Ian Gillan John McCoy Janick
Gers
Mick Underwood Colin Towns
The webmaster, north Bucks:
One of the planned last gigs by Ian Gillan due to apparent voice
issues. I’d seen him at Friars in 1980 and he was superb. Fast forward to
this Thursday night to this farewell tour (which included Wembley Arena)
and a surprisingly poor crowd (rumoured to be financially damaging for
Friars) saw a half decent gig, but if it had only been 1980 then this
would have been a far more fitting way to remember him.
A popular turn at Friars, it was no surprise
that Gillan made four headlining appearances including the 1982 date on
his farewell tour as he had been advised that his voice could be under
threat. Gillan the band fell apart and subsequently (after vocal cord
surgery) went on to front a reformed Deep Purple who still tour to this
day.
