Jerry Bloom the editor of www.moreblackthanpurple.co.uk and www.bloomsbagels.com (more Purple than Black Bagels) has written a very good letter making some valid points on Deep Purple and how the story could have been, well, better. It wasn’t that bad a story, it was just a bit matter of fact. At Wembley in the late 80’s or early 90’s (I don’t remember the date) I was watching Deep Purple with Peter Makowski from behind Ritchie’s amps. He was not happy with the show and kept making W signs with his hands at Ian Gillan. This meant that he might as well have been playing to a brick wall. As they finished the show Ritchie said ‘Lets do one encore and go.’ Ian, who had been drinking thoughout the show, poked Blackmore in the chest and said, ‘You’re not embarassing me in front of my family, we’re doing three encores.’ Blackmore looked at him straight-faced and said, ‘You’re absolutely right,’ then walked on and started the riff to Smoke On The Water. As the band joined in Ritchie walked back behind his amp, took off his guitar handed it to his guitar tech, Cookie, looked at Peter and I and said ‘Come on, we’re going.’. We followed him off the stage into his car and went to the bar at the Sheraton Hotel in Kensington. Not very funny in hindsight but at the time we were pissing ourselves laughing. An indignant Ritchie said while drinking a scotch and coke ‘He’s not poking me!’
Russian English language weekly St.Petersburg Times in it’s article “Buyer beware” writes about the practice of local promoters misrepresenting the artists for something they are not. Advertisement for the upcoming Over The Rainbow show in St.Petersburg is given as one of the examples:
As the advertising campaign for the show began late last year, posters and smaller advertisements for the upcoming local concert had a different version of the band’s logo. The word “Rainbow” was in the largest type, while the words “Over the” are inexplicably hidden in small type somewhere below.
The posters also describe Over the Rainbow as a “Legenda Roka” (the Russian for “A Legend of Rock”), even though the band’s formation was officially announced in a press release only in December. (“Legends of Rock,” in plural, perhaps would be correct, as related to some of the members, but “A Legend” in singular over the word “Rainbow” implies that it will be a concert by none other than Rainbow itself.)
The whole article is posted online (with photos of questionable posters). The Highway Star gets a couple of name checks in there.
We have 4 dates for the UK tour in November: Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and London Hammersmith. Tickets for these go on sale tomorrow, February 6, at 9 am. Please note that these dates are not yet confirmed by Purple management.
Blackmore’s Night setlist from February 3 in Milan:
God save the keg
Locked within the crystal ball
Queen for a day
Under a violet moon
Streets of London/The times they are a changin’/Soldier of fortune
Durch den wald zum Bachaus
World of stone
Home again
Toast to tomorrow
Diamonds and rust
Renaissance faire
I still remember
Peasant promise
Mr. Peagrams Morris and sword
The clock ticks on
One Eye To Morocco is featured at Caramba! Amidst the stories that were already told on the Italian radio, Ian reveals that the album will be released in the following formats:
gatefold 7” Single (featuring two exclusive tracks as well as the full album on CD enclosed)
We are proud to mention that at the time of this writing the Limited Edition CD is already #1 in Amazon.de charts in the ‘World Music > Northern Africa’ category 😉
The album will be released in Europe on March 6 on Edel/earMUSIC.
Update (Feb 5): One Eye To Morocco will be released in the US on March 31 on Eagle Records (prebook date March 11, retail sales price $13.98).
Ian Gillan will perform two shows with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra in early September in Germany under the Classics Play Rock monicker. The tickets are already on sale for both Gräfenhainichen and Magdeburg. Both shows are all reserved seating. There are VIP packages being advertised for the Magdeburg show at €250. Please be advised that these VIP packages include a pre-show dinner at the Otto von Guericke Hall in Maritim Hotel Magdeburg and a seat in the first two rows, but there is no promise made of any backstage or meet’n’greet access.
Sharply looking Ian Gillan made the society page in Czech media after attending an Opera Ball in Prague last Saturday. Here are more pictures from the life of rich and famous. Continue Reading »
Blackmore’s Night song Olde Mill Inn is featured in the new Jim Carrey comedy Yes Man, with Blackmore and Night names mentioned in the closing credits. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but here’s the proof.
Olde Mill Inn is a real place and has been the couple’s favourite hangout in Long Island ever since the infamous Normandie Inn closed down a few years back.
As the Blackmore’s Night makes it’s way around Southern Europe, here are the details for the January 27 show in Zagreb, Croatia.
Set list:
Locked within the crystal ball
Queen for a day
Under a violet moon
Peasant’s promise
Streets of London / The Times They Are a Changin’
World of stone
Durch den wald zum Bach haus
Drinking song / Solo spots
Soldier of fortune
Home again
Loreley
Ariel
Toast to tomorrow
Far far away
Diamonds and rust
Wish You Were Here / Ocean gypsy
Wind in the willows
new song (???)
Black night / Difficult to cure / Smoke on the water / Woman from Tokyo
The Clock Ticks On
All for one
Christmas tree
Mid-winter’s night / Dandelion wine
And a few clips. Video is not the best quality (given how notorously strict Blackmore’s security are about unauthorised recording, it’s understandable), but audio is half decent.
Fender is reintroducing the Ritchie Blackmore Signature Stratocaster model. The 2009 reincarnation of the guitar features alder body, maple neck, scalloped rosewood fingerboard, big headstock, two Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder pickups (middle pickup is fake), vintage F-style tuners, and comes in one colour only. MSRP is $1,500 and online retailers have it at around $1,200.
![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/gillan8.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/paice.jpg)
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing