In a new interview with Riff X‘s “Metal XS”, DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan reflected on one particularly memorable concert he played as a solo artist in 2009 in Ferropolis, an open-air museum of huge mid-20th century industrial machines in Gräfenhainichen, a city between Wittenberg and Dessau, Germany. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I remember doing a show in Germany, a solo show with an orchestra. It was a disaster. It was in a mining facility [with] huge machinery. It was like a science fantasy kind of background, a Ferropolis, it was called in Germany. They have big festivals there sometimes. It was a disaster. It was raining and they sold no tickets. Should have held 20,000 people. There were 200 or 300 [people] there. The promoter put the seats a long way from the stage. There was no cover on the stage. There were no monitors. There were no lights — just one white light on the stage. One caravan for me. Nothing for the orchestra or the musicians. The rain was coming down. We reached halftime. Everything was terrible. They’re all sheltering under the stage, wet with their instruments. I’m sitting naked in my caravan. My P.A. [personal assistant] comes in. My clothes are drenched. She said, ‘Oh, they’re making a fortune out there’ — she’s joking ‘they’re selling ponchos. Look, I bought one for you.’ It’s like they have at Niagara Falls when you get on the boat, and they’re just transparent plastic ponchos. I said, ‘That’s what I’m wearing on stage for the second half of the show.’ So she said, ‘I dare you.’ I said, ‘Okay, I will.’ So I walked out naked on the stage, apart from this plastic poncho, which was transparent. And the orchestra got up and they realized what was going on and they started playing with fire. And we had just the most wonderful time because we were laughing at the rain, we were laughing at the circumstances. And the audience all got out of their seats — there weren’t many of them — and they all came to the front of the stage and suddenly we were all entwined in this thing.”
He continued: “Somebody took a film of it on their camera and it went up on YouTube that night. Around midnight, the phone started ringing. My manager: ‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing?’ And then the DEEP PURPLE manager comes on: ‘What is he doing, destroying the reputation of the band?’ And so, I said, ‘Well, actually, if you were there, you would have understood. But this camera recorded things, the sound and the vision was out of sync, because of the distance. The lighting was horrible, the orchestra was all out of tune, because of the rain. And it sounded like a cacophony of absolute nonsense. But if you were there, you understood the circumstances. And it was Sally, my P.A., who had said, ‘Ian actually saved the day.’ If you just watched it on YouTube, you’d think this is the worst thing that ever happened. In actual fact, it was one of the best experiences of my life.”
DEEP PURPLE‘s latest album, “=1”, came out on July 19 via earMUSIC. The LP marks DEEP PURPLE‘s first material with new guitarist Simon McBride, who stepped in two years ago following Steve Morse‘s departure.
DEEP PURPLE continues its charge of recent years, releasing hit albums and filling arenas around the world, adding yet more layers to its 100-million-album-selling legacy. The band is credited as one of the key originators of heavy rock and has constantly progressed its boundaries of music. They are fronted by Ian Gillan, whose vocals have defined generations, accompanied by the masterful bassist Roger Glover, the powerhouse drummer Ian Paice, and the maestro on keyboards Don Airey.
With three consecutive No. 1 albums in their back pocket and a resurgent new energy powering them forward, this is DEEP PURPLE at their pinnacle. “Now WHAT?!” (2013),“inFinite” (2017) and “Whoosh!” (2020) have sold over one million copies worldwide, making DEEP PURPLE one of the most successful rock bands currently active. The previous studio album, “Whoosh!”, reached No. 1 on the album charts in seven countries and charted in the top 10 in another 12.
There simply aren’t enough superlatives to properly acknowledge the contribution DEEP PURPLE has made to rock music. Having sold more than 100 million albums and filled global arenas for decades, there’s little wonder that the respected British radio station Planet Rock named the group the “Fifth Most Influential Band Ever”. The band were also presented the Legend Award at the 2008 World Music Awards and were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2016. DEEP PURPLE truly are “rock royalty”.
With a body of work spanning seven decades, DEEP PURPLE has helped pioneer and define the hard rock genre while progressively moving into new areas, both keeping their sound fresh and attracting new fans to the legions who have remained loyal since the band’s inception. The celebrated MKII line up of Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore were responsible for creating many of the defining rock albums of the early 1970s, including “Made In Japan”, universally accepted as one of the most important and influential live albums of all time.
