At a press conference in Yerevan yesterday, March 27, Ian Gillan said that his performances with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra will be released on DVD which will be available internationally. He praised orchestra’s professionalism and added that he considers Armenia his “spiritual motherland”.
On March 27th Big Ian and Rock Aid Armenia project initiator Jon Dee met with the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan who expressed gratitude for all their assistance to the country since 1988.
The official Deep Purple online store is running a promotion to celebrate it’s recent opening. If you spend over £20 they’ll give you a £5 discount (enter voucher code DP-WTX1-BLMT-GTW3 at the checkout) and you will be automatically entered into a prize draw. Two winners will receive a set of DVDs plus an autographed photo of the band. The DVD set will include:
Glenn Hughes: Live In Australia
Deep Purple: Bombay Calling
Gillan’s Inn (Deluxe Tour Edition)
Hoochie Coochie Men: Live At The Basement
The Steve Morse Band: Live in Baden-Baden Germany
Ian Gillan: Live In Anaheim
Jon Lord: With Pictures
Deep Purple: Total Abandon
Living Loud: Loud & Live
Ian Paice: On The Drums
Steve Morse: Live in New York & Cruise Control
This promotion runs until May 31st.
Click on the logo will take you directly to the store.
During his visit to Armenia Ian Gillan will appear on local TV on March 28. He was invited to take part in the Hay Superstar show (which is a local equivalent of Pop Idol) and he “gladly accepted”. Three of the show participants will perform Deep Purple songs and then perform two more songs together with Big Ian himself. The show will be broadcast on Shant TV.
He will also perform the planned solo shows on March 26 and 27 at the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall in Yerevan with the State Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Friedemann Riehle.
Thanks to Armenians.net and Kevid Dixon for the info.
Russian promoters have announced that Deep Purple will headline this year the biggest rock festival in Russia Rock nad Volgoi, which will be held on June 12 in an open field in the outskirts of Samara. The inaugural festival in 2009 featured Ken Hensley, Apocalyptica and a variety of local bands. It attracted 167,000 visitors and was so successful that the organisers decided to turn it into an annual event.
The brand new official Deep Purple video channel has opened:
Encompassing the band’s ongoing 42 year career, and backed by multi label collaboration, Deep Purple is proud to release DPTV as part of the growing MUZU phenomena:
MUZU.TV is a video streaming site dedicated to music. MUZU.TV serves high quality video and provides a constant stream of Deep Purple videos as part of the viewers’ play list. In the coming weeks more video content will be uploaded, and we can confirm that the stunning 2010 remix of Rock Aid Armenia’s “Smoke On The Water” will be launched through the site.
The channel aslo has an RSS feed to keep you updated of all the official video developments.
The 2010 Tommy Bolin Music Festival will be held Friday and Saturday July 30th & 31st in Bolin’s hometown of Sioux City, Iowa. This years show will feature Johnnie Bolin, Stan Sheldon, The Stella Blue Band, Bobby Berge, Roger Rothwell, and numerous other acts yet to be announced. Friday nights show will be free, with Saturday’s admission being $10.00. Hotel reservations can be made at The Roadway Inn (1401 Zenith Drive Sioux City, IA 712-277-3211) for $59.99 a night. For more information go to www.TommyBolin.com
Last weekend BBC Channel 4 have aired a documentary called Heavy Metal Britannia that covers the earlier history of development of the hard and heavy music on the island, from You Really Got Me to The Number Of The Beast. A number of key figures of the era recall their first hand memories, including our own Ian Gillan and Jon Lord, as well as Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, Mick Box, Rob Halford, Lemmy, Biff Byford, and Bruce Dickinson.
The documentary will be available for another 6 days for online viewing from the BBC. That is, if they think your internet connection is sufficiently “British”. The rest of us who would like to see it have to resort to other means.
Fame Games‘ Radio Show dedicated to the memory of John Coletta was aired in two parts back on July 19 and 26th, 2006. The show obviously covered a good chunk of Purple history with Derek Lawrence, among many other people, on the phone. Continue Reading »
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