What’s left to be said about Deep Purple? Together with Led Zeppelin, The Who and Black
Sabbath, they are considered the “fathers” of heavy rock and to some, the creators of heavy
metal. One of the symbols of the seventies, or as they often say... a legend.
In April 1974, the Mk III line-up consisting of David Coverdale (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore
(guitar), Glenn Hughes (bass and vocals), Jon Lord (organ) and Ian Paice (drums) had just
released the album “Burn” when they climbed the stage of the soon to become legendary festival
California Jam.

The phenomenon now known as Arena Rock was born at the California Jam –
and Deep Purple were at its epicenter. In many ways, the California Jam was the equivalent of
the Woodstock festival to a burgeoning generation of hard rock and heavy metal fans.
The Jam took place at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California on a hot and sunny
spring day on April 6, '74. The event attracted an enormous crowd of a quarter-million people
and represented a baptism of fire – in more ways than one – for Purple's 'new boys', frontman
David Coverdale and bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, who in '73 had replaced Ian Gillan and
Roger Glover, respectively, to usher in the band's so-called Mk III line-up.
Deep Purple were literally on fire during that time: due to some behind the scenes “feud” with
the promoter, Deep Purple’s performance was full of fire and fury – no wonder their opening
song was “Burn”. At the climax of the show, a still-furious Blackmore trashed several of his
guitars and chucked his amplifiers off the edge of the stage. Blackmore also struck one of the
cameras with his guitar. The chaos continued when a massive on-stage detonation created an
out-of-control fireball – pun most definitely in.......
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