Deep Purple In Lebannon

So far, it’s up in the air as to whether or not the hard rock group Deep Purple will be playing in Beirut Lebannon as they have been schelued to do late this month. One minue they are insisting they will do so. Then you hear the concert has been cancelled. Then, you hear the group refuses to cancel, that they intend to play if at all possible, or at the very least, if they do have to postpone the show, they have every intention of going ahead with the show at a later date, but definitely as a part of the current world tour, which has carried them to different parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The US tour is scheduled to begin in January of ’07.

They insist they owe it to their fans. Music, according to Ian Gillian, the long time lead singer of the group, is a universal language, and when in concert, the exchange of energy between band members and audience is phenomenal.

But is it worth the risk? Though I understand the sentiment, it would be best for all concerned should Deep Purple indeed call off the concert, at least temprorarily postpone it. To begin with, they may have no other choice than to do so. The Beirut airport is in a shambles, due to persistent Israeli bombings in what is a calculated attempt to prevent flights to and from the airport between Damascus, and especialy Tehran. The Israelis feel that the Beirut airport would amount to an open gateway to allow the transportation of more Hezbollah fighters and equipement. This is the reason as well they have attempted to blockade the country’s ports, stopping just long enough to allow American and French forces to safely, and as swiftly as possible, remove their citizens from the country, as many as are able to be removed at any one given time.

No place in Lebannon is safe. This is true not only of southern Lebannon, which is where the vast majority of Hezbollah forces and personnel are situated, but also in Beirut, which itself has taken quite a pounding over the last few days.

But over and above all of this, there are other reasons, more personal to the group and it’s members, that they should at least temporarily postpone this concert. And that is, quite simply, they could be turning themselves into targets.

During it’s heyday, beginning in 1967, Deep Purple was one of those British rock bands that were considered among the giants. Even before they turned really heavy, when they churned out such hits as “Hush”, a cover of a Joe South song, as well as a cover of Neil Diamonds “Kentucky Woman”, they quickly estsablished themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the music industry.

After several changes of personnel, after which they ended up with such musical titans as Ritchie Blackmoor on lead guitar, and Gillian on lead vocals, they quickly adopted a heavier sound. In fact, at one time, in the early seventies, they were, along with Black Sabbath and Ledd Zeppellin, considered one of the top three heavy metal groups of rock. This was during the time of such monster hits as “Smoke On The Water”, “My Woman From Tokyo”, “Highway Star”, and “Child In Time”.

They were so popular at one time, in fact, that one night, when opening a show for the group Cream, it resulted in the latter, known as the worlds first “supergroup”, being booed off the stage, amidst demands for Purple to return to the stage.

This popularity didn’t last forever, of course, and due mainly to creative tensions and dissents, particularly an unfortunate rivalry between Blackmoor and Gillian, there was another change of personnel, resulting in Gillian being replaced by David Coverdale (later of Whitesnake). There was still some success, notably in such songs as “Burn” and “Mistreated”, but for the most part the overall output, with some exceptions, was not of the former quality. There would never be anything to rival the popularity and influence of the album “Machine Head”, and eventually this group fell apart as well, resulting in a temporary reunion of Blackmoor and Gilian. After some time, it became obvious it wasn’t going to work out, and this time it was Blackmoor who left the group.

Now, Blackmoor is involved in a Renaissance Band with his wife. Oddly enough, this group from time to time performs “Child In Time”, which I mention only because, if you were to hear the song, you would think the last thing it would be adaptable with would be Renaissance.

At any rate, while Blackmoor is trying to reinvent the distant past, Ian Gillian and the remainder of Deep Purple has been one of those never say die aging rock bands who keep trying to improve on past success, and remain creative. To this end, they seem determined to continue with their Space Trucking around the globe. A new release is due out soon, and in the meantime, they seem to be as popular, as in demand, as ever. And that is where the problem for them comes in.

They might be well seen by some Middle East factions as perfect examples of decadent Western culture. Gillian especially might be a target. This is not so much for his role in Deep Purple as it is due to his past association with the rock musical “Jesus Christ Superstar”. In the movie, he played Christ, and sung on the album that resulted from this Braodway and Hollywood film megahit.

This might cause him to be looked at with revulsion not only by extremist Islamic factions, but by more conservative Christian factions as well. I fear that by holding this concert, in the middle of what can be described in no other terms but a war zone, Gillian and the group are inviting far more than just strident criticism, they are leaving themselves open to assault. The targeting of the stadium in Beirut by not so much Hezbollah fanatics, but by other Muslim extremsits, who might well hope to further fan the flames of strife and division for their own purposes, would be only one possible example. Such an attack by agents of Assad in Syria, for example, could well result in the complete destabilization, even the final collapse, of the fledgling Lebanese democracy , which is more than anything what the Syria government could use as an excuse to assert their authority over the region.

Or, it could lead to a hostage situation. After all, Lebanon has had no power over Hezbollah in it’s own borders. That is what has caused this problem to begin with, the idea that Hezbollah, with impunity, has been able to attack the Israelis from within the country where, in fact, they hold about 24 seats in the Parliament, and where they have maintained their power by providing social services the Lebanese government has been unable to provide. Lebanon has been helpless to do anything about them, and they are even more helpless now. How can they be expected to provide security for a concert such as this, a major cultural event which is sure to attract notice?

Gillian has gone on record as stating that the group owes it to their fans to hold the concert if at all possible. I would suggest that if he is truly that devoted to his fans-and I have no reason to doubt that he is-then he might want to consider their safety. A stadium full of devoted Arab fans, most of them Christian, many if not most of them teenagers, in attendance at what many would consider a decadent infidel western rock group, might make too tempting a target to pass up-even during relatively better times.