Ritchie Blackmore reunited with Deep Purple for the first time in 33 years last night, as he stepped out to rip through Smoke on the Water.
The 81-year-old surprised the music world this week when he announced he’d hatched plans to play live with the band he departed back in 1993.
As promised, Blackmore took to the stage at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York, on August 12, making his guest appearance on Smoke on the Water.
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Blackmore could have made his one-song cameo on any number of Deep Purple songs he penned, but Smoke on the Water seemed particularly fitting.
That riff is, after all, one of the most iconic guitar hooks of all time – and one of his most famous.
Everyone in the room knew they were witnessing something special. Peep the amount of phones filming the occasion. Luckily for us, that means plenty of footage from the evening has been posted online.
Blackmore doesn’t just sit in riff territory, though. The rock veteran, who has had to abandon touring plans in the past due to health issues, lets loose for a few lead runs, too.
“It was an absolute pleasure to have back on stage the founder member, the great legend, the immortal… Ritchie Blackmore!” singer Ian Gillan said on the night. “It was a great pleasure. I’ll see you in the bar.”
In an Instagram Live earlier this week, Blackmore revealed he’d reached out to Gillan to ask if he could join them at the Jones Beach Theater, which was close to his Long Island home.
“I’ll be using a small amplifier, but it’s very loud,” he revealed. “It’s what I use when I record. I hope I can compete with the [current Deep Purple] guitar player [Simon McBride], ’cause I can see that he has very big amplifiers behind him. So, it’d probably just be the one number, as it’s been a while.
“I changed my strings on my Strat, which I haven’t done in over 25 years…”
Head over to Deep Purple’s website to see their upcoming tour dates.
