Thanks to a last minute suggestion to contact Colin Hart via the internet from Trond, and a very swift response from Colin, I was fortunate enough to get a backstage pass for the Detroit gig. The concert was OK (DP played very well) but their set was short by about five songs as they were on a bill with about six or seven grunge bands, one of which had the temerity to sound-check during DP's set. Show some respect for your elders and betters!!

Well, I got backstage and briefly saw Steve Morse, who was wandering around looking for his cousins (he was brought up near Detroit). Then very swiftly, Ian Gillan arrived and spent about ten minutes there with an old friend of his from England (Steve, an ex-cop) who now lives in the area. I got a few words, a couple of autographs and a photo, which I hope will turn out - Ian seemed very tired, at the end of the tour and was looking forward to getting home for Christmas. Ian Paice turned up for a few minutes, and I got his autograph, but he didn't stay long. Having waited for Jon and Roger for about 45 minutes, I went to try to track them down and was told by a roadie that they'd left for the hotel. As I was leaving, I bumped into Steve Morse again and got autographs - I don't think he actually found his cousins, but seemed a genuinely nice bloke.

On the way out, one of the roadies was kind enough to let me know which hotel DP were staying in, and I drove over there on the off-chance. I walked into the bar to find none other than Jon Lord. I was fortunate enough to get to talk to Jon for about half-an-hour. What a total gent! He even offered to call Roger in his room and get him down, but I figured he probably had better things to do. Anyway, Jon proved to be very interesting, telling me about his daughters, the new spirit in the band and the philosophy for the US tour. It seems they're very keen to get a hit here and tour on the back of some new material instead of trotting out just the old stuff - they've been offered large sums to do Las Vegas (please, no!). Looks like some studio work early this year, then some shows in South America.

Well, I got to meet my teenage heroes. My only disappointment was not meeting Roger, who influenced me to pick up the bass guitar, which I now play in a band (doing some Purple covers, actually!) - doing Pictures Of Home and all the other lesser-known stuff was great on this tour.

What a band. Thanks to all, and especially to Trond and Colin Hart for help with the backstage pass.

Cheers,
Simon A. Wiltshire

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