The following story is courtesy of David Brinn from Jpost.com:

Until this weekend's bombshell that PAUL MCCARTNEY was going to perform in Israel in September, the title of the season's biggest rock musical event fell on the unlikely 40-year-old shoulders of DEEP PURPLE.

Bassist Roger Glover plays to the hilt in the group once entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's loudest band. Unlikely because, let's face it, the British hard rock pioneers haven't exactly been tearing up the charts since… about 1971. And unlikely because despite forging a dense, prototype heavy metal sound exemplified by their signature tune "Smoke on the Water," the band never really received the critical respect afforded brethren like LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK SABBATH.

But none of that has prevented music fans here from rescuing the band from the old rockers retirement home and adopting them as 2008's rock saviors. Not only has the band booked three shows at the Caesarea Amphitheater on September 7, 8 and a return engagement on September 18, but they've added an even larger show at The Hangar in Tel Aviv on September 9. Clearly, when Israelis think "purple," they're not thinking about PRINCE.

It's a far cry from the band's last visit in 1995, when they played one show which ended in shambles when then-guitarist Ritchie Blackmore walked off stage in mid-song, apparently miffed at day-glo lights being waved by audience members.

"It's very gratifying to find out that we're so popular in Israel," said drummer Ian Paice, one of three members of the band from their legendary Machine Head days, and the only band member who's been with them since their mid-1960s presuperstar pop days of "Hush" and "Lalena."
"We're not the most fashionable unit touring out there in the world. We're not spring chickens, but the shows we're putting on are among the best we've ever done," Paice told The Jerusalem Post from London, where the band was playing last week.

"That filters around to fans, they talk to each other on chats and websites, and I think that our continued success has something to do with that."

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