Even Purple Avoids Trouble This Deep

Deep Purple hung on to the last minute before canceling its appearance at Baalbeck, Lebanon, only pulling out when the Israeli bomb and missile barrage spread to that city.

“The band and the festival have agreed it’s best not to go,” Agency Group chief Neil Warnock told Pollstar after Liza Minelli and Lebanese diva Fairouz canceled their summer shows.

A day earlier (July 17th), the band put out a statement saying the rockers were determined to go through with the trip, but that was before violence spread to the Baalbec area.

The act was due to play the annual Baalbeck International Festival, which runs through July and August, as part of its two-year world tour to support its Rapture of The Deep album. Newswires suggest the date will be rescheduled.

Since January, they have visited South America, Australia and many European countries. They will spend a month in Russia in October, followed by South America.

At press time, it wasn’t possible to discover if the organizers intended to continue with the festival or cancel.

– John Gammon