Sat, Sep 27, 08

Blabbermouth.com

According to a posting on the DEEP PURPLE fan site The Highway Star, a quiet family dinner next to a charity event at a Portuguese resort Santa Barbara De Nexe turned into an impromptu performance for PURPLE singer Ian Gillan. The Portugal News Online reports: “As diners dug deep in their pockets for an Albufeira based children’s charity, Ian Gillan, who had been dining privately with his wife and daughter, was encouraged to provide an impromptu performance of one of the greatest rock classics of all time, ‘Smoke On The Water’. Ian was backed on guitar by resident local musician Howard Scott Parkin who jumped at the opportunity to play with the DEEP PURPLE frontman, if only for one song.”