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Nippon Budokan
“It’s a fine line between self-assuredness and arrogance.”
Ian Gillan
March 25, 1972. Machine Head, Deep Purple’s sixth album, hits the stores. On its home ground, the group climbed to the top of the charts. The United States is also succumbing, as is Europe, Asia and just about every other country. Recorded in Montreux in the Rolling Stones’ mobile studio, the record contains the furious Highway Star and Smoke on the Water. The latter is inspired by a fire that took place in Montreux. A tour is launched and the group takes off for forty-eight weeks.
On August 15, Deep Purple arrived in Tokyo and took up residence at Festival Hall, a concert hall in Osaka. For two evenings, the musicians went wild. On August 17th, the combo will be in Tokyo, where they will play at the mythical Budokan. In verve, the British extend almost all their pieces. None of them goes below six minutes. The show is total in the Japanese capital where the set-list is enough to make you dizzy: Highway Star, Smoke on the Water,
Child in Time, Strange Kind of Woman, Lazy, Space Truckin’, with an insane version of more than 19 minutes and Speed King. Rich in improvisations, the concert illustrates wonderfully the talent of Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Roger Glover and Ian Gillan. The feat is total. When the record was released, critics and audiences alike agreed that it was one of the most powerful live testimonials ever released by a band. Especially since Deep Purple refused, when delivering its copy, to use overdubs, a technique consisting in re-recording passages to improve them or to embellish them with new sounds. The album Made in Japan published in the wake of the show gathers the best of the three concerts. Since then, a full version is available.
Upon their return home, the band played at the Rainbow Theatre in London and won the title of “loudest rock band in the world” after reaching 117 decibels. A performance listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Behind the scenes, however, tensions are being felt. Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore in particular, are at loggerheads. In December 1972, the singer decides to leave the group. Ian Gillan will return, temporarily at first and then permanently in 1992. In 1993, his long-time enemy, Ritchie Blackmore, left the ship for good. Since then, he has been playing some strange medieval music. His former comrades never gave up. Despite the tensions and the passing of Jon Lord in 2012. Drummer Ian Paice is the only member to have held his position continuously since the band’s formation in 1968.
Deep Purple has had ten incarnations in the course its history.
Nippon Budokan
Located in downtown Tokyo, the Nippon Budokan is a unique venue with an octagonal shape. From the Beatles to Boston, Queen, Chicago, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Diana Ross and KISS, they have all performed there and some have recorded memorable live albums.
Built for the judo events of the 1964 Summer Olympics, the Budokan was primarily designed for martial arts. for martial arts, sumo wrestling and the Japanese wrestling federation. In 1966, the Beatles gave a series of concerts there. ABBA soon followed, and from then on, bands and from then on, bands flocked to play in the excellent conditions offered by the hall. The Budokan can accommodate up to 14,471 spectators.
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Cult! music: 100 mythical music places [French Edition]
Embark immediately on an exhilarating world tour with some of music’s most iconic bands and artists!
Head to Melbourne, Australia for a stroll along AC/DC Lane before crossing the iconic Abbey Road pedestrian crossing in the company of The Beatles. Visit Janis Joplin‘s home in San Francisco and find out how Johnny Cash ended up playing his greatest hits to a crowd of prisoners in San Quentin. Travel the winding roads of Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and stop in Japan to catch up with Deep Purple, Phil Collins and Daft Punk. Drive down the Tina Turner Highway before entering some of the most legendary studios in music history. Go back to the troubled origins of Billie Holiday and make a pact with Robert Johnson at the famous crossroads in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Embark immediately on an exhilarating world tour with some of music’s most iconic bands and artists! Relive the Jimi Hendrix concert on the Isle of Wight before paying tribute to Bob Marley in Jamaica.
Produced by a team of pop-culture specialists and enhanced by numerous anecdotes, Cult! musictells the secrets of the places that made the history of music.
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Discover all the places Made in Japan on our map
By Gilles Rolland
Passionné de cinéma, de rock and roll, de séries TV et de littérature. Rédacteur de presse et auteur des livres Le Heavy Metal au cinéma, Paroles de fans Guns N' Roses, Paroles de fans Rammstein et Welcome to my Jungle : 100 albums rock et autres anecdotes dépareillées. Adore également voyager à la recherche des lieux les plus emblématiques de la pop culture.