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In very poor taste

The firecracking antics at the California Jam were to the great amusement of a great many people, and to not-so-great amusement of the local authorities. Here is a reproduction of a letter sent by the City of Ontario Fire Chief to the ABC Entertainment in the aftermath of the event (click to enlarge).

ontario fire chief letter

Thanks to Yvonne for bringing this piece of memorabilia to your attention.



13 Comments to “In very poor taste”:

  1. 1
    MacGregor says:

    Well done for digging up that letter. And there we have it, ‘that band will never work here again’ or words to that effect. Also, ‘we hope that you will look into this in the same light’ etc etc, etc. Poor ole Blackers, he was influence by Guy Fawkes a little, he he. It was very serious incident though, and as I have said, maybe it tarnished that trouble making bands name a little, eh? Cheers.

  2. 2
    Blackwood Richmore says:

    BOOM, BABY!. 💥🎸 😆😅😂🤣 💜

  3. 3
    Kidpurple says:

    Not to mention Ritchie’s disdain for the camera!

  4. 4
    Blackwood Richmore says:

    This turned up on my browser just now & it put me in mind of a young RB…
    Can’t imagine why!
    https://youtu.be/NEqniZcaU6Y

  5. 5
    Buttockss says:

    The long forgotten typewriter. Those were the days……

  6. 6
    Coverdian says:

    oooh,whatahelluva memory… for me personnaly (for I saw live Purple for the very first in the dawn of videorecorder in 1986 – in my country then) marvelous MKIII gig, young an´ enthusiastic DC, higher than life GH, first of the musketeers JL, phenomenal IP an´ that one! RB a little bit theatrical, end extempore ruined my whole view of that gigantic event.
    And anyone…. do/did you see the magic of performance of your loved band between the sundown an´ beginning of the night?) There were not so many chances an that was the ONE.
    I keep on talking about CalJam every minute. Please stop me… but wasn´t it phantastic gig? I mean till the start of the moment when some bloodyhell guitarist woke up an´ thought of some stupid revenge on “those mediabollocks”.
    Swallow your flies. I surrender and thank the band that i could taste it so many times!

  7. 7
    Ted The Mechanic says:

    Needless to say, playing with fire is playing with doom. From some stupid with a flare gun, to Marshall gasoline tanks, to the oh so sad tragedy at the Great White gig at The Station in Rhode Island. The released footage from the moment the ceiling went ablaze is beyond heart wrenching. Careful, careful, careful……

    Peace,
    Ted

  8. 8
    DeeperPurps says:

    MacGregor @1 – yes that incident at Ontario Speedway, only about an hour from Warner Brothers’ Headquarters in Los Angeles must have caused a fair amount of consternation in the head office. I can’t imagine that Purple endeared themselves to the corporate types that day.

  9. 9
    Leslie S Hedger says:

    Thumbs up to DP!!

  10. 10
    DeepOz says:

    Only one minor typo correction, not bad.
    Might’ve been dangerous but gee it was spectacular. Reminds me of a very stupid thing we did as kids with a fire crackers and glass bottle.

  11. 11
    Micke says:

    We used to fill our mouths with gasoline, light and blow out hard, spectacular indeed.. and put our hands in gasoline and light, oh, oh. Saw it done by “artists” at the very big market tivoli and had to do the same of course.

  12. 12
    Eitablepanties says:

    @ 11…We used to pull our pants down, use a bic lighter and blow farts at parties.

  13. 13
    allen pamplin says:

    I have the original letter. This is from my archive.

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