Ian Gillan Recalls Why Ritchie Blackmore Set Fire to a Venue at Deep Purple Show: ‘It Was All Quite Rock ‘N’ Roll’

Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan recalled the events that led to Ritchie Blackmore committing arson.

In an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Ian Gillan was asked about Deep Purple’s tour with Yes, and if a bond existed between the two bands. Gillan noted that there was never a real bond between them, and revealed a disagreement with Yes that resulted in a great fire:

“There wasn’t much of a bond. [Laughs] We were doing a festival [in] Plumpton, the first rock, jazz, and blues festival that became the Reading Festival, run by Jack Barrie at the Marquee [Club in London]. He’d put on some absolutely great bands.”

“Of course, we’d worked with most of them in those days. It was fantastic. They were all good in their own way – but I think Yes were a bit miffed because they wanted to close the show, and it wasn’t in their contract.”

Of course, any disagreements such as this would not sit well with Ritchie Blackmore, who’d earned a reputation for destructive behavior with incidents such as his aggression at the California Jam. Gillan confirmed Blackmore’s revulsion, saying:

“It was [in our contract] that Deep Purple would close the show, so they refused to leave the hotel room. Jack said, ‘Guys, would you mind going on a bit earlier? I don’t want to push you but it would help me and it would help the crowd.’ ‘Yeah sure, okay, no worries.’ Then, Ritchie [Blackmore] decided that if we weren’t going to close, nobody was.”

Gillan continued:

“He ordered some gasoline to be brought in. He threw it all over the equipment and then had the roadie light a broom, which had a petrol-soaked rag on the end of it to ignite the lot. Of course, it did ignite – because the fumes just exploded. Within a half-hour, there were blue lights flashing.”

“The police, the fire brigade and ambulances were all coming in and there was complete chaos. Everything was on the front page of the Sunday papers the next morning, and it was all quite rock ‘n’ roll.”