In a new interview with the Finnish publication Chaoszine, DEEP PURPLE vocalist Ian Gillan has answered the question of whether he and his bandmates will be participating in any fan meetings during the upcoming world tour:
“My opinion on that is different than anybody else’s. The other guys are doing these VIP meetings. I’m not a big fan of them myself. I like to meet regular fans, not rich fans. It’s all commercial procedure.
We have to learn to live with this thing [he means the pandemic]. I think everybody’s heard it a hundred times. If we don’t meet people because we think they might have a cold or the flu or some political views that we don’t agree with, and if we’re afraid we might get infected, we should stop living if we find ourselves in that position.
I should, of course, meet people, accept them, shake their hands, hug them. That’s what life is all about, as I see it.
I think this pandemic is over, there are little fragments of it left. And I think it will wind down this winter. I think let it run its course. Like everything else, it has mutated enough times to weaken. And I think we just have to learn to live with it, as many have said.
So let’s get on with it and shake hands and play rock and roll!”
