The lead singer tends to get the lion’s share of the spotlight in rock ‘n’ roll,
but the gig does have its drawbacks, including the question of what to do with yourself onstage while your bandmates are soloing. During Deep Purple‘s days of extended live jamming, singer Ian Gillan came up with a distinctive solution.
“I love extended solos,” chuckled Gillan in a recent interview. “I used to like them in the old days a lot, because it used to give me time to go to the pub for a drink.”
And Gillan isn’t using a euphemism, either — during Purple’s early club days, when they booked shows in small venues that tended to be next door to pubs, he’d really sneak off stage and out of the building while guitarist Ritchie Blackmore did his thing. He said he’d always put one of the roadies on solo watch: “‘When [Blackmore] looks like he’s nearly finished, come to the pub and let me know.’ Every night. I’m serious.”
