The Deep Purple European Tour was a year-long successful concert tour by British

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

, lasting from July 1969 until June 1970. The band played mostly

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

shows, also covering

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. It was the first tour to feature the classic Deep Purple line-up: Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord and Ian Paice. It is considered to be the pre-tour for the '' In Rock'' album, as the band mostly played songs from the upcoming album.

Tour pre-history

In 1969, cofounders Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord decided to replace vocalist

Rod Evans Roderic Evans (born 19 January 1947) is a British former singer. In the late 1960s, he began his professional career in The Maze, formerly MI5, after which he was a member of the original Deep Purple line-up, who produced three studio albums ...

with Ian Gillan. Gillan declined to join Purple without his former bandmate Roger Glover. Lord and Blackmore accepted and, in 1969, Gillan and Glover, replaced Evans and bassist Nick Simper. This new line-up, known as MKII, immediately went on tour throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and the

. "I remember back in 1969 when Roger and I did our first show with Purple at the Speakeasy," recalled Gillan. "There were only twelve people there; well, twenty if you counted

Keith Moon Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol. Moon grew ...

. But I looked at Roger and said, 'Oh man, this is it.' It was the kind of band we had both been dreaming of."

Tour dates

Setlist

During the tour, half of the setlist included MKI hits with the other half consisting of new MKII songs. " Speed King", "

Child in Time "Child in Time" is a song by English rock band Deep Purple, taken from their fourth studio album, ''Deep Purple in Rock'', released in 1970. The track is loosely inspired by the Cold War and runs over ten minutes. History and characteristic ...

" and "Into the Fire" were premiered on the tour, before being released on the '' In Rock'' album. #And the Address #Kneel and Pray (early version of Speed King with different lyrics) #Into the Fire # Kentucky Woman (only occasionally) #

#Mandrake Root #

Wring That Neck ''The Book of Taliesyn'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Deep Purple, recorded only three months after ''Shades of Deep Purple'' and released by Tetragrammaton Records in October 1968, just before their first US tour. The n ...

aka Hard Road #Ritchie's Blues # Paint It Black, instrumental (

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

cover) #~Drum solo

Tour diary & notable live dates

Deep Purple MKII kicked off their first tour at the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Speakeasy Club. In a recent interview, Ian Gillan named this show to be favourite live performance of his career, as it was his first show with Deep Purple. After a few United Kingdom dates, the band headed to

, where they headlined

Jazz Bilzen Jazz Bilzen was an annual multi-day open air jazz and pop festival that took place from 1965 to 1981 in the Belgian city of Bilzen. Jazz Bilzen was the first festival on the continent where jazz and pop music were brought together. For this reaso ...

, and then again returned to the United Kingdom. On 24 September, the band played at London's

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

conducted by

Malcolm Arnold Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold (21 October 1921 – 23 September 2006) was an English composer. His works feature music in many genres, including a cycle of nine symphonies, numerous concertos, concert works, chamber music, choral music and music ...

. This was one of the earliest examples of a rock band collaborating with an orchestra. The show was called

Concerto for Group and Orchestra ''Concerto for Group and Orchestra'' is a live album by Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in September 1969. It consists of a concerto composed by Jon Lord, ...

and was later officially released. The Concerto and album itself was influential, with many rock bands following in Deep Purple's steps and playing with orchestras. Rock band

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

made their orchestral debut in 2000 and named Purple's 1969 show as the main influence. The orchestral parts were written by Jon Lord and included three movements. *Opening set – first part (without Orchestra): #Hush #Wring That Neck #~Jingle Bells instrumental #Child In Time *Concerto For Group And Orchestra (second part) #First Movement – Allegro moderato #Second Movement – Andante #Third Movement – Vivace presto #~Drum solo *Encore: #Third Movement (2nd half) #~Drum solo In April 1969, Deep Purple headlined the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

as well as the Pop & Blues festival in

. Other festival acts included

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

and The Nice. Ritchie Blackmore jammed with The Nice's

Keith Emerson Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 1944 – 11 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became ...

On 19 February, they performed at the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's Studios, with the show later being released on CD. They then returned to

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, before again returning to the UK. The tour ended at

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Radstadion Radstadion was a velodrome located in Olympiapark in Munich, Germany. They hosted the track portion of the cycling competitions for the 1972 Summer Olympics. The track was long by wide with banking that varied between 11.56 and 48.32 degrees. ...

on 21 June 1970.

Live albums and DVDs

Several live albums from the tour were later released. #

CD/DVD #

Gemini Suite Live ''Gemini Suite Live'' is a recording of Jon Lord's classical/rock piece Gemini Suite featuring the original Mark II band lineup of Deep Purple, recorded live during this one and only live performance in 1970. A follow up to their "Concerto" ...

CD #Kneel & Pray CD # Live in Montreux 69 CD #

Scandinavian Nights ''Scandinavian Nights (Live in Stockholm 1970)'' is a double live-album by the English hard rock band Deep Purple. It was recorded in the Stockholm Konserthuset on 12 November 1970. It was originally released in 1988. Background The title ''S ...

CD/DVD #

Deep Purple in Concert ''Deep Purple in Concert'' is a live album by the English hard rock band Deep Purple, recorded by the BBC for their "In Concert" live series in 1970 and 1972. First released in 1980 in the UK, with the current US edition being made available in ...

CD/DVD # Live in Stockholm CD/DVD # Space Vol 1 & 2 #Doing Their Thing DVD #Heavy Metal Pioneers (Tour documentary)

Line up

* Ian Gillan – vocals * Ritchie Blackmore – lead guitar * Jon Lord – keyboard, hammond organ * Roger Glover – bass guitar * Ian Paice – drums

References

External links

Deep Purple setlists – 1969–2005List of all Deep Purple gigs – full gigographyDeep Purple Tour Page – 1968-2010
{{Deep Purple Deep Purple concert tours 1969 concert tours 1970 concert tours