DEEP PURPLE Bassist: 'What A Diverse And Wonderful Twelve Months'

DEEP PURPLE bassist Roger Glover has posted the following message on his official web site:

"The last gig of the year, and of all places, Bangalore, India. Of all places? What does that mean? Anywhere could be 'of all places.' When asked, 'What are you doing here?' my reply is invariably, 'Well, everyone's got to be somewhere!' So, Bangalore — now it all makes sense.

"We have traveled a year's worth of gigs to get here and what a diverse and wonderful twelve months. It seems an age since we were rehearsing in Hanger Lane, or maybe Park Royal, for our only London gig at the Astoria. Although we'd played songs from 'Rapture of the Deep' the previous year, notably at the Hard Rock in London and some dates in South America, the Astoria show felt like the real start of the 'Rapture' tour.

"I won't list all the places we've been, there are others who do that (thank you),but it is a constant source of amazement that not only have we been able to do what we do but that audiences everywhere have attended in increasing numbers and with seemingly decreasing ages. The downside of all this touring however is that we have to get there. No one thinks about that when they see us up on the stage, nor should they, but I thought I might illustrate how difficult/fantastic it can sometimes be.

"Take Bangalore for instance. The other group members were due arrive from different directions because we live all over the place. Steve [Morse, guitar] traveled up from Florida to Newark, New Jersey to catch the Air India flight to Mumbai. I met him in Newark having driven down from Connecticut.

"For those of you who have never had the dubious pleasure of driving in New Jersey, it is the single worst place in the States for finding anything, even something as big as an airport; the road signs, if you can spot them, are deliberately designed to confuse. Even my driver, a man of much experience, got lost. Anyway, I eventually got there, met Steve and we boarded the plane and settled down for the long journey. Our flight went fairly well, no complaints there, and we had a quick turnaround in Paris before the next, long flight to Mumbai.

"So, after losing a day, we find ourselves in the early hours of the morning in a deserted Mumbai airport — and there is a delay, we are not told why. By now, my mouth feels like the inside of a tram-driver's glove and I need to find some water. The lounge is offered to us — a dark, dimly lit room with some drab overstuffed chairs dotted around. No bar, coffee machine, snacks, newspapers, in fact nothing that one would normally find in a lounge. Even so, it has seating and we settle down to wait, not really knowing what time of day or night we might be inhabiting, our bodies tired and our minds tangled (don't ever get those two confused)."

Read the rest of Glover's message at this location.