spot to get some exposure…and hopefully some generous tips, too.
Even though many of the passersby are walking on their way to work or driving by, you can tell the musicians’ skills have caught a lot of attention.
The guitar solo in “Highway Star,” done by Ritchie Blackmore, is one of the greatest of all time.
Still, you don’t have to take our word for it! There’s an official list of the top 100 put out by Guitar World, and they ranked it at number 15. Not bad!
The guitarist in this street performance is crushing it, too.
He’s off on the side, doing his own thing while the drummer and bassist play right next to each other. Our guess is that he has to get himself in the zone for the solo!
People on the street are whistling and shouting encouragement—he is shredding!
It’s a pretty good time to be stuck in commuter traffic when you’ve got these guys within earshot. We can’t see the rest of the crowd on the sidewalk (though we can definitely hear them), but the drivers and passengers on the motorway are loving it.
One bus driver looks longingly out the window like he’s reminiscing on his childhood dream of becoming a musician.
The song comes to an end and the crowd goes wild!
Who would expect to see something so amazing when leaving the train station? Fortunately, even for those who didn’t see it in real life, it was immortalized on YouTube. Since it was uploaded, it has been viewed more than 6.6 million times!
You can watch their awesome Deep Purple cover for yourself by clicking below—someone get these guys a record deal!
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