![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/morse1.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/mcbride6.jpg)
Important update regarding the US tour — April Fools
Ian Gillan has announced that he is unavailable for the upcoming US tour with Deep Purple due to other commitments. The “Rock Meets Classic” tour in Europe was so successful that he decided to skip the DP tour to be able to squeeze in more dates with his new friends.
When David Coverdale (pictured) heard this, he offered his services, eager to take on the Mk. II and Mk. Morse catalog after recording Mk. III and IV on his upcoming Purple Album.
“To be honest, the Purple Album didn’t turn out the way I wanted it.”, said Coverdale. “It was a big mistake to not invite Paicey to play on my album. Now we’ll get a chance to do things right and I finally get to sing Smoke On the Water again. I’ve missed that since 1976.”
“This is a big relief for me”, says Don Airey. “I was always a bigger fan of Mk. III and I was getting tired of arguing with Gillan about my idea of doing the complete Stormbringer album at some concerts.”
Glenn Hughes was also approached for the tour but he replied on twitter: “All love to my Purple Brothers but I have 9 dogs to take care of and 3 of them just ripped my John Varvatos jacket to pieces. I’m off to the vet.”
David Coverdale will be taking requests for the setlist on the forum on his site.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Lol. 😛
March 31st, 2015 at 22:02Its not April the first yet!
March 31st, 2015 at 22:02That reminds me of the joke I did in 2007 where Ian Gillan was “reported” to be replacing Dio in “Heaven & Hell”. 🙂
http://www.black-sabbath.com/2007/04/dio_out_ian_gillan_back_in/
March 31st, 2015 at 22:02Wow! Sensational! 😀
March 31st, 2015 at 22:03Lol
March 31st, 2015 at 22:03Almost but not quite.
March 31st, 2015 at 22:05Joe Lynn Turner would be ideal 😉
March 31st, 2015 at 22:06April Fools Right???
March 31st, 2015 at 22:071st april by now, no ?
March 31st, 2015 at 22:08april fools
March 31st, 2015 at 22:08you fool no one…1 april
March 31st, 2015 at 22:08Let’s see… The date is… Ahhh.. 1st of April
March 31st, 2015 at 22:09ritchie just call me to inform that he willl made vocals on futur shows 🙂
March 31st, 2015 at 22:09It’s still march, not April yet you fool. Nice try though x
March 31st, 2015 at 22:09🙂
March 31st, 2015 at 22:09It’s still 31st March here, shouldn’t you wait until tomorrow to announce this? LOL
March 31st, 2015 at 22:12Good one!!
March 31st, 2015 at 22:12Steve Morse is on other duties with Dixie Dreg and Ritchie offers his service for temporary period
March 31st, 2015 at 22:13A bit early for an April’s Fool here in the UK!
March 31st, 2015 at 22:15wow.
March 31st, 2015 at 22:16Har de Har har rod evans coming out of hiding then
March 31st, 2015 at 22:16Imaginative,,,,,,,,and a tad early.
March 31st, 2015 at 22:19April Fools,I’m sure.
“Glenn Hughes was also approached for the tour but he replied on twitter: “All love to my Purple Brothers but I have 9 dogs to take care of and 3 of them just ripped my John Varvatos jacket to pieces. I’m off to the vet.” – i’m seriously laughing my ass off right now xD Love ya, Glenn, but this is just too funny 😀
March 31st, 2015 at 22:22I guess its April 1st.
March 31st, 2015 at 22:23April Fools?
March 31st, 2015 at 22:23Early April Fools Joke I assume…..
March 31st, 2015 at 22:27HA HA Nice try!!!
March 31st, 2015 at 22:31All jokes aside, when they were here in Florida last year, I passed as I’d seen this lineup – and though a great band – it’s not what I wanted to experience any more. But Coverdale on vocals? I would have jumped at a chance to witness that. There’d be serious money in a tour with David on the mic.
March 31st, 2015 at 22:31Yeah, cuz the whole world follow Ohio-time, so it ain´t 1 of April until you have it…
March 31st, 2015 at 22:33Well…
March 31st, 2015 at 22:34I gotta admit, for a split second (with the recent thoughts of IG bowing out of the upcoming meet n’ greets), I voiced out “shit!” knowing I just dropped $180 on tickets … but then it quickly came to me.
March 31st, 2015 at 22:34I laughed a bit …
March 31st, 2015 at 22:34Ok… Now I gotta cancel some plans for August. I simply HAVE to see DP when they come to Michigan!!!
March 31st, 2015 at 22:38Hey Mats Blom it’s the time zone for 141 million people… Or about 15 times the population of Sweden!!
March 31st, 2015 at 22:39Bastards!… It took a few moments of feeling a little bit sick… and then I ‘got it’.
March 31st, 2015 at 22:40you APRIL FOOL no-one
March 31st, 2015 at 22:42April fools no doubt but I actually wouldn’t have minded at all!
March 31st, 2015 at 22:43Good one this year 😀
I almost forgot that it’s one of those April days
March 31st, 2015 at 22:50It’s a good one this year 😉
March 31st, 2015 at 22:51Ozzy Osborne will be taking his place, with a member of the audience on bongos and mouth organ.
March 31st, 2015 at 22:52A bit early for April Fools!
March 31st, 2015 at 22:52haha good one!
March 31st, 2015 at 22:52🙂
March 31st, 2015 at 22:57Ok …at what point do we ( fan since 68 ) stop calling the band Deep Purple. Sad enough there is only one original member. And Don Airy always liked MK III better than MKII band and wanted to do Stormbringer. WTF?? Just call it a day boys.
March 31st, 2015 at 22:59I was reading this as some kind of a joke but a part of me naively believed it for a few seconds. ..interesting idea though!
March 31st, 2015 at 23:03Too Funny!
March 31st, 2015 at 23:09One of the better April Fools knee slappers!
Blackmore will sing
March 31st, 2015 at 23:10April’s Fool
March 31st, 2015 at 23:13april first no doubt. all our heroes are normally true to form.
March 31st, 2015 at 23:33any fule knows that…. 😛
March 31st, 2015 at 23:34I’m no fool.
March 31st, 2015 at 23:35April Fools 🙂
April 1st, 2015 at 00:01Well… It’s still 4 hours to April here in Pennsylvania USA…
April 1st, 2015 at 00:15This news hit the shores of the USA a day early~
April 1st, 2015 at 00:21April Fools
April 1st, 2015 at 00:34Check your calendar date at the door!!
April 1st, 2015 at 00:47I believe it thousands wouldn’t!!!!!
April 1st, 2015 at 01:12What day is it today?
Good one!!
April 1st, 2015 at 01:15And the date is…
April 1st, 2015 at 01:30Well played!
April 1st, 2015 at 01:33The April Fool is always abound…
April 1st, 2015 at 01:44Its not possible! Let’s bring Turner then…
April 1st, 2015 at 01:44Nice one btw, Svante.
April 1st, 2015 at 01:50wow, almost got me with 1st april joke 🙂
April 1st, 2015 at 01:51I hope this is just an April fools joke.
April 1st, 2015 at 02:18Airey, Blackmore, Coverdale, Hughes & Paice pls pls pls…
April 1st, 2015 at 02:29Oh, no! What next? Blackers playing shoe shine music?
April 1st, 2015 at 02:39You almost had me… not 4/1 yet here in Vermont! 🙂
April 1st, 2015 at 02:45Ha ha! You got me this year
April 1st, 2015 at 02:52Wonderful !!. . . . . . . . . Joke
April 1st, 2015 at 03:02This would be great news, if it wasn’t for the date it was published.
April 1st, 2015 at 03:41Nice try. (:
April 1st, 2015 at 03:53I guess it’s official now. Ian Gillan IS leaving Deep Purple. He will be replaced by Robby Thomas Walsh (purpendicular)
April 1st, 2015 at 04:46Information brought to me, from a trusted source.
Hahaahaahahahaahaahaha
April 1st, 2015 at 04:54Alice Cooper gonna front DP for the US tour ha ha ha
April 1st, 2015 at 05:001st april fish
April 1st, 2015 at 05:26Poisson d’avril !!!
April 1st, 2015 at 05:32APRIL’S FOOL !!!
April 1st, 2015 at 05:49Nice try though.
April Fools you stools!! Ritchie will replace Morse too I guess..?
April 1st, 2015 at 05:54I wish it was not April 1 så. 🙂
April 1st, 2015 at 06:01I almost fell for that! Try to get DC to sing Child in Time. Good April fools.
April 1st, 2015 at 06:01April 1 fools day
April 1st, 2015 at 06:16Which date is today?
April 1st, 2015 at 06:19🙂
Anyway, brilliant idea! As always at the exact same time of each year 🙂
Nice try Highway Star!
April 1st, 2015 at 06:33Remember which day this message was placed??
April 1st, 2015 at 07:01Good joke!
Maybe a better April fools would have been, Gillan agrees to Blackmore reunion concerts! Or just to get Tracy going, Purple cancels upcoming Nashville gig! Only jesting of course, but i could imagine Tracy traveling to another galaxy to see Purple, well maybe not that far! Cheers.
April 1st, 2015 at 07:12Haha, a good one this year! I think I must go to Dream Theater page, maybe Mike Portnoy is coming back!
April 1st, 2015 at 07:19That’s a good one!!!! Ha…Ha…Ha…, April Fools! ;-D
April 1st, 2015 at 07:31I’m sure the newly reformed Led Zeppelin will offer its
April 1st, 2015 at 08:08services as an opening act.
april fools
April 1st, 2015 at 09:00april fools 2o15
April 1st, 2015 at 09:02What I just heard, it will be Rod Evans doing the Gillan parts on the tour. They’ll also be doing a orchestrated version of Child in Time. In the press conference Rod Evans said “I’ve doing a hell of a lot rehearsing those screams, but I finally got them right. I’ll also play violin.”
April 1st, 2015 at 09:11It’s April 1st, isn’t it?
April 1st, 2015 at 09:25This is really a lovely story, but when I look to the date of today, a smile appears on my face: it´s the first of April!!!
April 1st, 2015 at 10:01ahem… (first) April is a cruel Time…
Have a nice Day!
April 1st, 2015 at 10:14yeah right ….. APRIL FOOLS…….
April 1st, 2015 at 10:20A shame that Ian is not available for the tour, but very noble of him to allow David to take his place on the tour.
Out of respect for Gillan, should they call the tour “Joke On The Water” perhaps?
If Glenn revised his priorities, I wonder if Roger would graciously step aside.
I hope they also play April and Any Fule Kno That.
April 1st, 2015 at 10:29Not bad, not bad at all. I am always curious to see what April fools joke you guys come up with. Here’s what I would have posted:
Deep Purple have announced on the upcoming U.S. tour they are going to do at least one song from every album throughout the entire catalog. Said Ian Gillan ” It won’t be a real stretch for me because there are a handful of instrumentals from albums I was not part of which will meet the commitment. Example: A200 from Burn, O’d to G from Come taste the band etc. We also figured we do Gypsy from Stormbringer as a instrumental as well. The only one that we need to consider is something from Slaves and masters but will figure it out”
Not that would be really cool!
April 1st, 2015 at 10:29Sounds nice.
April 1st, 2015 at 10:35Where can I buy ticktes ?
I’ll pay with greek drachmas !
April 1 is April Fools Day, is it not?
April 1st, 2015 at 10:56Sorry but that`s not the complete truth. It`s just communicated that Coverdale asked Blackmore to join and he did, but then Blackmore fired Coverdale and now Candice will took over the singing.
April 1st, 2015 at 11:11Let`s see what will happen next…
April Fools!
April 1st, 2015 at 11:13HAHAHA!! Yes, and Ritchie’s grandfather will play the congas….
April 1st, 2015 at 11:14First I instantly felt WTF!!!! And then I realized its April 1st today TG!!!!! LOL
April 1st, 2015 at 11:28nice april fool joke 😉
April 1st, 2015 at 11:38It is April 1st today is it not …. But if this isn’t a jest pertaining to this being April Fools Day then I definitely didn’t see this one coming!!!
April 1st, 2015 at 11:51… and after all of that … Mark III (incl J.L. and R.B.) has been reactived … 😉
chears
LLRnR
kraatzy
April 1st, 2015 at 12:03I heard it through unknown, unconfirmed sources that Rod Evans will be joining them for a show or two!
April 1st, 2015 at 12:34This just in: Steve Morse is leaving DP to join Blackmore’s Night – to be renamed BlackMorse Dawn…..
April 1st, 2015 at 12:43Guillan + Coverdale + Glen Hughes?? Q zarpado!! Come on to Argentina!!!!!!!
April 1st, 2015 at 13:04That’s for sure a good one..xD
April 1st, 2015 at 13:48To quote a familiar singer…SUPERB!
April 1st, 2015 at 14:11Can’t believe that you actually got a couple of people with that!! 🙂
April 1st, 2015 at 14:42#3 We’re happy you liked it so much you thought it was your own, Joe. 😉
April 1st, 2015 at 15:08http://www.thehighwaystar.com/news/2007/04/01/gillan-in-heaven-and-hell/
I can’t believe I fell for it!I was so mad, I just shelled out 99 bucks each for six great seats and I was not going to enjoy the show.you got me good.
April 1st, 2015 at 18:38Art
Ohmagahd I almost had heart failure.
April 1st, 2015 at 20:48The one and only Canadian Date and there playing Ottawa. Son of A B@#%$. Come on guys you can’t fit Toronto or Hamilton in???
April 2nd, 2015 at 04:42Brilliant, I’d have bought a ticket for that!
April 2nd, 2015 at 07:48For the folk commenting that the joke was too early, I thought the timing of the April Fools comment was perfect for us down here in the southern hemisphere, Australia & New Zealand. When we were reading it, it was totally relevant! Cheers.
April 2nd, 2015 at 07:54I had to look up John Varvatos Jacket… funny
April 2nd, 2015 at 09:53Coverdale and Morse, about the mentality of Turner and Morse, Hughes and Morse… Gillan needs replaced? Not by thinking these would work alongside Morse. People might want to consider that before suggesting such nonsense. 😀
April 2nd, 2015 at 17:56Well Done…. Well Expected too…. 😉
April 2nd, 2015 at 18:56Here’s the big news! Not only that but I’ve just heard that Paicey is out. Drum skins will be attacked by no other else than by Carole Stevens (Ritchie’s manager). What a line-up…
April 3rd, 2015 at 10:06I was hoping this story was true,Gillan hasn’t been able to sing for about 20 years,s,his voice is pretty bad,at least Coverdale can still sing,plus he would sing some Mark 3 and 4 songs,songs that Gillan want or cant sing.
April 3rd, 2015 at 11:46ha ha, nice one…next we know, Blackers will play bass to Morse’s lead in a reformed band line-up, with ‘the stinking hippie’ behind the scenes producing instead of playing bass…..and Rod Evans and DC doing back up harmonies…. to twin lead singers Hughes and Evans….that about covers it
April 4th, 2015 at 05:22To bad, I would of loved to see a Coverdale fronted Deep Purple, My brother and I did not start going to concerts until 79 when He got a car. So we did not get to see Deep Purple until the 80s reunion of MK 2. (not counting Cal Jam and other Tv appearances). But either way I will be there this year in the summer, Can’t miss Deep Purple no matter who is singing.
April 6th, 2015 at 16:18