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NOW WHAT’S SO FUNNY?!

2013 is almost over. And what a banner year it has been – Now What?! has made its mark and stormed up many a chart around the world giving the band a positive springboard for next year. Touring is over for the year and we had some killer gigs and a lot of fun – London, Paris and St Petersburg stand out but that’s not to diminish any of the others at all; every gig is valued.

It’s been forty-five years since Hush and it feels like the band is riding yet another crest of yet another wave. And it’s all down to you. We are a lucky band indeed to have such a great and loyal following. Thank you. Edel:earMUSIC have done a stellar job and we also owe them a big thank you.

It’s a rare privilege to walk out on stage and have fun doing what we enjoyed doing when we were fifteen. I never take that for granted. I am, however, in danger of taking our management, agency and crew for granted; they do such a quiet and professional job that each tour seems seamless.

I was sent so many birthday messages that when printed out and laid end to end – and if the emotions they contained could somehow be quantified and printed also – they would easily reach from my heart to your front door.

My lovely family and I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season, brimming with peace, love and understanding. And what’s so funny about that?

Good luck,

RG

13 thoughts on “NOW WHAT’S SO FUNNY?!

  1. Cusumano denis wrote on 2013-12-02:

    Hello Rog´, Thanks again for the pleasure you give me since all these y ears ! The band seems so fresh and confident : it ´s a pure joy to feel the way the band carry on and on and on . Hope to see you again in France soon !i dream to meet the band one day (especially Paicey , my hero) . Who knows ? Denis from France !

    Reply
  2. Claudia Heidemann wrote on 2013-12-02:

    Dear Roger!

    First of all I want to thank you and Deep Purple in general for the concert in Zwolle this October. I’m 17 years old and it was my first concert ever. When I started listening to Deep Purple in the age of 6 or 7 I think I haven’t thought about seeing you live and still on tour. Everything started with a cassette of Deep Purple hits that my father gave to me. He didn’t only give me that cassette but also stuff like Rock Festival CDs, Boney M, ABBA and The Beatles of course. I listened to all of them and they defined my early childhood. But Deep Purple has been always special to me. Later it developed and I bought for example the 25th anniversary edition of Fireball. I still remember how I turned on Fireball every evening before I went to bed and the first thing I did on weekend mornings was turning on my other CD I bought with awesome live versions from 1993. I had that time still no background information about Deep Purple because I had no Internet and my father couldn’t tell me anything either. In the age of like 14 I got Internet and I collected a lot of information about my all time fave band, I had the chance to get to know about the names of the songs which I have been listening to, saw finally pictures of the people who were behind that band. I started buying more albums and especially concerts on DVD. My first one was “Deep Purple with the LSO” in 1999. I think it is my fave one from all the DVDs I have. It is very special to me because it has got the orchestra in it together with these three movements that were composed already in 1969, but were performed again on that concert. I just love the combination between hard rock and classical music there, I love both genres very much and it has its contrasts but also it fits very well together. I think we will watch it again on Christmas. My collection of CDs, DVDs and also LPs grew. And still Deep Purple gave me the love for music, the passion for it, especially for hard rock, jazz and blues rock. When I saw other children in my age playing an instrument I was always sort of envious, but in a good way. I wanted to play an instrument, too, playing the songs I love and composing new stuff. I learned basic things on keyboard on my own, but I sort of gave it up in a short time, because I had problems with playing with my left hand and I noticed it wasn’t the instrument I was looking for. Since I was born an acoustic guitar stood in a corner of my room and I never tried to play it. But one day I decided to learn the riff of Smoke On The Water on it. I only wanted to learn that riff, because it still gives me shivers when I hear it, exactly like other songs too, for example my fave song of Deep Purple, called Anya (I think because it combines the very emotional and moving side of Child In Time and an awesome riff like Smoke On The Water with a lot of power in it). I spent more and more time on playing guitar, playing easy melodies or classical things like Für Elise from Beethoven. One day my father discovered an e-guitar together with a Marshall amp on a market and we bought it, now I’ve been playing on it for 1,5 years and it was one of the best decisions in my life. Of course I have to learn still a lot, especially that I have no teacher at all, only some YouTube videos helped me and in general theory on the Internet. But I love so much guitar playing, since a little time ago I started to try improvising things, having backing tracks of songs and so on (my fave track is Anya in the live version to improvise on). Also I started to play in the Big Band of our school, we play jazz versions of popular songs, we had several shows already, nothing too big, but I wanted some experience to play live, with people. The next show will include (finally!) Smoke On The Water, The Final Countdown and I Feel Good, with solos. Usually we play the songs without them, but fortunately we play them this time. I also put through to play Lazy live next year, my chemistry teacher who’s also a huge Deep Purple fan suggested me to use his ENGL amplifier on that show, that’d be so awesome. But the main thing of course is to practice more and to be able to play it at least decently, at least I know I’ll have a lot of fun and a little dream would come true. And speaking about dreams: As I mentioned I never had the imagination or dream before to see you all together live. I already wanted to go last year to the show in Arnhem, unfortunately my father said no, but this year when I saw you’d come to Zwolle, not far away from the German town where I live, I asked my father and he said yes. We came quite early to get best places, my father didn’t believe we could have good places, but after waiting and hurrying at the end we really got to the first row, right in front of you, Roger. And I got that plectrum of you which I catched and Steve’s, too. Steve’s one was actually from Marije who visited many shows in this year and gave it to me as a gift because we met the first time in real life at that show. I only knew her as the co-administrator of my founded fan page for Steve on Facebook. She has got a lot of material and information about him. I had the pleasure to be at that show that was so amazing, to finally see you all live and to experience that music not only from CDs and so on. This experience I will never forget. And I thank you all together for this. Well, I hope you’ll find a bit free time to read my little life story and I hope you’re doing well and resting a lot with your family. I could still write a lot, but that was my main point, I think you have influenced and touched a lot of people in your life, I think that’s the real goal of music.

    With many lovely greetings and again thank you a lot for all the moments and influence you gave to me all together

    Claudia Heidemann

    Reply
    • RG wrote on 2014-03-14:

      Claudia, thank you for your most interesting and unusual story. I wish you all the best with your playing. Enjoying it is everything.
      Good luck, RG

      Reply
  3. Woodruff P Hoppinstopp wrote on 2013-12-02:

    Love is all you need. Happy Healthy times long live Deep Purple. Gillian is doing great music. You gave My 83 year young Mom a pic after the best bass solo I ever heard. Trump Marina Atlantic City N.J about 7 years ago. She is 90 now. She was really tickled. The pic is framed with Your picture and autograph. Thank You Roger Bill and Alice

    Reply
  4. Klaus Söhnholz wrote on 2013-12-02:

    Hello,
    in 1970 (as an 11 year old kid), I heard a Deep Purple song on my small plastic radio; the song was “Speed King”. Since then this band, with all “Marks”, with all the other music from the huge “Purple-family” played the soundtrack of my life.
    Enjoy the quiet december/christmas time, read a lot, think a lot…
    …and THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC…
    Greetings from germany
    Klaus

    Reply
  5. Erwin Britschgi wrote on 2013-12-01:

    Dear Roger. We met in April 2000 in Grindelwald in the Regina-Hotel in the Lobby for an interview and later at the bar and had e nice talk together. My wife Carla took some pics of us together. If you’ll ever come in the are of Lucerne and it’s lake – you are wormest invited to sign the pic in my creative-office. Saw DP last summmer in Montreux. So thank you Roger for the Music once more – and happy birthday the day after. Erwin

    Reply
  6. Lutz wrote on 2013-12-01:

    Hi Roger,
    also to you and your family, and of course the rest of the band, a happy and enjoyable holiday season. Have seen DP in Mannheim, GE 02.11.13, a great gig. Hopefully not the last time?!
    Greetings from Germany,
    Lutz (58 years, fan since 1969)

    Reply
  7. Marcelo Soares wrote on 2013-12-01:

    Rog, have a great holiday season. Me and my family are sending strong typed hugs to you and yours. And hope to see you again in Brazil in 2014!

    Reply
  8. Chris Mallinson wrote on 2013-12-01:

    Well Rog our year was made when we met you after the Manchester Apollo gig and then had a “few” little drinks back at your hotel.Its a good job your other half said “bedtime” otherwise i think we’d have been in the bar til sunrise.Thanks for makinh an unforgettable evening,oh and teh gig was bloody great as well!!

    Reply
  9. Caron Didier wrote on 2013-12-01:

    super année pour vous Mr Glover et Deep purple j ai hate de vous revoir en France
    j aime ce que fait votre fille Gillian !!!
    a bientôt
    merci pour votre musique le bonheur !

    Reply
  10. Kasper Kjærsgaard wrote on 2013-12-01:

    A thank you from me to you too. You and your band members give us fans a rare gift too. Some timeless music which we all can relate to in different ways. Music is – or so they say – the salt to move your soul.
    Thank you.

    Reply
  11. Bruno de Almeida de Freitas Barbosa (aka Bruno Molo) wrote on 2013-12-01:

    Hi Roger! Happy birthday =)
    I wish you and your family the best!
    Brazil and specially Curitiba miss you!

    See you soon my friend =)

    Reply
  12. Debbie wrote on 2013-12-01:

    Merry Christmas Rog. Thank you for your kind words but it really is no hardship to follow the best band in the world, who have constantly been very supportive of their fans and who genuinely give of themselves. We are the lucky ones. Have a wonderful Christmas break hope to see the Now what?! tour down under. With love Deb

    Reply