| Welcome
to our Looking Back (30 Years Ago) section, where we are following
Deep Purple month by month thirty years ago. If you have any recollections
to add for the next issue of Darker Than Blue, do
get in touch.
 By
November Mk 4's world tour got under way. Come Taste The Band
was issued in Europe on November 7th. The feedback was varied;
some papers saw it as a retread of past glories, others were able
to appreciate the energy and new elements which Bolin had inspired.
Fans had a hard time, it was such a change from the Blackmore
way of doing things. They kicked off the tour in Australia (after
a warm-up in Hawaii - see Hawaii ticket left c/o Tonny Steehagen),
their longest ever visit to the country. Reviews were again mixed,
as were performances, but overall they went down well and once
they started to warm-up (the band had after all been off the road
for several months) there was clearly promise in the new line-up.
 The
group moved on to two ill-fated shows in Indonesia on the 4th
and 5th of December. The gigs saw heavy handed security imposed
by quasi military personnel but off stage Bolin's bodyguard Patsy
Collins died in mysterious circumstances in the hotel, and members
of the crew and Glenn Hughes were jailed overnight. The band's
concert fees were forfeited. In Japan they were made more than
welcome, and despite Bolin having problems with his arm at one
or two shows (a result of a bad fix), things looked up. One of
the gigs was recorded (and partially filmed for the promo Rises
Over Japan), and is now available in full on This Time Around
2xCD (having first come out in a much edited form as Last Concert
In Japan). The
set list was adventurous and showed a determination not to rely
on past glories. The bulk of the show (some eight tracks) came
from the new album. They kept Burn as the opening song, and of
course Smoke On The Water. Lazy made a reappearance and for the
set closer they embarked on a lengthy take of Stormbringer, with
Highway Star as the usual encore.
There was a break after the Japanese shows over Christmas and
the New Year before they began a lengthy American tour.
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