On April 3, 1975 the Mk III line-up of Purple - guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, frontman David Coverdale, bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, keyboard player Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice - played a concert at the Liebenauer ice rink, located on the outskirts of mountain-cradled Graz, Austria's second largest city after Vienna.
Enthused by Purple's arrival in town, the local press dubbed the concert 'das Rockereignis des Jahres [the rock event of the year]'. And it was - in more ways than one.