Deep Purple began the European leg of their world tour on Tuesday 29 September 2026, with a concert at Arena 8888 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Audience footage of the entire concert was uploaded online by Kalin Filipov.
The band played 15 songs in a performance that lasted about an hour and a half. After the intro «Mars, The Bringer Of War» from Gustav Holst’s «The Planets», they opened with «Highway Star» and closed the evening with «Hush» and «Black Night».
The setlist included three songs from their latest album, «Splat!» — «Arrogant Boy», «Sacred Land» and «Diablo» — as well as «A Bit On The Side» and «Lazy Sod» from the 2024 record «=1». Classics such as «Lazy», «Perfect Strangers», «Space Truckin’» and «Smoke On The Water» were also heard. The support in Sofia was members of the Bulgarian band Jayler.
«Splat!», Deep Purple’s 24th studio album, was released on 3 July by earMUSIC. It is their sixth work with producer Bob Ezrin, who has signed every one of their records since «Now What?!» in 2013, and the second with guitarist Simon McBride, who replaced Steve Morse in 2022. The band described it as «the heaviest Deep Purple album in many years», and it reached No. 3 in Germany and No. 2 in Austria.
The current line-up of Deep Purple is Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Don Airey and Simon McBride. The tour started in Japan and now continues in Europe.
See also: Deep Purple – SPLAT! and Ian Gillan: The secret to Deep Purple’s longevity is not chasing trends.
