Deep Purple have paid homage to Smoke on The Water's origins by returning to where it all started. On July 8, the band performed their iconic track at the 58th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival, on a brand-new stage built over Lake Geneva.
As the classic rock legends – who now count guitarist Simon McBride among their ranks – played the instantly recognizable riff to an audience of 5,000, the curtain at the back of the stage dropped to reveal the lake and a setup of actual fire – and smoke – on the water.
Frontman Ian Gillan then instructed the crowd to take over singing duties for a crowd sing-along moment. This performance marked the 10th time Deep Purple have performed at the festival.
The band shared anecdotes about the fateful fire that inspired Smoke on the Water in a question-and-answer panel held before their performance.
In 1971, the band was in a casino in Montreux, recording what would be 1972's Machine Head, using The Rolling Stones' mobile studio.
On the eve of the recording session, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were playing in the casino's theater. However, at the beginning of King Kong's synth solo, someone fired a flared gun towards the ceiling, and the casino caught fire – alongside the Mothers' equipment.
“It burned all afternoon, all evening, all through the night. We went and looked at it the next morning, and there it was, gone. It was a frightening thing,” recalled bassist Roger Glover, as transcribed by The Standard.
“The following morning, I was in my room alone and I woke up with those words on my lips, and I said them out to an empty room. And then I kind of really woke up and I said, ‘What did I just say? Smoke on the water?’ No idea what it meant. I mentioned it to Ian [Gillan] and he said, ‘Yeah, sounds like a drug song. Better not do that.’”
In an interview with Classic Rock, drummer Ian Paice recalled the chaotic recording session. “The first track we laid down – and the last to be finished – was Smoke on the Water, before we knew what it was going to be called. There was no soundproofing and we were recording at night. A hell of a racket!”
Founding guitarist Ritchie Blackmore added: “We did Smoke on the Water there, and the riff I made up in the spur of the moment. I just threw it together with Ian Paice. Roger Glover joined in. We went outside to the mobile unit and were listening back to one of the takes, and there was some hammering on the door.
“It was the local police, and they were trying to stop the whole thing because it was so loud. We knew that they were coming to close everything down. We said to Martin Birch, our engineer: ‘Let’s see if we have a take.’ So they were outside hammering and taking out their guns.”
Fortunately, the band managed to get the track down before the police broke in and chucked them all out. What was meant to be an album filler eventually became the band's greatest hit and, arguably, one of the most recognizable guitar riffs of all time.
