For the first time in Greece, the “Jon Lord Tribute Band” and the Hellenic Musica Viva string ensemble present a live tribute to Jon Lord. Parts from the composer’s solo work will be performed, such as Sarabande, Before I Forget, Pictured Within, Beyond The Notes and To Notice Such Things.
What: live tribute to Jon Lord Who: the “Jon Lord Tribute Band” and Hellenic Musica Viva string ensemble When: November 10, doors open at 20:00 Where:Passport Music Stage, Piraeus, Greece Tickets: €12, includes glass of wine or beer
A first hand account of the infamous fire at the Casino de Montreux on December 4, 1971:
I was heavily engrossed in the concert. Frank Zappa was playing again as the drum set had been fixed, and he had written a song about Switzerland, Swiss cheese and all that. Also, he had a large head of a bunny rabbit near the front of the stage (made of plastic or something similar) which in my mind kept on changing into a scary monster. I had taken a strong dose of an illicit drug and was totally engrossed by the show. A few seconds after the fire started my girlfriend said to me ´Peter, there’s a fire’ and I remember looking behind me and seeing a large ball of flame. Because I was very stoned it LOOKED BEAUTIFUL, perfectly circular and with flames and sparks flying in all directions. I could only see the beauty and not feel the danger! I actually thought that the fire was part of the show!! (Because Frank had such a crazy reputation, I and many other fans too, thought that anything could happen at one of his shows!). Frank Zappa continued playing for a few more seconds and then changed to the song ‘FIRE’ by Arthur Brown, which had been a big hit in the late 60’s. They just played a few bars from that song, and then dropped their instruments and quickly made their way off the stage down a small staircase without having to go into the audience. I seem to remember somebody at the microphone saying ‘Don’t panic’. In fact nobody did panic because nearly everybody was so stoned that fear didn’t kick in and the audience exited in a more or less orderly fashion (like sheep, one following the other)!
A guitar signed by all members of Deep purple was offered as a prize in the Above and Beyond cover art contest. While we don’t know if the winner got a guitar, a Dutch artist Anna Schat-Vanger, who came second, has got one. Her submission was a painting called Meditation (pictured above), which was based “on her information about the song and her personal inspiration.”
Classic Rock magazine has an audio preview of all 17 tracks from the upcoming Live in Europe album by Flying Colors. It does not seem to be easily embeddable elsewhere, so you’ll have to head over there to listen. Live in Europe is due to be released on October 14 via Mascot Records.
Publishing date for the second edition of Didi Zill’s photo book has been postponed until November 15. In the meantime, here’s an interview with the photographer himself (in German with English subtitles):
Steve Morse just finished a stint lending support to Joe Satriani on his US tour. Music Radar caught up with them on the last day of the joint tour in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, where they sat down for a chat.
Listen to the first part of the podcast (second part is due next week):
It’s fifteen months since that day in the studio when we heard the bad news about Jon. Strangely enough, although he left the band eleven years ago, his presence in the band has deepened since last year. Apart from the fact that his spirit seemed to pervade the recording sessions and that Now What?! is dedicated to him, these days an interview never goes by without one or all of us talking about him. Above And Beyond, a paean to Jon, is being released as a single and every time I hear it or play it, my mind is full of great memories.
From an inspired idea by Steve, it grew into a most unusual song, unlike anything we’ve done before. Writing about the death of a friend can be a minefield of cliché or maudlin sentiment, but I’m proud of what we accomplished with the song.
Now looking forward to the British dates and the rest of the tour around Europe and on.
![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse1.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/morse3.jpg)
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing