Ian Gillan, Smoke On The Water, Östersund 1992

On april 6th 1992 myself and a friend (Kalle Thelin) filmed a show with Ian Gillan in Östersund (Sweden), with permission. In march 2008, we decided to "save" the old VHS footage onto DVD format, and as we did, we also mixed together a two camera version of the show for fun. All three versions have been sent to Ian Gillan for safekeeping in his archive. However, a couple of minutes worth of "Smoke On The Water" from the two camera version can not hurt and it shows a tight band that knows how to entertain a crowd. The band at that time was Ian Gillan (vocals), Dean Howard (guitar), Brett Bloomfield (bass) and Leonard Haze (drums) and according a press cutting of the day the gig in Östersund was the 105th of the "Toolbox" tour. Within a few months Ian Gillan was back in Deep Purple again. This version of his band never recorded, but it sure was a fine band. Good times. MIKE ERIKSSON (march 29, 2008).