Awesome / Deep Purple

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• The fact that the band has lasted fifty years at this point, and that the group as is today, composed of five guys in their late sixties or early seventies, is still touring with a rather punishing schedule.
  • Specific one for Ian Paice, who has been with them the whole time. Impressive on its own, but when you remember the turmoil the group occasionally went through, his longevity is even more notable.
• Ian Gillan once got sick and was unable to perform a concert. The rest of the band went onstage and told the audience they could have their money back if they wanted but the four of them were going to do the gig. Roger sang for about half the set and they played the rest instrumental.
• One concert involved Don Airey's (well, Jon Lord's, but Don was already using it at that point) Hammond breaking down. The group proceeded to do the concert anyway, with Don himself filling in the missing keyboard parts with other parts of his ensemble.
• Another for Don Airey. He reportedly was asked a handful of days before the tour began to fill in for an injured Jon Lord, and due to a late plane got a chance to rehearse with the band once before going straight to performing. He did well enough that when Jon retired for good, he was picked to replace him.
• One for the entirety of the band 1993. Ritchie Blackmore quit unexpectedly after a gig, tearing up his Japanese visa and reportedly trying to sack the whole road crew on his way out, claiming there was no band without him. The rest of the band quickly got a replacement guitarist in Joe Satriani, finished out the tour gracefully, and later got Steve Morse as a permanent replacement. As of 2018, they are still going strong.
  • It gets better. Steve met the band and was onstage with them about a day later, all five convinced they'd found a good fit.
  • Joe Satriani learned the repertoire he was expected to play in about two weeks.
• Another for the whole band, this time circa 1971. The electricity went out in concert at one point after they'd all tuned up but before they could get into the concert proper. What did they do? Without (audibly) freaking out, they simply had Ian solo for a few minutes, and then once the electricity came on, calmly apologized and simply went on with the show as if nothing happened. Now that is professionalism.
• The riff from "Smoke on the Water" is basically the rock equivalent of the opening to Beethoven's 5th. You may have never heard of the band, you may not even be a fan of rock music, but you know that riff.
• According to the band, "Uncommon Man" off Now What?! was recorded in pretty much one take.
• For fans of Progressive Rock, the fact that a song like "Bananas" exists in their catalogue. It alternates between 7/4 and 5/4. It was born when Don and Steve were just messing around in the studio before the others had even come in!
• Steve Morse broke his hand once before a gig. According to Ian Gillan, he cut off the cast, pointed out two of his fingers still worked, and asked the rest of the band to cover him.
• The the band's California Jam performance ended with Ritchie Blackmore's amp exploding. Perhaps the most incredible part was that the band kept playing. Ian Paice was the closest when the actual explosion happened, and he didn't even flinch.
• One of the band's other legendary songs, "Highway Star", was written on a bus to show a journalist how they wrote music. It's since become one of their most noted numbers.

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