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inFinite boxset images
We now have images of both the “large” and the “small” inFinite box sets:
The t-shirt in either of them is only available in size L.
Thanks to Lutz Reinert for sending these in.
They never go to three…
Roger Glover and Ian Paice sit down with the Rock Antenne to answer the burning questions: is this the final tour? Is this the final album? Is this the end of Deep Purple? Why you can’t please everybody with the setlist? And most importantly, why do sound techs never count to three?
Thanks to Nigel Young for the info.
Alright, hold tight
A Japanese documentary on the Highway Star has been posted to Youtube. And in 43+ minutes it covers a big chunk of Mark 2 history besides the song itself. Ian Paice, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, and Chris Charlesworth (of Illustrated Biography fame) were inteviewed, with some stock footage of Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore as well. While the narration is in Japanese, the extensive interviews are not overdubbed, which makes it easier to piece together the story with some background knowledge about the band.
Now, writing Highway Star on the tour bus and performing it the same night on stage certainly makes for a great story. But it is contradicted by contemporary accounts.
Aforementioned in the documentary Richard ‘The Beast’ Green’s writeup in New Musical Express suggested that it were the lyrics that got written on the bus:
Little did the capacity crowd at Portsmouth Guildhall on Monday night know just how new Deep Purple’s opening number “Highway Star” really was. On the coach on the way down from London, Ian Gillan asked for suggestions for titles for a rock number, Roger Glover suggested “Highway Star”, and Ian set to writing it. It was finished during rehearsals and performed for the first time three hours later! It was the start of Purple’s new British tour and if the audience reaction at Pompey is anything to go by, it’ll be a stormer.
And Roy Shipston wrote in Disc And Music Echo that Blackmore was not on the bus at all:
A picnic with Deep Purple sounded like a good idea. We arrange to meet the coach from London, allegedly loaded with booze and grub, at a pub on the Kingston by-pass, en route to Portsmouth for the first gig of their tour. Perhaps we’ll stop to eat at the Devil’s Punchbowl, quite a beauty spot. Naturally, the coach is considerably late, and you can’t sit in a pub for an hour and a half and not drink, can you! By the time I’m juggling with large paper cupfuls of scotch on a coach that must have square wheels, I’m beginning to wish I hadn’t come. True, there is plenty of alcohol on board, almost a bottle of scotch per person. But support group Bullet have missed the coach (only the start of their troubles), Ritchie Blackmore has decided to make his own way there, and we stop for every hitcher in an attempt to fill up the empty seats.
Thanks to T Grace for the video and to Nigel Young for bringing it to your attention and original research.
From Here to inFinite on the big screen
German cinema chain UCI Kinowelt will present the premiere of the documentary Deep Purple — From Here to inFinite on the big screen in their theatres across the country on March 16 at 20:00. This is the documentary on the making of inFinite that will be part of all album editions that include a DVD. The film will be shown in English with German subtitles. The event will also include a chance to listen to two new songs from the album before its release on April 7. Ian Paice and Roger Glover will attend the premiere at Düsseldorf location and will do Q&A with the fans afterwards.
Tickets can be booked through uci-kinowelt.de.
Thanks to Lutz Reinert and Yvonne for the info.
Polar expedition behind the scenes
Current edition (issue #58) of the German Classic Rock magazine has a spread detailing the polar expedition themed promotional photoshoot, proceeds of which we have featured elsewhere on the site.
Said photoshoot was conducted in Hamburg on December 17, 2016, by Jim Rakete — the same gentleman responsible for Now what?! promotional pictures. More than 100 props and 14 huskies were involved. The shoot took place in several locations:
- a studio located in a district of Hamburg called Schanzenviertel;
- in the harbour, on board of a tugboat called Twister;
- on a river Elbe beach called Falkensteiner Ufer.
There is also a quote from Gillan, who said that a decision will be made after the tour what is going to happen with the band, hence the album was called inFinite and not Finite. (Cunning linguist he is.)
Thanks to Yvonne for the info and to Dirk Kahler for the scan.
This one is going on Ebay
Another video from the NAMM 2017. Steve Morse shows off his MusicMan #1 and #2:
And once we’re at it, here are some more Steve’s guitar nuts and bolts videos from a few years back. Here he is demonstrating various features of the original MusicMan and Y2D, and how and why he uses them during Purple gigs:
Thanks to Amit for the heads up, and to Guitars Exchange and Sweetwater Sound for the videos.
Purple Uncut
Deep Purple are featured in the latest issue of the British magazine Uncut:
While warming up for a final tour and album, Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and Ian Paice recall their wild career in rock […]
The issue in question has Björk on its cover and is dated April 2017. It went on sale on February 16 (issue inflation and all that). It is also available digitally from a variety of outlets.
Thanks to Yvonne for the info.
Icebreakers don’t fly
Cover art for the second single from the new Deep Purple album inFinite has become available
Thanks to Lutz Reinert for the info.
Paicey on Spanish radio
Ian Paice will be a guest on the Central FM Rock Show tomorrow, February 16, 2017, at 10pm CET. Central FM is an English speaking radio that broadcasts on 98.6 and 103.9 MHz in the Costa del Sol region of Spain, and online worldwide. Their Rock Show is on the air on Thursday nights and afterwards recordings of the show are available at Mixcloud.
Thanks to Akemi Ono for the info.
Scandinavian nights
Five more dates for the Deep Purple’s Long Goodbye Tour have surfaced:
November 6: Stockholm, Sweden
November 8: Trondheim, Norway
November 9: Oslo, Norway
November 11: Helsinki, Finland
November 13: Copenhagen, Denmark
We already have ticket info for all but Helsinki and the tickets are going on sale on February 16. Please not that these particular dates have not been confirmed by Deep Purple management at the time of this writing. These shows have been confirmed as of February 17.
Full details in our calendar.
Thanks to Carsten Ankjær Hansen and Ole Sandgaard Andersen for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing