Tommy Shaw of STYX guested on the DEEP PURPLE classic 'Smoke On The Water at the Wembley Arena on April 28th (THIN LIZZY was also on the bill). He has posted his impressions at Styxworld.com:

"Before I knew it, I was heading for the stage again to sit in with Deep Purple. It was sweet to see all our people watching from the wings. I waited for the last notes of 'Highway Star' and climbed the stairs to where Jimmy was waiting with guitar in hand. The rest was somewhat surreal. Steve (Morse) and I traded some riffs back and forth, and soon we were in this zone which I had not anticipated. Steve Morse was so accommodating and open, it was not a duel, but more of a conversation, picking up on themes, repeating, elaborating, and letting it lead to the next one. I had to keep reminding myself that I was on the stage. It was a real treat. Soon we were playing the classic guitar intro to “Smoke On The Water.” Traveling back 35 years to when I first heard that song in my hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, to standing on stage between Steve Morse and Ian Gillan, I couldn’t stop myself from being a fan. But there was still playing to do, and when the chorus came around, Steve nudged Ian to have me sing the harmony with him. Since there’s only one vocal mic on their stage, we sang it on his mic together. I could hear him singing acoustically and could tell our voices blended well together, but then again, I’d been singing that part with him in my car for 35 years. Legendary bassist Roger Glover, who obviously has sold his soul so that he can remain eternally young, joined in and Steve, myself and he became the three man wall of guitars on stage left. It could not have been more fun and soon it was over and I was shaking their hands and walking back down the stairs to all the crew, band mates and family members who were smiling ear to ear. Another one for the 'I’ll never forget this night' file."

(Thanks Thehighwaystar.com)