Hard rock band Deep Purple played to just 500 fans at Hamilton Town Hall in March 1970.

Apr 1 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

HAMILTON has played host to some big-name bands but in April 1970 an opportunity was missed by hard-rock fans to watch Deep Purple in concert.

Just 500 people turned out at the 1200-seater Hamilton Town Hall on Wednesday, April 1, to see the Hertford band, who are considered by many to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock.

Hamilton has welcomed other top bands in its time and in May 1964 the Rolling Stones played to an hysterical audience at the Chantinghall Hotel.

Deep Purple incorporated classical, blues-rock, pop and progressive rock elements and were once listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s loudest band.

On the night they played in Hamilton Town Hall, Deep Purple could he heard a mile away.

To date over 100 million records have been sold worldwide and Deep Purple have gone through many line-up changes.

When they played the 1200-seater Hamilton Town Hall their line-up consisted of Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), Roger Glover (bass) and Ian Paice (drums).

By that point they had released the albums Shades of Deep Purple (1968), The Book of Taliesyn (’68), Deep Purple (’69) and Deep Purple in Rock, although their best-known hit, ‘Smoke on the Water’ was two years away.

Former Searchers drummer Chris Curtis formed a band called Roundabout in 1967 and quickly brought Lord and Blackmore in before Curtis himself dropped out. Nick Simper, a friend of Lord, was brought in on bass, and vocalist Rod Evans and drummer Paice finished the line-up.

In 1968 Blackmore suggested the new name of Deep Purple, after his grandmother’s favourite song.

After three albums and extensive touring in the United States, their American record company went out of business, leaving Deep Purple struggling financially, and Evans and Simper were fired.

The band hunted down Episode Six’s Ian Gillan as a replacement singer and Deep Purple gained some much-needed publicity with the Concerto for Group and Orchestra, a three-movement epic that was performed at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The band recorded the Gemini Suite, another orchestra/group collaboration in the late 1970s and began a hectic touring and recording schedule that saw little respite for the next three years.

Deep Purple’s real breakthrough was arguably with 1972’s ‘Machine Head’, which spawned the songs ‘Highway Star’, ‘Space Truckin’’, ‘Lazy’ and ‘Smoke on the Water’.

lWere you in the audience to watch Deep Purple at Hamilton Town Hall? If you have any recollections to share, please contact the Advertiser on 01698 205022 or email us at: hamiltonadvertiser.co.uk.