Deep Purple performed on this day in 2017 at the BBC Radio Theatre in London, England for BBC2.
I suppose this stop on the Long Goodbye Tour would technically count as a BBC session. The history of Deep Purple’s BBC sessions was at this point nearly fifty years old; they had first gone in in June of 1968 for work at Maida Vale Studios.
The group played this BBC show seven months after the release of their successful album Infinite, the album which The Long Goodbye Tour was in support of. On the setlist of this particular show were several of their new songs, including “The Surprising”.
Also on the list was the song “All I Got Is You”, one of the few songs in Deep Purple’s catalogue to feature profanity in the form of a single f-bomb. This earned audiences a warning from Jo Whiley, the presenter at the beginning of the show, that there would be some strong language during the performance. Singer Ian Gillan, however, censored the word during the performance–one of those instances where changing the words on the fly as he is wont to do was probably necessary! This was probably why the song was performed semi-regularly on that particular leg of the tour in the UK despite the inclusion of profanity on the record.
This performance was broadcast live both on video and on audio. The recording has not been officially released and is in circulation online.
If you would prefer to watch the concert in one sitting, the whole thing is on YouTube.
The band performed at the BBC Radio Theatre, a location which had been opened in 1932 as part of the main BBC Broadcasting House in London. The building first opened on May 14 of that year; the first concert given in the Radio Theatre was on October 15. While it at one time could apparently seat 550, I’ve also seen the capacity listed as just 312 people.
The theatre is known for its art deco decorations, including some reliefs depicting mythological scenes. There are two seating levels, the ground floor and the balcony; in total the theater takes up three stories of space. Here are some of the acts who have performed here over the years.
Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating on my ko-fi page or becoming a patron on my patreon. I appreciate your help!
Post Sources
- https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/deep-purple/2017/bbc-radio-theatre-london-england-be0e95a.html
- https://www.setlist.fm/stats/songs/deep-purple-3bd6acc8.html?song=All+I+Got+Is+You
Venue Sources
- http://static.roland.com/assets/media/pdf/case_bbc_radio_theatre.pdf
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01z12dt
- http://www.orbem.co.uk/bh32/bh32_lg.htm
- Edit on 2020-06-20: Added information on performance, added venue info
- Edit on 2020-08-30: Optimized for new site.