deep purple uk tour 1974

• Manage Account
• The Courier ePaper
• Evening Telegraph ePaper

Smoke on the Dundee waterfront when Deep Purple visited in 1974

These rare colour photographs document the night Deep Purple kicked off their UK tour in Dundee 50 years ago.

They give us a front-row seat to what it was like to be there.

The band performed at the Caird Hall in 1970, 1971 and 1972 where chunks of the ceiling fell down because of the face-melting volume.

Deep Purple was a much different proposition on returning to Dundee in 1974.

The band had cracked America with two new members in the ranks.

Lead singer Ian Gillan and bass player Roger Glover had left the band in 1973.

They were replaced by David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes who would make their British live debut at the Caird Hall.

There was also the small matter of new album Burn to promote and the concert attracted the attention of the national music press.

The NME and Melody Maker were shadowing the band from the moment they checked in to the Tay Hotel which stood on the corner of Whitehall Place.

Tickets for the concert on April 18 1974 were priced from 75p to £2.

Support was from American band Elf who regularly opened for Deep Purple.

Deep Purple could be heard at top of Hilltown

Elf singer Ronnie Dio displayed his powerful vocals before the noise cranked up incredibly when Deep Purple took to the stage at 8.50pm.

The concert was so loud it could be heard at the top of the Hilltown.

The lights went down and there was a huge roar as Dave Coverdale greeted the 2,500 capacity crowd by asking: “How are you?”

Smoke filled the stage before guitarist Ritchie Blackmore went into the riff from Burn.

Hundreds of people climbed over the seats and surged towards the stage.

This was how you start a show.

Keyboard player Jon Lord was keen to interact with the audience and introduced the two new band members.

“Since we last played Dundee a few moons have gone down,” he said.

“We’ve just got back from America where we’ve had a good time but there’s no place to have a better time than here.”

Dundonian Graham Kennedy managed to snap away during the concert and the majority of the slides were locked away in a cardboard box for decades.

He was 17 at the time.

He told me: “I missed the previous Deep Purple concerts in Dundee but this time managed to get a ticket and went along with a few mates.

“Graham Henry, Harry Bennett and I went for a pre-show curry at an Indian restaurant in the Nethergate before heading to the Caird Hall.

“I recall the stage filled up with clouds of dry ice and Deep Purple came on.

“Blackmore’s guitar was screaming and wailing then fell silent.

“The band launched into Burn and the whole stage lit up with multi-coloured lights.

“Deep Purple was louder than loud.

“The band played most of the new album and were in fine form.”

You Fool No One was a favourite song

Great waves of sound poured off the Caird Hall stage.

Graham said: “I dashed about the hall getting photos early on so that I could sit back and enjoy the band.

“There was to be no sitting back that night.

“One of my favourite numbers the band played was You Fool No One which was brilliantly played and complete with a drum solo.

“Smoke on the Water was a highlight too.

“It was a great concert.”

The Courier was there at the sweat-soaked show.

Our reviewer said Deep Purple were triumphant and almost blew the roof off.

He said: “They had the capacity audience on their feet from the start with the title track from the new album, Burn.

“They powered into the new single next, and continued the pace with another new one, Lay Down, Stay Down.

“The highlight of the evening was next, and it was Ritchie Blackmore who stole most of the honours.

“In the blues passages he almost made the guitar cry: the title, Mistreated.

“Also in the number were classical guitar interludes and fine emotive vocals from Coverdale.

“Glenn Hughes, admirably filled the gap left by Roger Glover and shared in the singing.

“Jon Lord, on keyboards, was content to stay in the background and let Blackmore take the solos, but he added much-needed solidity to their sound.

“Ian Paice’s obligatory drum solo was finely executed and his tireless, manic beating of the skins brought a great roar from the crowd.”

Dundee audience raised the roof for an encore

For the rest of the set the band could do no wrong.

In 1972, The Guinness Book Of Records crowned Deep Purple the world’s loudest band after 117 decibels were registered at London’s Rainbow Theatre.

The Courier said the audience almost dislodged them from their title with their cries for an encore when the band left the stage in clouds of purple smoke.

A familiar soundtrack greeted the band’s return to the stage.

Graham recalled: “The encore was Space Truckin’ and appropriately the band opened the song by playing the theme from 2001 A Space Odyssey.

“Floodlights behind Ian Paice’s drum kit lit up the hall with huge beams of light.”

Blackmore used a lager can as a bottleneck slide when they played Don Nix’s Going Down which splashed all over his guitar.

“He lobbed the can away and continued playing the song,” said Graham.

“Perhaps someone has that can as a souvenir?”

Deep Purple still going

Deep Purple finished with Highway Star before taking a final bow.

The band headed back to the Tay Hotel with Elf and enjoyed a late evening in the bar with beer and whisky.

Then they broke up in 1976.

Blackmore left the band to join and rename Elf, which became Rainbow , and another chapter of music history was born.

Coverdale formed Whitesnake in 1978 and was joined by Lord and Paice.

Deep Purple eventually reformed in 1984.

The comeback album, Perfect Strangers, was strong enough to be considered a worthy successor to their golden era of the early 1970s.

But the studio albums that followed have brought ever diminishing returns.

A lot of upheavals have shaken Deep Purple since its reformation in 1984 but the band is still led by three of its long-term classic-era members.

Singer Ian Gillan, drummer Ian Paice and bassist Roger Glover will release a 23rd studio album in the summer followed by a UK tour.

Graham is still a fan of Deep Purple.

“It’s really nice to look back at these pictures from the Caird Hall,” he said.

“Sadly, both Graham and Harry are no longer with us but the happy memories remain.”

More from Past Times

Catherine Aitken on Dundee, working in film and her ‘menopausal coming of age’ debut…

9 iconic Brian Cox roles – including part that saw Dundee actor clash with…

Rare Invergowrie pictures show the 'capital of the carse' in the 1970s

DJ Ally Bally looks back at the glory years of Radio Tay - and…

Westfest is the 'village fete' launched by Brian Cox that became Dundee's favourite festival

Pictures of Bygone Brechin reveal a vanished past and hint at a painful future

Crawford Priory: We explore abandoned Fife mansion and discover 'secret' elevator

Liz McColgan's life in pictures as Dundee hero whose exploits impressed the White House…

Broughty Ferry in 1996 saw great gala turnout and harbour works

The story of Dundee United's 1994 Scottish Cup parade

Conversation.

Comments are currently disabled as they require cookies and it appears you've opted out of cookies on this site. To participate in the conversation, please adjust your cookie preferences in order to enable comments.

• Roger Glover
• Simon McBride
• Photo Galleries

• UK & EU Store

‘PORTABLE DOOR’ OUT TODAY

= 1: Preorder The New Album

= 1 More Time North America Tour

DEEP PURPLE // PANDEMONIUM 2024

Madrid, spain parque tierno galván, bilbao, spain bilbao arena, toulouse, france zenith toulouse metropole, grenchen, switzerland airport grenchen, nancy, france zenith (open air ampitheatre), dessel, belgium graspop metal meeting, istanbul, turkey kucukciftlikpark, tilloloy, france retro c trop, cognac, france cognac blues passions, barcelona, spain barcelona rock fest, montreux, switzerland montreux jazz festival, rome, italy cavea auditorium, marostica, italy piazza castello, belgrade, serbia tašmajdan stadium, chirpan, bulgaria midalidare estate, innsbruck, austria olympiahalle, salem, germany schloss (castle grounds), dresden, germany elbufer, winterbach, germany zeltspektakel, gignac en quecy, france festival ecaussysteme, orange, france positiv festival, notodden, norway notodden blues festival, shop deep purple.

Deep Purple Unleashed Black T-Shirt

Deep Purple Unleashed Zip Hoodie

Deep Purple Unleashed Black Long Sleeve

Fortune Teller Black T-Shirt

with thanks to John Barnes

• Statistics Stats
• You are here:

Deep Purple

• April 19, 1974 Setlist

Deep Purple Setlist at Odeon Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland

• Edit setlist songs
• Edit venue & date
• Edit set times
• Add to festival
• Report setlist

Tour: Burn Tour statistics Add setlist

• Burn Play Video
• Might Just Take Your Life Play Video
• Lay Down, Stay Down Play Video
• Mistreated Play Video
• Smoke on the Water ( with "Lazy" intro ) Play Video
• You Fool No One Play Video
• Space Truckin' Play Video
• Going Down ( The Alabama State Troupers  cover) Play Video

Edits and Comments

14 activities (last edit by Syl76 , 11 Feb 2021, 09:26 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• Lay Down, Stay Down
• Might Just Take Your Life
• You Fool No One
• Smoke on the Water
• Space Truckin'
• Going Down by The Alabama State Troupers

Complete Album stats

More from this Artist

• More Setlists
• Artist Statistics
• Add setlist

Related News

Setlist History: Cream's U.S. Gig That Was Recorded For 'Goodbye'

Deep Purple Played 16-Song Set On Ian Gillian's Birthday in 1987

Deep Purple Played 8 Songs at First Show Ever This Day in 1968

Odeon theatre.

• Deep Purple This Setlist Add time Add time
• Elf Add time Add time

Deep Purple Gig Timeline

• Apr 09 1974 San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, CA, USA Add time Add time
• Apr 18 1974 Caird Hall Dundee, Scotland Add time Add time
• Apr 19 1974 Odeon Theatre This Setlist Edinburgh, Scotland Add time Add time
• Apr 21 1974 Apollo Theatre Glasgow, Scotland Add time Add time
• Apr 22 1974 Apollo Theatre Glasgow, Scotland Add time Add time

2 people were there

Share or embed this setlist.

Use this setlist for your event review and get all updates automatically!

<div style="text-align: center;" class="setlistImage"><a href="https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/deep-purple/1974/odeon-theatre-edinburgh-scotland-4bd53776.html" title="Deep Purple Setlist Odeon Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland 1974, Burn" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=4bd53776" alt="Deep Purple Setlist Odeon Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland 1974, Burn" style="border: 0;" /></a> <div><a href="https://www.setlist.fm/edit?setlist=4bd53776&amp;step=song">Edit this setlist</a> | <a href="https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/deep-purple-3bd6acc8.html">More Deep Purple setlists</a></div></div>

Last.fm Event Review

[url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/deep-purple/1974/odeon-theatre-edinburgh-scotland-4bd53776.html][img]https://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=4bd53776[/img][/url] [url=https://www.setlist.fm/edit?setlist=4bd53776&amp;step=song]Edit this setlist[/url] | [url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/deep-purple-3bd6acc8.html]More Deep Purple setlists[/url]

Tour Update

Unlocked: lime cordiale.

• Lime Cordiale
• May 31, 2024
• May 30, 2024
• May 29, 2024
• May 28, 2024
• May 27, 2024
• May 26, 2024
• FAQ | Help | About
• Terms of Service
• Ad Choices | Privacy Policy
• Feature requests
• Songtexte.com

• Mark 1 (1968 - 1969)
• Mark 2 (1969 - 1973)
• Mark 3 (1973 - 1975)
• Mark 4 (1975 - 1976)
• "New" Deep Purple (1980)
• Mark 5 (1984 - 1989)
• Mark 6 (1989 - 1992)
• Mark 7 (1992 - 1993)
• Mark 8 (1993 - 1994)
• Mark 9 (1994 - 2002)
• Mark 10 (2002 - 2022)
• Mark 11 (2022 - 2024)
• Live Series
• Compilation
• Related Music
• Switzerland
• other tourdates
• thanx to ...
• Help wanted
• Datenschutzerklärung