Norwegian singer Jorn Lande will join Jon Lord onstage at the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway next Sunday July 1.

A gifted vocalist with numerous projects in his own right, Jorn Lande was previously linked to the Purple family via Micky Moody and Bernie Marsden’s The Snakes. See more at jornlande.com.

Jon Lord first performed at Trondheim’s Nidaros cathedral in 2003. This year he will perform his own composition ‘From Darkness To Light’ and will be joined onstage by the Trondheim Soloists and two choirs.

The event is part of the Hell Music Festival and features Jon playing the organ and piano. It is probably also the first time he has shared a bill with Snoop Dogg … More info at hellmusicfestival.no.

An excellent quality (given the time) promo video for the Speed King. It appears that it is lipsync’ed to the single edit of the track (minus keyboard intro): Continue Reading »

On Saturday June 23, a new guitar world record was set in Stuttgart: 1,803 guitarists (preliminary number) played “Smoke on the Water” at the same time at the same place. Previous record of 1,683 guitarists was set only three weeks ago in Kansas City.

Jon Lord could not make it to the event and sent his best wishes via email. However, rather unexpectedly Ian Gillan called in on the phone with a welcoming speech to the participants and his words were relayed live from the stage.

The event was big and besides the record attempt included an extended festival program around it. Micky Moody played with his new band. His set lasted for about half an hour and consisted of his own material, no big Whitesnake hits (although they were loudly requested from the audience).

There’s already press coverage online in Spiegel (in German). More details will be published soon at www.gitarrenweltrekord.de and Caramba!.

Thanks to Helge Mayschak for the info.

Photo: Jim Corrigan

It looks like the organisers of the Guitar World Record Festival in Stuttgart are taking their attempt on the Guinness Book very seriously. According to Independent.ie:

• they have secured Jon Lord’s appearance at the event
• planning to broadcast the festival live across Europe
• are recruiting participants from as far as Ireland

The current record was set in early June in Kansas City and stands at 1,680 people simultaneously playing Smoke on the Water on guitars.

We wish all the participants best of luck.

Here are the setlists for the first 4 dates of the UK tour. Support was a Czech Folk/Renaissance band Gothien. Reading show was cut short and even was on a brink of cancellation due to tensions between Blackmore and promoter/venue. Too bad that it happens, as it’s none of the audience’s fault and they are stuck with the short set. But that’s the possibility you should be prepared for when going to see His Blackness. One hand giveth and the other one taketh.

Don Airey was spotted in the Birmigham audience and, reportedly, quite enjoyed the show.

Rothes Hall, Glenrothes, Scotland, 10th June

GOTHIEN: Sciarazula Marazula, O quantum solicitor, Los biblicos, Miri it is, Skudrinka, Ai vist la lop, Debka, Tempus est iocundum

BLACKMORE’S NIGHT: Intro, Past Times With Good Company/Rainbow Blues, Play Minstrel Play, Under a Violet Moon, Soldier of Fortune, Durch den wald zum Bachaus (inc: bass and piano solo), World of Stone, Diamonds and Rust, Home Again (inc: Drink, Drink), Bard David solo/Ariel, Loreley, I Still Remember, Wind in the Willows, Fires at Midnight, The Clock Ticks On; Encores: Cartouche, Mid Winter’s Night/Dandelion Wine, Now and Then

Opera House, York, England, 12th June

GOTHIEN: Sciarazula Marazula, O quantum solicitor, Los biblicos, Miri it is, Skudrinka, Saderaladou, Debka, Tempus est iocundum (Encore: Ai vist la lop).

BLACKMORE’S NIGHT: Intro, Past Times With Good Company/Rainbow Blues, Play Minstrel Play, Under a Violet Moon, Soldier of Fortune, Durch den wald zum Bachaus (inc: bass and piano solo), World of Stone, Mond Tanz/Child in Time, Diamonds and Rust, Bard David piano solo/Ariel, All for One, Wind in the Willows, Home Again (inc: Drink, Drink), Fires at Midnight, Renaissance Faire, I Still Remember, The Clock Ticks On; Encores: Difficult to Cure/St Theresa, Blues solo, Black Night plus Woman from Tokyo riff, Smoke on the Water

Hexagon Theatre, Reading, England, 14th June

GOTHIEN: Sciarazula Marazula, O quantum solicitor, Los biblicos, Miri it is, Skudrinka, Saderaladou, Debka, Tempus est iocundum (Encore: Ai vist la lop).

BLACKMORE’S NIGHT: Intro, Past Times With Good Company/Rainbow Blues, Play Minstrel Play, Under a Violet Moon, Durch den wald zum Bachaus (inc: bass and piano solo), World of Stone, Mond Tanz/Child in Time**, Diamonds and Rust, Home Again (inc: Drink, Drink), I Still Remember, Renaissance Faire**, The Clock Ticks On** (No Encores).

** support band GOTHIEN return to the stage for these songs

Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, England, 17th June

GOTHIEN: Sciarazula Marazula, O quantum solicitor, Los biblicos, Miri it is, Skudrinka, Saderaladou, Debka, Tempus est iocundum (Encore: Ai vist la lop).

BLACKMORE’S NIGHT: Intro, Past Times With Good Company/Rainbow Blues, Play Minstrel Play, Under a Violet Moon, Soldier of Fortune, Durch den wald zum Bachaus (inc: bass and piano solo), World of Stone, Minstrel Hall (inc: giant rabbit), Mond Tanz/Child in Time**, Diamonds and Rust, Bard David solo/Ariel, Wind in the Willows, Mr Peagram’s Morris and Sword, Home Again (inc: Drink, Drink), Fires at Midnight, Avalon, The Clock Ticks On**; Encores: Cartouche, The Old Village Lanterne, Mid Winter’s night/Dandelion Wine, Ghost of a Rose

** support band GOTHIEN return to the stage for these songs.

Thanks to Kevin Dixon for the info.

The classic Purple version of Hush is featured in the soundtrack for a 2006 British movie “Children of Men“. It is encouraging that in the moviemakers’ opinion the band will still be relevant in the dystopian society of 2027. The song can be heard on the car radio towards the beginning of the film as Michael Cane’s and Clive Owen’s characters are driving from the train station.

The movie is actually quite good and received 3 Oscar nominations as well as won a number of other awards worldwide. Currently it’s at #122 on the IMDB’s top 250 movies of all time list, and quite frankly you can spend two hours of your time much worse than watching anything from that list.

Thanks to Tracy Heyder for the tip.

Back in 1989, Joe Lynn Turner and Yngwie Malmsteen played over a dozen sold out shows in Leningrad and Moscow in Russia. Seventeen years later, the two were invited back to Russia’s capital by the Prime Minister for a performance for his cabinet and staff on Russian Independence Day (June 12).

It was an private show for about 75 people but the prestigious restaurant setting did not prevent the house from rocking! It also planted the seed for a reunion since Malmsteen and Turner went their separate ways shortly after those concerts in the late 1980s. JLT and Yngwie each did separate sets but the night capped off with a jam
session featuring both on the same stage. They did a couple Deep Purple songs and some more from their Malmsteen-Turner collection, including Dreaming off their 1988 release Odyssey.

According to Turner, this stint was also memorable because of what went on off stage:

I was treated like a king for a few days with lavish accommodations. I had a Mercedes limousine and driver on call to take me shopping or where ever I wanted to go. I was also humbled by the extravagant gifts people gave me because they had been touched by my music.

Fans of both artists know that the duo put aside their differences in 1996 when they teamed up for some Deep Purple cover tunes on Malmsteen’s “Inspiration” album. However, this was the first time both had played together on stage since the late eighties. Joe has since been to Russia many times recently and one of his trips included recording an album with Glenn Hughes and Russian politician Mikhail Men.

Turner described the night as, “Magical,” and said he did not rule out the possibility of working with Malmsteen again in the future. He said, “The ice (between Yngwie and I) has been broken.”

Thanks to Gustavo Solinas, JLT Argentina Fan Site for the info.

Undoubtedly sparked by a little scientific debate in our news comments, two scientist decided to find out for sure exactly how Smoke on the Water sounds on Mars. Their verdict?

Forget trying to listen on Mars, though. The Martian atmosphere is 95 per cent carbon dioxide, a chilly 220 Kelvin and very wispy indeed, which effectively kills the sound.

Titan is the only moon in the solar system with an atmosphere worth its salt. […] Titan’s atmosphere absorbs the least acoustic energy. In the audible frequency range, the attenuation is at least 100 times lower than on Earth, making Smoke on the Water sound louder, with a rich, thumping bass.

That riff gets everywhere… Of course, for their experiment to be truly scientific, venerable professors should have used Space Truckin’. We are anxiously awaiting revised results.

Thanks to Elinor for sharp eyes.

Gillian Glover and her band have the following dates lined up in July:

• The Bull & Gate, opposite Kentish Town tube, London, Thursday 19 July, doors 7:30pm.
• The Prince of Wales, Woodham Road, Stowmaries, Nr Woodham Ferries, Essex, Saturday 21 July, performance from 9pm. Admission free.
• The 12 Bar Club, Denmark Street, Tottenham Court Road tube, London, Wednesday 25 July, doors 7pm.

Gillian will undertake a more extensive tour in late September/early October 2007 before starting work on a new album. Meanwhile her debut album Red Handed, released 14 May, continues to receive excellent reviews, including this one.

Thanks to Tom Wilcox for the info.

Montreal radio station CHOM 99.7 will feature music of Deep Purple and an interview with Ian Gillan tonight, June 13 at 10pm .

Thanks to Gary Poronovich for the info.