Deep Purple have postponed two German dates on their fall UK/European tour after Ian Gillan was hospitalized. The band announced on Saturday that it could not perform that night at the QI Arena in Leipzig or the following evening at the Sporthalle in Hamburg, citing "a medical emergency involving Ian Gillan, which has resulted in his current hospitalisation."
The statement acknowledged the short notice and the disappointment of fans in both cities. Deep Purple and their team say they are looking for suitable dates to reschedule, and tickets already purchased will remain valid. The band signed off with "the greatest love and respect."
Gillan, 81, has fronted Deep Purple across two tenures, the first beginning in 1969 and yielding In Rock, Machine Head and Made in Japan, the second running from 1984 to the present. His voice is the band's most recognizable instrument, and at this age the touring schedule around it has grown more careful. The current run was booked to continue on Wednesday, November 4, in Berlin and to close on November 25 in London, with a Latin American tour set for December.
The timing lands in an unusually busy stretch for the band's history. Earlier this year Ritchie Blackmore rejoined Deep Purple onstage, an encore that drew on decades of distance between the guitarist and his former group; ROMBO wrote then that the return was never about getting the notes right. In April, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hosted the band in Tokyo, a measure of how far the group's reach extends beyond the usual rock circuits. More is collected on ROMBO's Deep Purple page.
What the two cancelled nights make plain is how much of this band's live identity still rests on one man's throat. Deep Purple's songs are built for a singer who can push a riff to its edge and hold it there, and the German dates were sold on that promise. The rescheduled shows will be the first test of whether the schedule can absorb the interruption; the Berlin date four days out is the next fixed point on the calendar.
