“It was one of the best experiences of my life”: Ian Gillan talks performing naked in a see-through poncho
“They’re all sheltering under the stage, wet with their instruments. I’m sitting naked in my caravan. My P.A. comes in and I’m drenched. She said, ‘Oh, they’re making a fortune out there, selling ponchos. Look, I bought one for you.’ It’s like what they have at Niagara Falls when you get on the boat – just a transparent plastic poncho. I said, ‘That’s what I’m wearing on stage for the second half of the show.’ So she said, ‘I dare you.’ And I said, ‘Okay, I will…’
“So I walked out naked on stage… Apart from this plastic poncho… Which was transparent. And the orchestra got up as they realized what was going on, and they started playing with fire! And we had just the most wonderful time because we were laughing at the rain, we were laughing at the circumstances.
“And the audience all got out of their seats – there weren’t many of them – but they all came to the front of the stage and suddenly we were all entwined in this thing.”
“Somebody took a film of it on their camera and it went up on YouTube that night. So around midnight, the phone started ringing. My manager: ‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing?’ And then the Deep Purple manager came on: ‘What is he doing, he’s destroying the reputation of the band!?’
“So, I said, ‘Well, actually, if you were there, you would have understood’. But the sound and the vision was out of sync, because of the distance. The lighting was horrible, the orchestra was all out of tune because of the rain. And it sounded like a cacophony of absolute nonsense…
“But if you were there, you’d have understood the circumstances. And it was Sally, my P.A. who said, ‘Ian actually saved the day.’ If you just watched it on YouTube, you’d think this is the worst thing that ever happened. In actual fact, it was one of the best experiences of my life.”
And writing on YouTube, Gillan fan Paul Kowacz, who was there that fateful night helpfully shares an excerpt from the momentous event. He says: “The audience didn’t believe their eyes, and neither did the first violinist. They all piled to the front of the stage to snap some photos. It lifted everyone’s spirits in the bad weather, everyone was laughing, dancing and singing.
