While it’s possible for the entire heavy rock genre to be generalised as ‘thinking it’s something’, there’s fortunately one member of rock's royalty that famously doesn’t take himself too seriously.
It’s safe to say that as the frontman for Deep Purple, and even a stint with Black Sabbath in the '80s, Ian Gillan has pretty much seen and done it all. But it’s perhaps his latest tall tale of rock excess and grace under fire that fans will find most eye-popping.
Relating the tale of a gig gone wrong to French outlet RiffX’s MetalXS offshoot, Gillan lays bare the story of a disastrous outing requiring some extreme showmanship to save the day…
“I remember doing a solo show in Germany with an orchestra. It was a disaster," describes Gillan. "It was in a mining facility [with] huge machinery – a science fantasy kind of background – Ferropolis, it was called, in Germany. They have big festivals there sometimes. It was raining… And they sold no tickets…
“It should have held 20,000 people but there were 200, maybe 300 there. The promoter put the seats a long way from the stage.
"There was no cover on the stage. There were no monitors. There were no lights – just one white light on the stage. One caravan for me. Nothing for the orchestra or the musicians. The rain was coming down. We reached halftime and everything was terrible.
“They're all sheltering under the stage, wet with their instruments. I'm sitting naked in my caravan. My P.A. comes in and I’m drenched. She said, 'Oh, they're making a fortune out there, selling ponchos. Look, I bought one for you.' It's like what they have at Niagara Falls when you get on the boat – just a transparent plastic poncho. I said, 'That's what I'm wearing on stage for the second half of the show.' So she said, 'I dare you.' And I said, 'Okay, I will…’
“So I walked out naked on stage… Apart from this plastic poncho… Which was transparent. And the orchestra got up as they realized what was going on, and they started playing with fire! And we had just the most wonderful time because we were laughing at the rain, we were laughing at the circumstances.
"And the audience all got out of their seats – there weren't many of them – but they all came to the front of the stage and suddenly we were all entwined in this thing."
"Somebody took a film of it on their camera and it went up on YouTube that night. So around midnight, the phone started ringing. My manager: 'What the fuck do you think you're doing?' And then the Deep Purple manager came on: 'What is he doing, he's destroying the reputation of the band!?'
“So, I said, 'Well, actually, if you were there, you would have understood’. But the sound and the vision was out of sync, because of the distance. The lighting was horrible, the orchestra was all out of tune because of the rain. And it sounded like a cacophony of absolute nonsense…
“But if you were there, you’d have understood the circumstances. And it was Sally, my P.A. who said, 'Ian actually saved the day.' If you just watched it on YouTube, you'd think this is the worst thing that ever happened. In actual fact, it was one of the best experiences of my life."
And writing on YouTube, Gillan fan Paul Kowacz, who was there that fateful night helpfully shares an excerpt from the momentous event. He says: “The audience didn’t believe their eyes, and neither did the first violinist. They all piled to the front of the stage to snap some photos. It lifted everyone’s spirits in the bad weather, everyone was laughing, dancing and singing.
Relive some of the gig via his video below…
“After the concert was over we got to go backstage thanks to the Czech drummer Frantisek Hönig from the backing band. After about 20 minutes of waiting while Ian was in the caravan having hot drinks and changing into dry clothes we had a chance to meet him and have a chat, take pictures and have some CD signed.
“Ian is not only a great singer but he is just a class act!”
See? Ever the gent and professional to the last. Rock 'n' roll gods – we salute you.
