The following report is courtesy of Ruma Singh from The Times Of India:

The city gets set to give DEEP PURPLE a super welcome - one they will never forget!

When Bangalore techie Mahesh Srinivas mentioned by chance that he'd been a Deep Purple fan the last 30 years, he didn't expect to be roped in to help with the hospitality for the band's forthcoming visit to the city.

Mahesh is part of a team that's working to ensure the band doesn't forget their two-day stay here. The hotel where they will be staying is pulling out the stops to make things memorable. From a purple theme at the hotel's restaurants and bar, to lilac and purple aromatherapy candles, soaps and cosmetics.

The music they'll listen to is important, too. "We discovered they like Indian fusion music, especially Mahavishnu, which has been a big influence on Steve Morse. We'll place CDs in their rooms," says general manager PK Mohankumar.

Here's where Mahesh's expertise has proved invaluable. "Being a Deep Purple specialist, he's told us about the politically correct songs from their repertoire, as the band has regrouped several times with different members," he says. Other goodies: evening turndowns including purple and violet-themed bath salts, wine, cognac and cheese chosen to their specific preferences. Southpaw Ian Paice will find his room set for a leftie. Steve Morse, a prolific writer, will find writing material in his, should he be inspired to put pen to paper.

Roger Glover, who loves painting abstracts, will find an easel and paints in his room, while sporty Ian Gillan will find the latest sports magazines in his and a sports bike in his porch, says Ritu Chawla, assistant manager, accommodation. "We're going to download photographs of their family members to frame for their bedside tables, since they're been on tour for a long time," she says. Ritu is creating monogrammed robes for them in pure Bangalore silk, as well as silk scarves and stoles. "These will look great even on suits later on," she says.

The meals planned for the band includes sweets flavoured with "˜Fireball' rum, kasturi and cashew feni, cocktails and dishes named after their hit songs, and an exclusive South Indian breakfast with idlis, dosas, vadas, gunda and moode, and pesarattu. Lunch options vary from meen moily with appams (a favourite with foreign stars), Karwari prawns and Coorg roast chicken.

With their experience in catering to the superstars, they are taking care to do things right. "We put out only Sting music when he was there "” in the lobby, restaurants, his room, even on his phone. While his band manager loved it, Sting found it a little too much. He loves Krishna trance-style music, so we added that when he visited the bar. That's why we've researched the Indian fusion music Deep Purple likes," says director, corporate communications, Rakhee Lalvani.