Tickets are fully on sale this Friday but there are pre-sale offers on meet and greet packages if you look online (they START at £129.00!). Details : London’s O2 Arena (May 31), Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena (June 1), Arena Birmingham (June 3), Glasgow SSE Hydro (June 4) and Newcastle Utilita Arena (June 6), Manchester Arena on June 8.
The question we ask ourselves (apart from where I would hide for the other two acts!) is will they be a patch on the shows in 1979 and 1980 and the answer sadly is not, so I’ll put the money towards a trip to London to see the Bridget Riley exhibition instead.
UPDATE – A show in Italy has just been added, Bologna Park, on July 6th.
The first of Deep Purple‘s summer tour shows for 2020 have now been confirmed, with eight concerts in June / July across Austria and Germany (most of which are branded “Summer Nights 2020″). With one exception these all seem to be one day festivals, one of which includes Dweezil Zappa supporting Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. Thanks to Lutz Reinert for the full details (on our 2020 diary page) and sending some of the (sometimes garish!) adverts. Let us know if you spot any more to add to the list.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to look in all the ditches round about just in case there is a politician who can keep his word…
We were chatting online about the curious collection of rock album art jigsaws which HMV loaded their shelves with in September 2019 in the hopes of getting pre-Christmas present buyers interested (I’d hold out for the post-Christmas sales if I were you!). Tim Summers then came back with this gem which he found on Leeds market some years ago. Exactly who was going to buy a 25 piece Ian Gillan jigsaw? Apart from Tim of course. The photo I think is lifted from a Kerrang article. As you can see Tim is a busy guy and hasn’t yet got around to finishing it…
Of course you’re all now wondering if there were any Deep Purple jigsaws at HMV, well it seems not (Stephen Clare took the photo). Me, I’m holding out for one of The White Album, I like a challenge! (UPDATE – Chris Meloche in Canada says he HAS a White Album jigsaw puzzle, limited edition, and sent me a photo to prove it.)
John Spiers spotted Ian Gillan in the National Archives at Kew recently… not visiting, but on display!They have an exhibition about the Cold War up at present, and devote a cabinet to the subject as reflected in books and music of the time. So “pop artist” Gillan’s 1981 Mutually Assured Destruction 7″ single is included. We know we’re getting on when stuff like this begins to turn up in public archives but it’s interesting to see curators paying attention to it.
Another poster sent in by Gary Poronovich for us to check out, from Deep Purple’s two nights at The Roundhouse October 16th and 17th 2013. It’s a real shame they haven’t got a good logo as it kind of spoils what could have been a smart design. The Roundhouse logo by comparison is excellent. I wonder if these will be as collectable in the future as 1970s posters are today? One things for sure I won’t be around to see!
But he says Diva Purple, the new (well to me anyway) all-female Deep Purple tribute outfit, are gigging in December including a show in London on December 10th. I love the shot above which decorates their Facebook page (and deserves to decorate a compilation), though no idea where it’s from. They have a sort of showreel medley on YouChoob which is a bit of brave move considering the sound of the rehearsal room. More fun than Yngwie’s last cover anyway! Thanks to John Tucker.
The ultimate fan souvenir? Mark Maddock just sent me this photo of a ‘Deep Purple touring stage’ which someone has just put up for auction online in America. It seems to be the welded metal subframe, ply boarding and a bunch of old lights! It also seems to be kept outdoors so better get some Hammerite ready if you do go for it! I checked but the garage here is already full so we won’t be bidding…
I do quite like a potter around a garden centre, as much to marvel at the sheer amount of bizarre novelty tat they seem to sell these days as anything, so the camera is always with me. Which was handy for these two latest additions to the Deep Purple themed garden (which as some will recall dates back many years to the pages of DTB magazine) spotted earlier this year.
The Rainbow inspired rose Lady Of The Lake looks a treat, and as I’ve been lucky enough the visit the David Austin nursery I can recommend it in terms of quality, much better than anything they produced in recent years. The Deep Purple Hydrangea is new this season apparently and any thought that the name might just be a coincidence is dispelled by the guitar shaped plant label and the fact that the growers have labelled it part of their ‘music collection’. I shall resist any temptation to suggest the plant, which was fashionable in the 70s, is a new variation on an old theme, a good repeater, etc. etc.
Now, where’s the tea room?
Mark Jones says his U.S. based brother Shaun saw Deep Purple in Shawnee on September 20th and was able to snap the set list for us, so press the back arrow now if you don’t want to know! He reports being impressed with Gillan but that the crowd was a bit sparse. The title names are those on the actual set-list by the way, it seems even with computers someone cannot be bothered to type in the full titles!Or as some cynics might say, cut and paste from last time.But there are some change abouts and Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming is back too.So it’s a two thirds oldies, one third reunion set (including one from the current LP) which probably works for most of the American crowd. Still it gives me an excuse to show this great pic of the group taken a few years ago by Finnbogi Marrinsson which he sent us (I think it’s from a show in Finland) and I’ve been admiring as I back them up. The new set list is below the pic!
UPDATE – A show in Italy has just been added, Bologna Park, on July 6th. The first of Deep Purple‘s summer tour shows for 2020 have now been confirmed, with eight concerts in June / July across Austria and Germany (most of which are branded “Summer Nights 2020″). With one exception these all seem to […]
We were chatting online about the curious collection of rock album art jigsaws which HMV loaded their shelves with in September 2019 in the hopes of getting pre-Christmas present buyers interested (I’d hold out for the post-Christmas sales if I were you!). Tim Summers then came back with this gem which he found on Leeds […]
John Spiers spotted Ian Gillan in the National Archives at Kew recently… not visiting, but on display! They have an exhibition about the Cold War up at present, and devote a cabinet to the subject as reflected in books and music of the time. So “pop artist” Gillan’s 1981 Mutually Assured Destruction 7″ single is included. […]
Another poster sent in by Gary Poronovich for us to check out, from Deep Purple’s two nights at The Roundhouse October 16th and 17th 2013. It’s a real shame they haven’t got a good logo as it kind of spoils what could have been a smart design. The Roundhouse logo by comparison is excellent. I […]
But he says Diva Purple, the new (well to me anyway) all-female Deep Purple tribute outfit, are gigging in December including a show in London on December 10th. I love the shot above which decorates their Facebook page (and deserves to decorate a compilation), though no idea where it’s from. They have a sort of […]
The ultimate fan souvenir? Mark Maddock just sent me this photo of a ‘Deep Purple touring stage’ which someone has just put up for auction online in America. It seems to be the welded metal subframe, ply boarding and a bunch of old lights! It also seems to be kept outdoors so better get some […]
I do quite like a potter around a garden centre, as much to marvel at the sheer amount of bizarre novelty tat they seem to sell these days as anything, so the camera is always with me. Which was handy for these two latest additions to the Deep Purple themed garden (which as some will […]
Mark Jones says his U.S. based brother Shaun saw Deep Purple in Shawnee on September 20th and was able to snap the set list for us, so press the back arrow now if you don’t want to know! He reports being impressed with Gillan but that the crowd was a bit sparse. The title […]
