“I woke up with those words, ‘Smoke on the Water’, on my lips. I mentioned it to Ian and he said, ‘Sounds like a drug song, we better not do that’”: Deep Purple just played Smoke on the Water on the lake that inspired it – with actual fire in the sky

The band, which now features guitarist Simon McBride, recently returned to Montreux, the site of the 1971 casino fire depicted in the lyrics of their iconic track

Deep Purple have paid homage to Smoke on The Water‘s origins by returning to where it all started. On July 8, the band performed their iconic track at the 58th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival, on a brand-new stage built over Lake Geneva.

As the classic rock legends – who now count guitarist Simon McBride among their ranks – played the instantly recognizable riff to an audience of 5,000, the curtain at the back of the stage dropped to reveal the lake and a setup of actual fire – and smoke – on the water.

Frontman Ian Gillan then instructed the crowd to take over singing duties for a crowd sing-along moment. This performance marked the 10th time Deep Purple have performed at the festival.

In 1971, the band was in a casino in Montreux, recording what would be 1972’s Machine Head, using The Rolling Stones’ mobile studio.

On the eve of the recording session, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were playing in the casino’s theater. However, at the beginning of King Kong‘s synth solo, someone fired a flared gun towards the ceiling, and the casino caught fire – alongside the Mothers’ equipment.

“It burned all afternoon, all evening, all through the night. We went and looked at it the next morning, and there it was, gone. It was a frightening thing,” recalled bassist Roger Glover, as transcribed by The Standard.