Deep Purple are lined up to play at the three day 'Festival du Chant du Gros' on the French / Swiss border town of Noirmont. Deep Purple headline the second day - Vendredi 11 Septembre. Ouverture des portes is at 17h15, and Deep Purple are on from 10.30 to midnight, followed by Swiss act Glen of Guinness (!)

Anyway, full details, tickets and camping info are on the website: www.chantdugros.ch

Thanks to Nigel Young for the heads up.

MM #600267 (photo: Martin Ashberrry)

Jon Lord joined Deep Purple on stage during the band's current Japanese tour, at the International Forum, Tokyo (April 15th) for Smoke On The Water.

See the full schedule on our Deep Purple tour dates list.

Thanks to Masaki Tanaka for the news.

SR #600266 (photo: Martin Ashberrry)

A new Deep Purple French tour is taking shape (again!), with six dates planned for early December 2009; half of them in cities where Deep Purple have played recently (Nantes, Marseille, Toulouse) - and the other ones in "new" cities (Amiens, Chambery, Montbeliard). The tour support is Swiss group Gotthard, in place of French act Café Bertrand, who supported Deep Purple for forty French shows stretching back three years.

Before the December tour, Deep Purple are also lined up to headline the famous "Fête de l'Humanité" on September 12th. This very popular three day event, organised by a daily French newspaper L'Humanité, takes place every year on the second week-end of September in La Courneuve, near Paris.

See the full schedule on our Deep Purple tour dates list.

Mathieu Pinard / DB #60026551 (photo: Martin Ashberrry)

As forecast, the band have added a second night to Hammersmith. Thanks to Nigel Young for the heads up. And tickets are available via - well, hobson's choice really! Or you can buy them at whatever price the seller wants to charge you via Ticketmaster's new reselling site - see here for details of how this works.

SR #600264

See also the DPAS tour dates page

Nice to see that in these credit strapped times the ticket booking industry is as greedy as ever - well greedier actually! One DPAS member just called to say he has been charged an extra £8.75 PER TICKET in 'admin' costs, including a new charge (you'll love this) for doing the booking online himself. Nice. Note: Crash Records in Leeds charged 50p when I last booked a gig ticket through them, and this included first class postage.

Ticketmaster users (and all agencies boot you through to them anyway, so it's Hobson's choice): if you are having trouble with their Visa Verification process, use the 'make text smaller' option on your browser, to reveal an extra field to fill in before you can proceed. Took me three goes!

And another thing - normally one gets a discount for ordering online. Even the Duchess of Devonshire knocks a fiver OFF if you book Chatsworth tickets online! Here they charge you the same 'admin fee' even if you print off your own tickets! Simon.

Here is the top of the booking fees chart, in reverse order! GLASGOW at number 4 with just £5.55. At number 3, a surprise entry, £6.75, is LONDON. MANCHESTER climbs to number 3 with £8.75. But this tour's top of the ticket fees are BIRMINGHAM, with a whopping £8.95 per ticket! Well done Birmingham.
And thank you to Richard Taylor who put his credit card to the test to bring us these figures.

SR #6002631 (photo: Nick Robinson)

Time off for good behaviour? Not a bit of it! The first of the Deep Purple concert dates for 2009 has been spotted, and indicates a tour of South America in February. They are doing El Festiaval De Montana on Feb 21st, at the Cosquin Rock venue, Cordoba, Argentina.

Dates for Scandinavia in July 2009 have also been turning up. The latest is at 'Midtnattsrocken' in Lakselv, Norway on July 11th, on the third day of this long (25 years) running festival in the far north of Norway. It should be a very special concert, as this is mid- summer, and the midnight sun will (almost) keep the daylight all through the night! Special prized festival passes (limited number) are already on sale. Ordinary tickets should go on sale later.

There is a second festival in Finland on the 17th. They then head into Turkey, Greece and The Lebanon later in the month. August  09 is a 'month off' on the Deep Purple 2009 tour diary. Four UK dates have now been announced for November, with tickets going on sale on Feb 6th. There is also talk of two shows at the Hammersmith Apollo in London  (or whatever it's called this week) and we expect further dates to  creep out into the public domain over the next few days.. ( Fingers crossed for a Belfast show too!). For the latest dates see our Deep Purple gig guide

SR #6002614 (photo: Alan Perry)

'Classic Rock' mag has fulfilled its promise of last issue to finally feature Deep Purple on the cover (the editorial claims that historically Deep Purple have featured in more 'Classic Rock' articles than Zep, GnR etc. but have just not been on the cover before).

On first perusal, it seems quite a nice feature, with new interviews with Gillan, Glover & Paice and comments from Ritchie from a 'classic' Blackmore article (hmm), plus recent ones from Coverdale and sidebars for Joe Lynn Turner and Steve Morse. A few controversial remarks from Ian Gillan, who says he's never listened to any Deep Purple Mk III albums ("What are they called? 'Burn' and..'Strongbow' is it?") Elsewhere he also confesses to have "still been drinking too much" at the time of the reunion and to not having happy memories of the 1980's.

TS #6002621

(with thanks to John Blackburn)

Deep Purple's latest German Tour dates got under way on October 31st with an almost two hour show in Leipzig. The set list was: Pictures Of Home / Things I Never Said / Into The Fire / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Wrong Man/ Contact Lost (dedicated to Pyro) / Steve's solo ~ The Well-Dressed Guitar / Mary Long / Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming / Wring That Neck / The Battle Rages On / Don's solo ~ Perfect Strangers / Space Truckin' / Highway Star / Smoke On The Water. Encores: Hush (incl. drum solo) / Roger's solo / Black Night.

In Hannover on November 1st the show was pushed over the two hour mark by the additon of Lazy as first encore. As ever, send your tour news, reviews, and photos to the dpas mailbox.

NY#600260 (photo: Peter Rossen)

The third Sunflower Jam, organised by Ian Paice's wife Jackie in aid of charity, took take place at The Porchester Halls in London on September 25. 2008. As before the price was prohibitive at £300 a ticket, with only a very few individual places available. Otherwise the price was £3,000 (sic) for a table seating ten folk. Mind you there was champagne and dinner thrown in!

People who went say the Sunflower Jam concert was filmed and recorded along with some of the rehearsals with Jon Lord, though as yet nothing has been announced in the way of release. As Ian Gillan had a cold, Bruce Dickinson helped IG out on a few numbers. Lord and Airey swopped about during the DP set and Lord also guested with Bruce on Walking In The Shadow and this went down so well there was excited talk of them trying to do some shows together! new

DPAS live review: Sunflower Jam, London, September 25th 2008.

SR #6002541

According to www.russia-ic.com Deep Purple's planned show at the Nizhni Novgorod Sports Palace on October 21st has been prohibited for reasons of fire safety.

"As a representative of The Ministry of the Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) explained to Interfax, the building had been under reconstruction since the previous year, and so only mass events on ice were allowed, while performances with pyrotechnical shows were prohibited. According to the official, the administration of the Sports Palace had known about the fire-prevention requirements and nevertheless had agreed to host the concert.."

The other dates are on our gig guide. NY#600259 (photo: Alexey Efremov)

Deep Purple's November German tour is actually being billed in press adverts by the promoters KBK GmbH as the Deep Purple 40th Jubilee Tour. Nice to see that someone has twigged the fact! They're being supported by Gotthard.

Dates on our gig guide as usual.

MM#600258 (photo: Alan Perry)

A few people who went to the London show said Gillan had told the crowd they'd be playing the UK next year (2009). However, back-stage he apparently went further according to a reporter from Classic Rock magazine, who says:

"After the show Gillan griped to 'Classic Rock' about the heavy security out front and the consequent lack of connection with the audience. As a result, the singer revealed, Purple's British tour next year will be in intimate theatres rather than impersonal arenas."

Fingers crossed! We'll be scanning the Sheffield Boardwalk Club website for ticket details daily from now on...

SR #6002572 (photo: Alan Perry). Thanks to Tim Summers (who has volunteered to scan The Leeds Venue Club website likewise; booking fees 50p).

Deep Purple broke the record for international artists playing in Israel. Their original September 2008 show sold out so quickly a second was added. Then the third, and now it's four!

According to a local press release, the first show in Israel, originally scheduled for Sept. 7th, has been postponed to the 17th, so the schedule now is: Sept. 8th (Caesaria), 9th (Tel Aviv) and 17th and 18th (both Caesaria). The date was apparently moved so the band could reschedule a show in Russia for the 7th so that the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could attend (apparently being "too busy" to go to the other Russian date. I think if I lived in the Ukraine I'd take that as a hint to move out now).

SR #6002571 Thanks to Dmitry M. Epstein for the news. (photo: Alan Perry)

Deep Purple officially kicked off their 2008 European Tour on July 11th, with an outdoor show in Zaragoza, Spain, but ended up being washed out by a storm of biblical proportions, in which a lot of gear was damaged - details are on gillan.com and stevemorse.com Nigel Young reports that the outdoor show in Torino on July 13th also had rain, thunder and lightning, and a 30 minute power cut during 'Strange Kind Of Woman'. But no one handed drum roll. Shame! The sun did come back in time for the indoor show in Milan two days later!

As ever, send your tour photos, news and reviews to the d-p.net mailbox.

DPAS Tour Noticeboard : Deep Purple / Europe 2008

DB/NY #6002551 (photo: Daniele Purrone)

Eagle have issued a 4 DVD Deep Purple box set called 'Around The World'. The discs comprise:

1. Bombay Calling and Korea 1995 both of which have been out before (Bombay Calling on DVD twice, and VHS).

2. Total Abandon and Down Under, both of which have been out several times in one form or another.

3. Live At NEC 2002, with Ian Gillan and Roger Glover interview. This is new.

4. Documentary film about the Steve Morse era. Origin unknown.

Most fans would I think have preferred the NEC show as a stand alone product (to avoid marital strife if nothing else!), but you do get a 32 page booklet thrown in. The box set is shipping now from dpas mailorder. Click here to see a full pack-shot of the box.

SR #6002512 (Thanks to Nigel Young for the heads up)

The fourth DVD in the upcoming box set, listed below as "Documentary film about the Steve Morse era" is a 90 minute edit of a fly-on-the-wall 'Access All Areas', which has been in production for some years. People tell me the new documentary actually leans heavily on material which first appeared on the Gillancam feature on Ian Gillan's fabbo Highway Star effort last year.

Following the Total Abandon tour of Australia in 1999, it was decided to document life on the road with the band. Collated primarily over a 4 year period and starting in Japan 2000, Ian Gillan, Ian Paice and Drew Thompson collected vision from the tours. According to Drew: "it's an amazing insight into life on the road, and takes a look at elements of touring never really seen. It was never meant to showcase the performances from this period, but shows life on the road as it really happens; the fun, the humour, the politics and the camaraderie. The transition period of Jon Lord leaving the band and Don Airey reinvigorating proceedings has been captured at close hand, beautifully complimenting the live NEC performance. This is a must see for any fan of the band."

The full "Access All Area" documentary runs to beyond 3 hours, and has been edited down for the new DVD package. Drew expects that later in 2008 a full length version will be released. If it is, that may leave the NEC 2002 show as the only disc exclusive to 'Around The World'.

SR #6002531

Ian Gillan has told a reporter in Peru that he hopes the group will record a new album in 2009, but so far there doesn't seem to be anything more concrete than this.

SR #600252

Ian Gillan has written an article for The Times about Deep Purple's private show at The Kremlin on February 11th:

"The younger guys and more junior staff were all up on their feet, although they were looking nervously over at their bosses to see whether they could loosen their ties. It was as if they were asking, “How much fun are we allowed to have?” I’m sure I could have had everyone on their feet but I knew Tina Turner was on next and it wouldn’t have been cool to do that.

When we had finished our show, Medvedev and Alexei Miller, the chief executive of Gazprom, came into our dressing room where we had a chat and a couple of drinks. Medvedev had this stupid grin on his face because he was meeting his favourite band. We had a nice chat but we didn’t talk about politics. All of us in the band have such wildly different opinions on religion and politics that we never get into it. "

See the full article here.

TS #600250

Deep Purple were flown to Moscow to perform a special show on Fwebruary 11th at The Kremlin's Palace of Congresses, in front of Russian luminaries such as Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev - a man described by the Moscow Times as "chairman of state-controlled gas giant Gazprom and a virtual lock to become the country's next president." The party was to mark the 15th anniversary of the firm's creation.

The evening began with an address by Russian president Vladimir Putin, which was followed by performances from Tina Turner and Deep Purple among others. According to news reports "the fans wore furs, suits or war medals rather than jeans and T- shirts; they arrived in black chauffeured limousines not buses; and the front row of the audience included Russia's likely next president Dmitry Medvedev and a top former KGB spy." During Deep Purple's one hour set  "attempts by Ian Gillan to encourage audience participation led to the kind of slow, steady handclap which used to reverberate around the wood-panelled hall during Soviet Communist Party congresses." TS #6002471

CD tracks list in full : Pictures Of Home / Things I Never Said / Strange Kind Of Woman / Rapture Of The Deep / Wrong Man / Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye / When A Blind Man Cries / Lazy / Keyboard solo / Space Truckin' / Highway Star / Smoke On The Water.

dpas mailorder are stocking both editions.

DVD disc 1 includes the band's set from the 40th Montreux Festival in 2006 plus iInterviews with the band members. Disc 2 contains the whole of Deep Purple’s 60 min performance from the Hard Rock Café, London, to celebrate its re-opening and the launch of the band’s new album “Rapture Of The Deep” back in October 2005 (audio from this set was on the special tour edition of Rapture Of The Deep CD). 1) Fireball 2) I Got Your Number 3) Strange Kind Of Woman 4) Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye 5) Rapture Of The Deep 6) Wrong Man 7) Lazy 8) Perfect Strangers 9) Highway Star 10) Smoke On The Water. Due mid-June 2007. It looks as if Perfect Strangers is absent from the DVD as well as the CD (collectors tell us it was absent on TV and FM in Europe when the show was broadcast last year).

It looks as if the Japanese edition of this new CD will include ALL the set on two discs, rather than the slightly shorter single CD in Europe which lacks the encore and Morse's showcase. Silly thing to do and annoying for collectors. Info is scarce but if we're right the extra CD tracks would be The Well Dressed Guitar, Hush, Too Much Fun, and Black Night. To confirm, the Montreux set IS complete on the DVD in Europe. dpas mailorder are stocking this import edition. If anyone who has ordered the single CD UK edition wishes to upgrade their order, please email Ann asap.

Eagle have confirmed a blu-ray DVD edition of Live At Montreux 2006, which will be released in February 2008 in Europe. Content is as the previously released DVD (reviewed in DTB 58), but the picture is high definition. It can be pre-ordered at dpas mailorder. (for more info on blu-ray, see our format guide).

SR#6002397

We've had requests for information on a new Deep Puple DVD called Live in China, taped on the March 31st 2004 at the Gymnasium Beijing. It is on the Masterplan label. This is the same company who pirated the Live in Bombay DVD in Europe, and we understand this latest is also a bootleg. Unfortunately these are quite widespread in German shops and have fooled a lot of people so be warned.

"The live In China dvd is horrible. Thanks for warning, sorry I didn't believe you!" Heikki Heino

Under pressure from the band, Edel have rethought the limited tour edition of Rapture Of The Deep. This will now be a DOUBLE CD set. CD 1 has the album as before. CD 2 now has EIGHT tracks: 1) Clearly Quite Absurd (new version) 2) Things I Never Said (Japanese bonus track) 3) The Well Dressed Guitar (unreleased) 4) Rapture Of The Deep (live) 5) Wrong Man (live) 6) Highway Star (live) 7) Smoke On The Water (live) 8) Perfect Strangers (live).

The live tracks were recorded in London Oct 10. 2005. Anyone who has pre-ordered from dpas mailorder will get this new version. Providing the price is reasonable, this now looks like a much better release.

The Rapture Tour Edition has been put back again (at least for UK release) until June 5th, the week after Monsters Of Rock. It is already available in Germany. Thanks to Essential for the info. Edel now say that the digipak is to be a limited edition only for the UK. It will only be available up to the release date (in other words pre-orders). After release date, shops will only be able to order the jewel case edition. So if you want to be sure of the digipak please pre-order.

SR#7001604 (Thanks to Joerg Planer, Amanda at Eagle and Matt at Essential)