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Ian Paice clinic
Long & McQuade's music store, Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Aug 22, 2004

Last weekend. Wow.
I don't think I have ever had such an exciting weekend in all 34 years of my life!
Purple's Toronto show on August 21 was typically awesome, but I was disappointed about the lack of a drum solo from Ian Paice - but I sure as hell got one the next day...
The next day, a friend of mine and I got to Long & McQuade's music store in Brampton, Ontario at about 12:20pm for the Ian Paice Meet and Greet to take place that afternoon from 1pm - 3pm. We were around the 9th and 10th people in line, and before I knew it there were about 100 people behind us.
We filed inside at 1pm and got third row seats - about seven feet from the drum kit. It wasn't Ian's actual kit - just a Pearl kit which the store provided which Ian set up his way.
Anyways, he was introduced followed by a massive applause, greeted the audience, and got behind the kit where we received the drum solo that we missed the night before! He then asked if anyone had any questions, and my hand shot up first. I thanked him for years of incredibly inspirational drumming - which caused everyone to applaud - and I asked him if we could look forward to another Purple CD in the future and if he has a particular Purple song which he enjoys drumming to the most. He replied by saying that they will be going into the studio in February and so the new CD will be released in late 2005, and his favourite drumming song all depends on the mood he is in.
Later on I asked him about his opinion of the Joe Lynn Turner chapter in Purple's history in which he said that Turner was not the man for the job, but the one thing good about that whole time was it gave Purple time to get Gillan back instead of the band splintering off after Gillan left. He said that Gillan is the singer for Purple, and the band can't exist without him on vocals.
He was asked about how Steve Morse joined the band, and he began by saying, "Well, when Ritchie... vacated the planet..." This got a big laugh!
He had some hilarious stories about the '69 Concerto and the Tommy Bolin period, and he has not missed a single Purple show except he has had some uncomfortable situations, particularly in India, where he had bad cases of the runs during shows!
He talked about Glenn Hughes' bass playing and said that if Glenn didn't get messed up on chemicals, he'd probably be a lot more popular today.
Throughout the afternoon, he answered more questions, and got behind the kit to demonstrate a few things like Rosa's Cantina, Fireball, Chasing Shadows, and of course, the one-handed drum roll which left all of us scratching our heads!
He was very down to earth and very friendly throughout the two hours and towards the end, he raffled off the door prizes in which my friend and I both won Pearl t-shirts. When our names were called, we walked to the front, took the t-shirt and received a handshake from Ian. A 12-year-old boy won the Ian Paice Signature snare drum, which was really nice to see. He then signed autographs and posed for pictures. He signed a snare drum head for me and we shook hands as a picture was taken. This drumhead, and an 8x10 of this picture are now hanging in my basement studio.
I know that Ian Paice is just another human being who puts his shoes and socks on the same way we all do, but, having said that, meeting him was one of the biggest thrills of my life - his drumming has had such a huge influence on my drumming. The fact that he was such a nice guy made things even better.
My friend and I then left the store and went for a beer next door to Long & McQuade where we could not help but rave about the whole thing!
Moe Cullity
Toronto, Canada