So, Ritchie just announced on his Instagram live (instagram.com/therealritchieblackmore) that he is joining Deep Purple on stage for one song in his “local” venue (I take it he means the Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY show).
What an incredible piece of news: Ritchie has just announced that he will join Deep Purple on stage tonight at Jones Beach Theater on Long Island for one song.
It will be the first time he has shared a stage with Ian Gillan and Deep Purple since 17 November 1993.
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It was a rather rambling session, as these tend to be (his preference for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Beckenbauer and Pele was described in more detail than the actual announcement). In any scenario, after him suggesting people (in jest, but still) from Romania to fly over, I sincerely hope this is followed through in a nice and professional manner. (And hey - this might actually mean that there is a change in the setlist order for once. 
)
I am cautiously optimistic tomorrow might be a night to remember in a good way…
Given his condition, at 81, it could be his last wish… 
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I am curious…will he stand on stage or will he sit…hope RB manages to play at all
“There is something we wanted to mention about tomorrow night… Well, it is a secret and I don’t want anybody to know, but I’m probably get up and do an encore with the band, DEEP PURPLE. But you can’t tell anybody, and I know that this is gonna be kept a secret. And will it? I suppose so.”
“I actually called up… I didn’t call him up, I sent my A.I. pigeon to [DEEP PURPLE singer] Ian Gillan in Portugal, where he lives at the moment. And I said, ‘How would you feel about if I got up just for an encore? Just one of the songs. I don’t want to intrude.’ And I said, ‘No pressure — just kind of [for] old times’ sake.’ I’m 81 now. So he seemed to love the idea, put it to the band, got a thumbs up, and it looks like we might be doing that.”
“I have my roadie there kind of now, setting up my amplifier,” he explained. "But I’ll be using a small amplifier, but it’s very loud. 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… I hope the guy out in the front can turn me up. I’ve got my roadie there for a soundcheck.
“I did have my injection in my lumbar area yesterday,” Ritchie said. "It’s a special injection I have that enables me to stand in one spot, because if I’m playing a Strat on stage, I have a hard time with the shoulders and the lumbar area. I’ve got four herniated discs, if anybody wants them. And I had my injection yesterday of a steroid which helps me get through standing up on stage. But I do have a kind of a stool there just in case I start toppling over or something. But I know that Ian Gillan has his maladies too with his eyesight, I think. And so as you get older, you collect all these things… And fusion is out of the question. That’s too big a job. But the stem cell stuff looks interesting. So I’m kind of recovering from that at the moment. I’m on steroid. And it’s very hard to sleep when you’re on steroids, but I’m on one steroid. And thanks to the doctors at Stony Brook [University Hospital]; they were excellent. I didn’t feel hardly any pain. But I think we’ve all got something to complain about. I just have more things to complain about than usual. And if don’t complain, I’ll find something to complain about.
"[Simon] is a very good guitar player. As was, and is, [former DEEP PURPLE guitarist] Steve Morse, is a great guitar player.
“So, that’s gonna be interesting. I have not played rock music in 25 years, actually,” Ritchie added, apparently forgetting the fact that he paused his post-DEEP PURPLE project BLACKMORE’S NIGHT (which also features Candice) in 2016 to reform RAINBOW for his first rock concerts in 19 years. “It’ll be good to see the old guys again. I think we’ll all be on crutches and wheelchairs and things, although I think the rest of them are okay. But, yes, it’s kind of frightening. I haven’t played rock in 25 years… I’ve been playing acoustic guitar for 25 years, and at first I was very uncomfortable playing it, but I got used to it, and now I’m used to playing the acoustic more so than the electric.”
“I just thought it might be an idea to let a few people know 'cause I think a lot of people would like to see that. So hopefully my guitar stays in tune, and I can play whatever song is going to be played. It’s just the one song, I think.”
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In all honesty, it doesn’t matter what happens tonight. Ritchie could be pushed on stage in a wheelchair and play the intro to Smoke on a kazoo. The audience would still go wild
I hope all those on stage and in the audience have a great time. If nothing else it shows any animosity has gone (as reflected in recent interviews on both sides).
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To be alive and hear this 
Or am I dead and gone to heaven 
Hope some of you in here can be there - sadly I live too far away.
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If anything, I think we can count on that it’s the last time these guys will share a stage.
A bit of a surprise, but I’m sure it’s good for them to meet up again under I guess fairly friendly circumstances. Probabaly only a song or two, but cool anyway! 
I sincerely hope the gig doesn’t run earlier than scheduled - Ritchie might lock himself into his trailer and say “I’m not coming out until that darn eclipse has!”
And while we’re at it: Someone should check his amp for explosives!
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I honestly think it speaks volume of what an amazing man Ian is! He is kind, friendly, understanding and so so sweet….
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It’s not my favourite purple song but they should play Smoke together. It’s Ritchie’s riff and Gillan’s singing what made the song a hit and it’s not too difficult to play.
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wow, great news, long-awaited!
finally the hatchet is finally buried and karma no longer leaves anything hanging for the band’s closure.
Every Purple fan in every corner of the world should rejoice about this!
It will definitely be Smoke on the Water, maybe even Hush if they feel like it, I can already imagine the electricity in the air and the emotion in the stands and on stage among the MKII.
It doesn’t matter how Ritchie plays, even just the notes of the most famous riff in the world would be enough.
I hope Jon Lord is listening up there and starts playing his Hammond with the boys, delighting the celebrating angels and Gods of Rock.
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YouTube will explode! 
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“Every Purple fan in every corner of the world should rejoice about this!”
Fla at Facebook a lot of people don’t believe it will happen.
I would so much love if it was a livestream. I would stay up all night, call all my friends, wondering why they hang up on me, but keep on being very very happy 
But even more: I would so much love to be there….
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Well, well, well! This really makes me chuckle a bit, the fate is truly putting it’s finger to its nose, pretending to play a trumpet, isn’t it? The crowds have been hoping and praying for the reconciliation between Deep Purple and Steve Morse (which yet still might happen when they get closer to Florida, I guess) and one off on stage again, and who turns up? 
good heavens.
3/5 of Down To Earth / Difficult To Cure Rainbow on stage again! Graham, bring the mushy peas on, for marbles sake! 
And our German lawyer, sharpen yer knives! 
If that manages to rise anything above the recent Ritchie’s trainwrecks (and I’m not pointing the finger - our hero is old and in the worst shape of four living DP axemen) - who knows - maybe the old into the unknown bit of magic can happen. Nothing fancy to expect (I’m pretty sure it will be eitther Smoke on the Water or Black Night that they do together) but it might squeeze a tear or two here and there. I was dreaming that after getting on stage Blackmore throws the band into playing Blues for starters - to see if they still remember it (and if Simon can join it off the cuff), just to lay a sort of foundation for a jam, but… Dreamer is apparently an Uriah Heep song…
So - Europe is having a solar eclipse, and Wantagh US will witness all the better separated comeths coincidence. YouTube will crash after the gig, I tell you.
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Now it would open up a nice purple patch (sic!) to include all living ex- Purple axemen to the Splat! Tour. Ritchie today, Steve - when they get closer to Orlando and - the guy in the best physical shape of the three - Joe (not sure where Satch is actually located). And, mind you, if you bring in Satriani, there’s always a ghost of a chance that he takes Steve Vai along for the ride… Simon would surely need to wear brown trousers for that gig, just as the MkII guys did on the Australian launch of the tour in late November 1984 (or was it NZ, McGregor?).
What to expect, realistically:
- They behave like gentlemen, ending a decades-long feud with grace
- Ritchie throws water to the camera man
- Ritchie sets fire to SIMON’S amps
- Ritchie starts “Child in Time” to piss Ian off
- Ritchie starts “Burn” to piss Ian off
- Ritchie starts “Since You Been Gone” to troll Thorsun
- It was all a cosmic joke from Ritchie’s warped sense of humor
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3/5 of Down To Earth / Difficult To Cure Rainbow on stage again!
Not to mention it was around the time that lineup came together when Ritchie asked Gillan to sing for his band…
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