Japanese PM is a Purple fan!

Deep Purple thrills Japan’s superfan prime minister with a quick visit

By Chang-Ran Kim

April 10, 2026

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/deep-purple-thrills-japans-superfan-prime-minister-with-quick-visit-2026-04-10/?fbclid=IwdGRjcARFnG5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeBCA3MGHUnA_iua-dy3HVL6Uelx_jIzV3MeQaVRpnor65VL78elTcMvuaOEE_aem_YTbeGn9VPsXV3QUz4aRmZw

8 comments

  1. Anyone who likes Purple is alright with me!
    They won’t play putlerstan ever again. Ian Gillan put out a spot on message on that in 2022.
    They did go to Tbilisi Georgia last year. Despite being old boys now, they got a rapturous reception and were not afraid to speak out in favour of Georgian freedom.

  2. Only 3 of the best Purple lineup are there. Jon Lord died in 2012, and Ritchie Blackmore left Purple many years ago. Made in Japan is still one of the great live albums ever to be made.

    • Such changes are inevitable in a band with an almost 60 year history.
      Paicey is still there, so are Roger and Gillan, whose operatic voice left him long ago. But in his 80’s he can still perform.
      I forgot the name of their current guitarist, but no one can replace Ritchie, who for many years was unique as a rock guitarist. He used very few effects pedals, just a Strat and Marshall stacks.
      His power was his technique : unlike his peers, he studied different modes and was able to improvise outside the blues cliches of the pentatonic minor scale used by virtually all the others.
      A brilliant musician, with a guy like Jon, who also knew all the modes, keeping up with him!

      • There is a famous video on Youtube that shows them playing live in a TV studio in Germany. It’s probably the best version of Child in Time with the whole band on top form. The audience look like statues with no expressions at all on their faces.

        • Yes I think I have seen that mesmerising performance.
          There are few, if any, rock vocalists who can match that range, intensity and pitch perfect delivery!

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