Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan described the events that led to Ritchie Blackmore’s arson.
In an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Ian Gillan was asked about Deep Purple’s tour with Yes and whether the two bands shared a kinship. Gillan stated that there was never a genuine link between them, and recounted an argument with Yes that resulted in a massive fire: “There wasn’t a strong bond. [Laughs] We were having a festival [in] Plumpton, the first rock, jazz, and blues event that later became the Reading Festival, which was run by Jack Barrie at the Marquee [Club in London]. He’d put on some absolutely fantastic bands. “Of course, we had worked with the majority of them back then. That was wonderful. They were all nice in their own way, but I think Yes were a little upset 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.”
