| Concert Tour Name: | Deep Purple European Tour |
| Artist: | Deep Purple |
| Album: | Deep Purple, In Rock |
| Start Date: | 10 July 1969 |
| End Date: | 21 June 1970 |
| Number Of Legs: | 11 |
| Number Of Shows: | 138 (143 scheduled) |
| Last Tour: | The Book of Taliesyn Tour |
| This Tour: | Deep Purple European Tour |
| Next Tour: | In Rock World Tour |
The Deep Purple European Tour was a year-long successful concert tour by English hard rock band Deep Purple, lasting from July 1969 until June 1970. The band played mostly United Kingdom shows, also covering West Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium. It was the first tour to feature the classic Deep Purple line-up: Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord and Ian Paice.[1] It is considered to be the pre-tour for the In Rock album, as the band mostly played songs from the upcoming album.
In 1969, cofounders Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord decided to replace vocalist Rod Evans with Ian Gillan. Gillan declined to join Purple without his former bandmate Roger Glover. Lord and Blackmore accepted and, in 1969, Gillan and Glover, replaced Evans and bassist Nick Simper. This new line-up, known as MKII, immediately went on tour throughout Europe and the United Kingdom.[2]
"I remember back in 1969 when Roger and I did our first show with Purple at the Speakeasy," recalled Gillan. "There were only twelve people there; well, twenty if you counted Keith Moon. But I looked at Roger and said, 'Oh man, this is it.' It was the kind of band we had both been dreaming of."[3]
| Date | City | Country | Venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 July 1969 | Speakeasy Club | |||
| 18 July 1969 | Redcar Jazz Club | |||
| 20 July 1969 | Mothers | |||
| 26 July 1969 | London | Klooks Kleek | ||
| Revolution Club | ||||
| Rebeccas | ||||
| 20 August 1969 | London | Revolution Club | ||
| 22 August 1969 | Jazz Festival | |||
| 23 August 1969 | Paradiso | |||
| 24 August 1969 | ||||
| 26 August 1969 | London | England | Klooks Kleek | |
| 29 August 1969 | Lyceum Ballroom | |||
| 30 August 1969 | Kent Pop Festival | |||
| 3 September 1969 | Que Club | |||
| 5 September 1969 | Lund | Store Salen | ||
| 7 September 1969 | Club 6 | |||
| London | England | Marquee Club | ||
| 12 September 1969 | Queen's Theatre | |||
| 13 September 1969 | Wales | Queens Hall | ||
| 20 September 1969 | England | Winter Gardens | ||
| 21 September 1969 | Redcar | Redcar Jazz Club | ||
| 24 September 1969 | London | Royal Albert Hall | ||
| 27 September 1969 | Nottingham College | |||
| 28 September 1969 | London | The Roundhouse | ||
| 4 October 1969 | Montreux Casino | |||
| 9 October 1969 | Pfarrsaal | |||
| 10 October 1969 | ||||
| 11 October 1969 | Grugahalle | |||
| 12 October 1969 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Amsterdam Concert Hall | |
| 14 October 1969 | West Germany | Musikhalle Hamburg | ||
| 22 October 1969 | England | Baths Hall | ||
| 24 October 1969 | London | Lyceum Ballroom | ||
| 25 October 1969 | Winter Gardens | |||
| 30 October 1969 | University of Leeds Refectory | |||
| 1 November 1969 | Mayfair Ballroom | |||
| 2 November 1969 | London | Lyceum Ballroom | ||
| 3 November 1969 | The Roundhouse | |||
| 7 November 1969 | King's Head | |||
| 8 November 1969 | Leas Cliff Hall | |||
| 10 November 1969 | Bath Pavilion | |||
| 13 November 1969 | Regency Theatre | |||
| 14 November 1969 | Birmingham | Aston View | ||
| 15 November 1969 | Leeds | University of Leeds Refectory | ||
| 16 November 1969 | Kinema | |||
| 17 November 1969 | ||||
| 21 November 1969 | England | Avery Hill | ||
| 22 November 1969 | University of Bradford | |||
| 23 November 1969 | Groovesville | |||
| 24 November 1969 | Birmingham | Bennett Concert Hall | ||
| 28 November 1969 | Guildford | Guildford Civic Hall | ||
| 29 November 1969 | London | Imperial College | ||
| 30 November 1969 | Roundhouse | |||
| 4 December 1969 | Worthing Assembly Hall | |||
| 5 December 1969 | Polytechnic | |||
| 6 December 1969 | ||||
| 7 December 1969 | Bradford | St George's Hall | ||
| 9 December 1969 | Keele University | |||
| 10 December 1969 | London | University College London | ||
| 11 December 1969 | Rye Ballroom | |||
| 12 December 1969 | The Flamingo | |||
| 15 December 1969 | The Cosmopolitan | |||
| 18 December 1969 | The Flamingo | |||
| 19 December 1969 | Van Dyke Club | |||
| 20 December 1969 | Dagenham Roundhouse | |||
| 21 December 1969 | Birmingham | Mothers Club | ||
| 28 December 1969 | Greyhound | |||
| 5 January 1970 | Anciennes | |||
| 6 January 1970 | England | Assembly Hall | ||
| 10 January 1970 | University of Reading | |||
| 19 January 1970 | Dunstable Civic Hall | |||
| 21 January 1970 | Newcastle | Newcastle Music Hall | ||
| 23 January 1970 | University of Lancaster | |||
| 24 January 1970 | Hatfield | Curzon Cinema | ||
| 30 January 1970 | London | Royal Albert Hall | ||
| 31 January 1970 | Lawns Centre | |||
| 6 February 1970 | Technical College | |||
| 7 February 1970 | Union Hall | |||
| 8 February 1970 | Erdington | Mothers | ||
| 13 February 1970 | Wales | Cardiff University | ||
| 14 February 1970 | Manchester | England | Free Trade Hall | |
| 15 February 1970 | Nottingham | Boat Club | ||
| 16 February 1970 | Kings Head | |||
| 19 February 1970 | London | Paris Theater | ||
| 20 February 1970 | Preston Civic Hall | |||
| 21 February 1970 | St. Mary's University College | |||
| 22 February 1970 | Croydon | Greyhound | ||
| 24 February 1970 | London | Imperial College London | ||
| 25 February 1970 | Bristol | University of Bristol | ||
| 27 February 1970 | Leeds | Polytechnic | ||
| 28 February 1970 | Philharmonic Hall | |||
| 4 March 1970 | Volkshaus | |||
| 6 March 1970 | Tanzdiele Matte | |||
| 7 March 1970 | Verkehrshaus | |||
| 13 March 1970 | England | Winter Gardens | ||
| 14 March 1970 | Weston-super-Mare | Winter Gardens | ||
| 15 March 1970 | Epping | Wake Arms | ||
| 17 March 1970 | University of Exeter | |||
| 20 March 1970 | Scotland | Odeon | ||
| 21 March 1970 | Caird Hall | |||
| 22 March 1970 | Kinema Ballroom | |||
| 23 March 1970 | Music Hall Aberdeen | |||
| 24 March 1970 | Electric Garden | |||
| 25 March 1970 | Hamilton Townhouse | |||
| 28 March 1970 | Dagenham | England | Dagenham Roundhouse | |
| Hamburg | West Germany | Ernst-Merck Hall | ||
| 30 March 1970 | West Berlin | Berlin Sportpalast | ||
| 4 April 1970 | Mulheim Sporthalle | |||
| 6 April 1970 | Konzerthaus | |||
| 11 April 1970 | England | Central Hall | ||
| 18 April 1970 | Technical College | |||
| 24 April 1970 | Stoke | King's Hall | ||
| 25 April 1970 | Bath | |||
| 1 May 1970 | Art College | |||
| 9 May 1970 | Dagenham | Roundhouse Dagenham | ||
| 11 May 1970 | De Montfort Hall | |||
| 15 May 1970 | ||||
| 16 May 1970 | Birmingham | Birmingham Town Hall | ||
| 17 May 1970 | Bristol | Colston Hall | ||
| 18 May 1970 | Dunstable | Dunstable Civic Hall | ||
| 22 May 1970 | Brighton | Brighton Dome | ||
| 25 May 1970 | London | Queen Elizabeth Hall | ||
| 28 May 1970 | West Germany | Ostseehalle | ||
| 29 May 1970 | West Berlin | Neue Welt | ||
| 31 May 1970 | Mannheim | Rosengarten | ||
| 1 June 1970 | Rheinhalle | |||
| 2 June 1970 | Hamburg | Musikhalle | ||
| 4 June 1970 | England | Bedford Town FC | ||
| 6 June 1970 | Cologne | West Germany | Sartory-Saal | |
| 7 June 1970 | Munich | Eisstadion | ||
| 8 June 1970 | Basel | Switzerland | St Jakob Sportalle | |
| 9 June 1970 | Offenbach | West Germany | Stadthalle | |
| 10 June 1970 | Hanover | Niedersachsenhalle | ||
| 12 June 1970 | Twickenham | England | Eel Pie Island | |
| 14 June 1970 | Croydon | Fairfield Halls | ||
| 16 June 1970 | Jesus College | |||
| 19 June 1970 | Manchester | John Dalton College | ||
| 20 June 1970 | University College | |||
| 21 June 1970 | West Germany | Radstadion |
During the tour, half of the setlist included MKI hits with the other half consisting of new MKII songs. "Speed King", "Child in Time" and "Into the Fire" were premiered on the tour, before being released on the In Rock album.[4]
Deep Purple MKII kicked off their first tour at the London Speakeasy Club. In a recent interview, Ian Gillan named this show to be favourite live performance of his career, as it was his first show with Deep Purple.[5]
After a few United Kingdom dates, the band headed to Belgium, where they headlined Jazz Bilzen, and then again returned to the United Kingdom.
On 24 September, the band played at London's Royal Albert Hall, with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold. This was one of the earliest examples of a rock band collaborating with an orchestra. The show was called Concerto for Group and Orchestra and was later officially released. The Concerto and album itself was influential, with many rock bands following in Deep Purple's steps and playing with orchestras. Rock band Metallica made their orchestral debut in 2000 and named Purple's 1969 show as the main influence.[6] The orchestral parts were written by Jon Lord and included three movements.
In April 1969, Deep Purple headlined the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland as well as the Pop & Blues festival in West Germany. Other festival acts included Pink Floyd and The Nice. Ritchie Blackmore jammed with The Nice's Keith Emerson
On 19 February, they performed at the BBC's Studios, with the show later being released on CD. They then returned to West Germany, Switzerland and Austria, before again returning to the UK. The tour ended at Frankfurt's Radstadion on 21 June 1970.
Several live albums from the tour were later released.