Deep Purple Backstage |
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Deep
Purple/Thin Lizzy- Toronto - February 26/August 21, 2004
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Ian Gillan
His voice is a little worn, but he has a lot of charisma. Roger Glover A happy man...I've met Ian Paice He has slowed down some since '72, but his chops are still there. Steve Morse
This is the guy Purple should have had a long time ago...but I guess that would be a different band...and we wouldn't have albums like Machine Head...'kay...forget it... Don Airey
Keys are not my favourite instrument - this guy still has to prove himself.
Concerts I've seen '70s Uriah Heep The Stampeders '80s Sabbath (Dio singing)
(This is an unused ticket. Sabbath (Gillan singing) with Nazareth Mr. Mister Ozzy Osbourne Russian Symphony Orchestra Harlequin Alice Cooper with Goddo Sudbury Arena Sudbury, ON Pat Travers
Deep Purple/Girlschool
'90s Ritchie Blackmore's Deep Purple with Wild T & The Spirit The Warehouse Toronto, ON
Deep Purple with Dream Theatre and ELP Molson Amphitheatre Toronto, ON
April Wine '00 Edgar Winter
Nazareth
'01 Deep Purple with
'03 Whitesnake with
'04 Deep Purple with
Deep Purple with
The elusive There was only one downside to the February meet and greet - my brother
and I didn't get Ian Paice's autograph! Later I was reading concert reviews about the Feb. gig, and Jim Irons had one on the site. So I e-mailed him, and told him I had him in a pic, and that I would send it to him. I also asked him if he had a pic of Ian Paice - I needed that. Unfortunately he did not. So I was stuck with my 'In Rock' LP signed by four of the five musicians. And if that weren't bad enough, I also had a bogus autograph on it. UPDATE: I finally got the Paicey photog at the Aug. 21 gig - see pic below! The bogus You see, whilst I was getting Airey's autograph, I asked him how much money he made. I don't think he appreciated that too much. He responded by asking if I would ask the same question if I were to meet in some pub somewhere. As if that's going to happen! Umm, actually it might. Anyway, it wasn't until I got back to Sudbury, when I checked my 'In Rock' LP that he had signed it 'Don Lord', a reference to original keyboard player Jon Lord. When I got to meet him again at the August '04 concert, I told him the story, and he just chuckled and gave me a real autograph. Was
she really Here's an update on the August '04 meet. I brought the backstage passes from the Feb. '04 concert thinking they might get me backstage this time. Thing was, the band's website said that there was no meet and greet at this gig. And of course my brother Brian was supposed to be there with me. After he passed away, I had three tickets to the concert and no one to go with. My good buddies Doug and Tammy came along for the ride, and I gave Doug Brian's backstage pass just in case. During Thin Lizzy, I made a couple of trips toward the stage to ask some of the guards "where to go when I'm going backstage". I didn't let on that as far as I knew, there was no meet and greet. Lo and behold, they pointed toward the stage and said that's where to go after the concert. We were in - well, two of us were. There were three of us, and I only had two passes. Tammy told her husband Doug to "go ahead", but when the time came to go backstage, Doug motioned to me that he wasn't going because Tammy couldn't get in. I was down the stairs, and they were up, and next thing I know they are standing next to me talking to a young blonde girl - turns out, she tells Doug and Tammy she's Roger Glover's girlfriend, Miriam. Apparently she was just coming backstage, saw that Tammy wasn't getting in, and told the guard that it was OK. Talk about luck. So Tammy, Doug and I got into the meet and greet. I have since e-mailed with Shell at gillan.com, and she clarified that yes, Mariam is Roger's girlfriend. I was able to apologize to Don for asking how much money he made, and get his real autograph, I was finally able to get the elusive Paicey autograph and picture, and, get another guitar pic from Steve to replace the one I had lost that he had given my brother Brian. A good night I say. It's going to be hard to top it, but I will figure something out. My buddy Doug My buddy Doug, although pretending to be very nonchalant about the whole thing, was quite excited I think. Glover has produced some bands that Doug likes, i.e. Nazareth and Judas Priest. So Doug approaches him and asks him if he is still producing - Doug has tunes that he would like to get produced on a large scale. He finds out that Roger hasn't produced for about 25 years. Doug also asks him about living in England, and finds out that Roger doesn't live in England, he lives in New York City. The drum clinic Here are some shots, courtesy of Jim Irons, of the drum clinic with Ian Paice that we missed.
Here's an interesting one - this is Jim Irons (back left) with Ian Paice, right, and the DPurple licence plate.
CN Tower, Toronto A city that has been very good to Deep Purple fans.
I really can't complain - I have been following my favourite band for over 25 years - it took me over 20 years or so to actually meet them. I've seen them perform now seven times - I got to go backstage twice - I got my photograph taken with each of them, and I got all of their autographs. If I start to whine, slap me. Steve Morse
This is my pic from the Feb. '04 meet and greet (above). I lost Brian's, so I got this one (below) to replace it at the Aug. '04 meet and greet...
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I will try to make this fast - I e-mailed the guys at thehighwaystar.com and gillan.com, and told them that my brother and I were going down to the Feb. 2004 concert and that I really wanted an autograph. I didn't really expect anything to happen, I was just hoping that maybe they could mention it and I might get lucky. I told them I would be the guy standing between the back doors and the bus, holding Ian Gillan's autobiography, and wearing a big, green winter coat. I believe it was less than two weeks later, I got an e-mail from Shell at gillan.com. Before I fell off my chair, she, yes, Shell is a she (see lower sidebar for more info on that) informed me that I wouldn't have to "wait in the cold", and that there would be two backstage passes waiting for us at the box office. Here is the actual e-mail from Shell about those VIP passes: "Hi Ken, You don't have to wait in the cold,
we've put you down for two b/s You can pick them up from the box office, on the night. Cheers, Shell. IG will do his best to say hi to,
and sign autographs for, all backstage pass
A shot of the backstage pass.
I told them my name, but no, no passes. Why don't you go around the stage door entrance and ask them? they said. OK. I'm wandering around this alley, looking for a door to go into, with some security guy yelling at me to get the %#()% out of there. I find the right door, and there is one guy in there, obviously hired just for the night, taking some time off from his day job of being a Hell's Angel.
Here's Massey Hall - the building is over 100 years old,
and you can tell by the acoustics. The sound was bad, but at least we
were close to the stage. The Hell's Angel guy tells me he has no passes, but why don't I go up and in and ask the guys in the so and so department (I forget what he called them). Sure I says, and start heading up these stairs. He stops me and says I can't go in there because I don't have a pass! While we are standing waiting for a sign from above, these two guys come in and say they have a piece of equipment for Deep Purple's keyboard player, Don Airey (see below).
Back to the box office we went and asked again, and still, the same answer - sorry, no passes for you! We were getting desperate, and so I told the guy that maybe my name was spelled wrong on the envelope. He went back, and alas, two backstage passes for "Ken Link" - the guy from the Legend of Zelda! Yahoo. Somewhere along the way, Shell got my name wrong. Didn't matter, we had them.
We almost didn't get the passes - my name is Ken Lusk!
Self-portrait, Brian and Ken. Security herded maybe 50 or 60 of us into this little, tiny room - no food, no drink, no merchandise, no blondes - just four walls and a couple of couches. We started to think that maybe this was some kind of joke - that was until Don Airey made his entrance, and we knew this was for real.
That might be Marilyn Manson sitting on the couch on the left. Don Airey enters the room. I later corresponded with the gentleman on the right holding the camera, Jim Irons. He was in the audience the next day at the Mike Bullard show - Deep Purple were the musical guests. We didn't know they were going to be on the show. Anyway, Bullard picked Mr. Irons to talk to, and it was quite a funny conversation. Bullard asked him how long he has been a Deep Purple fan, and what he does for a living. Mr. Irons was also at a drum clinic held at Long and McQuade in Toronto where drummer Ian Paice was - we didn't know Paice was going to be at a drum clinic. Anyway, Mr. Irons is more of a Purple fanatic than I - his licence plate reads "DPurple".
Don Airey with a fan. Also, I knew Mr. Irons was going to be at the Purple concert the following August, again in Toronto, and again with Thin Lizzy, but also with Joe Satriani - talk about getting your money's worth. I couldn't spot Mr. Irons in the audience, but I did bump into him later at the meet and greet. I also bumped into this guy above with Airey - I think he's Mr. Iron's son.
My brother Brian standing with the back of Don Airey.
See here? I've insulted Don Airey and he's writing
Brian with Ian Gillan - this kind of freaked Brian out - he later said it was hard to believe he stood with him and shook his hand. Turns out Ian is the only tall one in the band - Brian and I are taller than the rest of them.
I look really wasted here, but I wasn't (check the other pics). It must have been a camera shutter thing. It also appears that I am stooping a bit, so as not to make Ian feel bad that I am taller than him. I don't remember everything I said to these guys, but according to my brother Brian, I told Ian that his autobiography was the best book I ever read! OK, maybe I had a few beers.
Brian with Steve Morse. This was another highlight for Brian as his favourite instrument is guitar. We each got a guitar pic from Steve, and I later lost the one Steve gave to Brian. When I got to meet Steve again at the August '04 concert, I told him my brother passed away, and that I had lost the pic. He gave me another one. Thing was, at the August meet, Steve wasn't walking around with a handful of pics like he was at the Feb. '04 meet. When I told him I had lost the other pic, he reached deep into his pocket to give me another one (he wasn't giving out pics this time). He told me twice he was sorry about my brother's passing - the second time, he was being pestered by other fans, but made a point to quickly turn to me and say sorry again. Nice guy.
Me with Steve Morse. See, I'm not wasted! And, I do cut my fingernails. Looks like my thumb nail on my right hand is really long. A friend e-mailed me and said, like, cut your nails. It's not my nail! It was a mystery until months later I kept enlarging this photo and saw that there is actually a tiny bit of space in that area, and there is some light shining through from the background.
Me with Roger Glover. I'm looking like I want that drink. Looks like it was a good thing I didn't grab it, because that guy on the left looks like he would have cracked my head. I don't know who he is, but I saw him again at the August '04 meet. I told him then I remembered him from this meet, but he answered in such a thick accent, I didn't catch what he said. I thought it might have been Shell from gillan.com, but I have since learned that Shell is a she. After this pic was taken, I asked Roger if he and Ian Gillan were going to do another album together (they collaborated on the awesome 'Accidentally on Purpose' in '84-'85 while they were also recording 'Perfect Strangers'). All he said was maybe. I also asked him if he ever talks to Ritchie Blackmore. He turned and said, "In my lifetime?" I said, "No, lately." He replied curtly, "No!"
Again with Roger. We must have had some kind of kharma going.
Roger with some fans.
Ian Gillan with some fans. "Uh, sorry guys, I don't do that."
Here it is! The photog of Ian and me I didn't get
back in February. He was more willing to come backstage and meet and
greet this time. He was awesome - look at the size of those paws! I
asked him how he keeps doing this, year after year - the same songs,
etc. I also asked him if he gets tired, physically, from drumming for
over 40 years. He replied by saying what keeps him going is the fact
that he considers the band to still be "viable" and that the
contribution that they are making to the music world is still "viable".
Lookin' a little serious - Airey, Paice, Morse, Glover and Gillan.
The Bananas 2004 World Tour book.
Ian's autograph that I got at the Aug. 21 gig. I
had already got his auto back in February on the 'In Rock' LP,
but what the heck...that's Roger Glover sitting next to him. This is a
pic from the world tour booklet. The signed 'In Rock' LP
I couldn't fit the entire LP on the scanner, but you can see the autographs here: Ian Gillan is top left; Don Airey is middle left; the bogus Don Airey (Don Lord) is bottom left; Roger Glover is middle right; Steve Morse is middle bottom and Ian Paice (finally) is bottom right. Now I have to get Ritchie and Jon's autographs. Wish me luck!
Steve Morse's and Roger Glover's autographs. These are the only two that I got that are not on an album cover or tour booklet.
This is from the Molson Amphitheatre booklet. |
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