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Between the hard rock and a beautiful place
This is equally both educational and heartwarming. In November 2024 Ian Gillan invited a group of aspiring young musicians from his home town of Lyme Regis on the Southern coast of England to the Deep Purple gig in Birmingham. He gave them the full tour of the backstage, they got to meet the band and crew, learned what’s happening under the hood of a rock’n’roll touring machine, and in what order the cylinders are firing in that killing machine, the one with big fat tyres and everything. All lovingly filmed by Craig Hooper. Enjoy!
Thanks to Mike Whiteley, Erik W, and Uwe Hornung for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Thank you for posting this 😊
It appeared at Ian’s fb page a couple of days ago, and I am so happy the great man gives so much back.
January 18th, 2026 at 10:52He did it with Urock and he is doing it here.
Gotta love that 😊
Just watched the video and it was awesome! It’s an amazing look into what goes on and everything that goes into it. I think all of the kids had the time of their lives and will never forget it. The audio and video of the live footage was incredible. The only negative thing I can say is there should have been a live album release in 2025 from the touring in 2024. I was lucky enough to see a couple of shows in 2024 and they were great. Let’s hope for a good 2026!
January 18th, 2026 at 14:37Can I buy you a beer?
January 18th, 2026 at 16:08What a guy
Very nice video. Oh and Ian – what a fine gentleman.
January 18th, 2026 at 16:13It was a nice piece and Mr Gillan came across very well and didn’t look lost among the youngsters. He even appeared after the show which is rare nowadays.
January 18th, 2026 at 17:46He quite rightly refused to do the devils horns for a group photo.
My wife said it must be sad for you watching them get old and to be honest it is, because onstage the years seem to fall away, off stage is another matter.
One complaint is Gillan’s Pavarotti story, I wish he would drop it, did Pavarotti really see them do SOTW 6 times!
Great video on the whole.
Went to the Marine theatre in Lyme Regis to see this in December. Lyme Regis is IG’s home town and it was an absolute delight to watch the film and then witness IG taking to the stage for a audience questions and answers. IG was down to earth, funny, passionate and gave an interesting overview of his thoughts and the highlights of his life.
The Marine theatre is a small and intimate setting with a capacity of around 200. It was a wonderful setting for this charity event with IG giving his support and help to these up and coming musicians.
A wonderful evening
Rascal
January 18th, 2026 at 18:32I was in the row behind these young musicians and spoke with them during the interval.
January 18th, 2026 at 18:43They were really excited about the whole experience and spoke very highly of Ian Gillan and the support and encouragement that he had offered.
Lovely to watch. Wonderful thing to do for them Ian, you’re a gent sir!
January 18th, 2026 at 19:40What an amazing documentary, I was moved to tears several times watching it. Ian Gillan is so humble as were the crew, this visit will never be forgotten by those kids. Thank you so much for just being natural.
January 18th, 2026 at 20:45bigIan humble and fantastic person, god bless him!
I got emotional at the intro to Highway and I already know that when I see the concert this year (I haven’t seen Purple since the Rapture tour) I will shed rivers of tears of joy like I’ve never done in my life!
January 18th, 2026 at 22:55This is very cool.
January 18th, 2026 at 23:20Oh my, this was so cute it gave me goosebumps.
Few observations:
– I knew DP‘s team was international, I didn‘t know it was THAT international.
– So Ian likes his voice “sunk deep into the mix”, not soaring above it like many vocalists do. They were talking about the stage monitor mix, but the approach is mirrored in the house sound which my dear wife always criticizes for not bringing up Ian‘s voice more.
– And the other Ian likes a reverby drum monitor mix – seems like his echo drum sound on In Rock left a lasting impression on him!
– I am relieved that Big Naked Ian‘s wardrobe is now in the capable hands of wimmin – the improvement is palpable! Thanks for throwing all his ugly vintage pieces away one by one (so he wouldn‘t notice) – good move! Wimmin don’t always tell you the truth, but they generally mean well lying to you. (“I swear, I don’t know where that T-shirt with the printed suit outlines went, Ian, such a shame, too bad we likely can’t get another one, I checked real hard!”)
– “The Morgue” and the “Un-Dressing Room” – priceless! 🤣
PS: I digress, but only the recognition that with some luck she could be my granddaughter keeps me from falling in love with the curly-haired B# girl (“Rosa” as in Cantina) bar-chording her way through SOTW during the soundcheck @08:36! She really should audition for Girlschool and be a worthy follower in the late Kelly Johnson’s suede boots …
https://youtu.be/Pe_LRasNay0
January 19th, 2026 at 05:21A truly uplifting film, what a singer, what a band!
January 19th, 2026 at 19:45Great credit must go to Girlschool drummeress Denise Dufort
https://64.media.tumblr.com/f98a5dd9ba050f91c4a4c6f186eb5e39/tumblr_pgsqclS77Q1u7f9q5o1_400.gif
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYNWo93fPG8
who in an interview around the NWOBHM era had the guts to exclaim at a journo who dared ask her whether John Bonham was a role model (and obviously expected an affirmation): “But I don’t want to sound like friggin’ John Bonham, everybody does that, I want to sound like Ian Paice, he’s my hero!“
January 19th, 2026 at 20:53Abolutely amazing footage – thanks so much for sharing.
January 19th, 2026 at 21:29Fantastic,very enjoyable watch,it’s great to see Ian giving so much back . I remember when he did the Ken Bruce show,tracks of my years,That Ken said he was expecting a rock ‘n’roll cliche to show up and he got a true gentleman instead..
January 21st, 2026 at 14:25Once again, Gillan always the gentleman…what a fantastic human being
January 23rd, 2026 at 18:11