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It all started with the Punic wars

Classic Rock has a long feature on Deep Purple, the latest album Splat!, and complete with an off-the-beaten-path interview with all five gentlemen. There’s the snatch of a moment tacked on at the close of Diablo, the rolling and tumbling second track on Deep Purple’s new studio album Splat!, that’s as good a summation as […]

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New guests as the tour moves on

The tour moves on through the US and in Mansfield on August 13, the band got some help from two members from support band Jefferson Starship.

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Rocktogenarians never give up

Here is something a bit different for THS. It’s an article by an actual journalist! Marcelo Soares is a Brazilian journalist and a huge fan of Deep Purple. Some of you probably know him from the comments here at THS and in various forums online. This article was written for a Brazilian magazine so some […]

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History is Made at Rare Show in Wantagh, NY

Deep Purple live at Jones Beach Theater (Wantagh, USA 2026-08-12) Blackmore Joins Purple for Epic Encore at Jones Beach Theater Reviewed by The Highway Star Reader “Albania” When my younger son greeted me in the morning by asking if I knew where we kept the several sets of glasses that are needed to watch solar […]

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And it finally happened

Just as anticipated, on August 12, 2026, Ritchie Blackmore joined Deep Purple on stage at the Jones Beach Theater for a guest performance of Smoke. As an engineering wisdom goes, with sufficient thrust pigs fly just fine. Here is the evidence.

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Blackmore to join Purple for NY show

In a completely black(!) live session on Instagram last night US EST, Ritchie Blackmore revealed the “secret” that he will be the guesting Deep Purple for the encore at Jones Beach Amphitheater in Wantagh, NY on August 12. There seem to be tickets left, so grab one if you haven’t already. Blabbermouth quotes Blackmore from […]

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Talking to the wind

TVGuide UK announces that a Deep Purple reunion film will be shown on Sky Arts HD from 12:30 to 3:00 AM, Monday, August 10, 2026. The blurb reads: In 1984, the classic Deep Purple line-up of Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice reunited for the album Perfect Strangers and went […]

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North American setlist

AXS.tv has a machine-written review of the opening night for the North American tour in Raleigh, NC, on August 4, 2026. However, it contains the setlist, which we compared against setlist.fm — checks out, and with release dates for each composition. Caveat: spoilers ahead.

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Faithfully

Steve Morse and Bob Daisley — among other luminaries — appear as guest musicians on Engelbert Humperdinck’s new album of mostly covers called Faithfully.

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For the foreseeable future…

Glenn Hughes has announced his retirement from touring and live performances “for the foreseeable future”. This past year, I’ve had some health issues. The results from numerous MRIs, CT scans, and an echocardiogram have alerted my medical team, that I need another open-heart surgery. I really have no option and no choice as health is […]

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Smelled like Gypsy Rose

Here is a bit of boogaloo. Big Ian channels his inner Elvis in this (mostly) acoustic performance, supported by Roger and Steve.

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Latest entry into rock history

Yet another review of Splat! — this time, it’s from the Silent Radio. The psychedelic, prog and classic rock legends Deep Purple have returned. And boy, have they come back heavy. The rock legends are best known for their hard rock edge, especially on classics like ‘Smoke On The Water’ (you know the riff), and […]

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Trapeze in blue

Aficionados of artificial scarcity and vintage formats, rejoice! The first Trapeze self-titled album is being reissued on vinyl apparently for the first time since 1970. Or so it is hyped. Discogs actually says that the album saw vinyl reissues in 1976 (Japan) and in 2019 (New Zealand, of all places). Anyhow, it’s on blue vinyl […]

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Loud, fearless, and unapologetic

An outfit called Echoes and Dust reviews Splat! from a casual fan point of view. I’ve always loved both the Rod Evans and Ian Gillan eras, spanning the band’s first two Marks, from Shades of Deep Purple through Who Do We Think We Are. That’s generally where my listening stopped. Now, here I am in […]

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Sound of an insect hitting a windshield

A site called Blue News carries a feature on Splat! with quotes from Ian and Ian. It attributed to the Swiss press agency Keystone-SDA and apparently based around an interview that both gave to DPA. It is dated today, July 29, 2026, but reads like was written some time before the album release (July 3). […]

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Deep Purple SPLAT! Album Review – Mike Nagoda

“Do I like this? I *think* I like this… I’m not sure I like this. Hmm. I think I need to listen to it more to see if I like it or not.” Never before. Never, never before, to quote a familiar tune, have such words been uttered from my lips upon finishing a first […]

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All the world’s a Stage

The fifth (and final) album in the Bernie Marsden’s Inspirations series is due out on August 21, 2026, via Conquest Music. It is a live album, aptly titled Stage, and it includes recordings from 4 different dates. Disc 1: Radcliffe Centre, Buckingham UK — Nov 8th 2008 Til The Day I Die The Time Is […]

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Living in a world of our own

Good news, everybody! Another track from Splat! is getting a live outing. Here’s The Only Horse in Town as performed in Pisa on July 16, 2026. And it comes with a bonus side of Scriblin’ Gib’rish.

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Don’t overcomplicate

Guitar World continues their Purple streak of late with an interview with Simon McBride: What’s next for you and Deep Purple? With Purple, there’s talk of another record, so we won’t stop. This year, we’re on tour until December and we have another 86 shows. And next year, we have shows booked as well, so […]

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Colour and rough gibberish

Yahoo! News has a few quotes from Ian Gillan regarding his next year’s spoken word tour that will apparently include memories of Jesus Christ Superstar, Garth Rockett And The Moonshiners, and Repo Depo, among other things. I am ecstatic in anticipation of sharing tales not only from the road and studios, but also my early […]

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