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Deep Purple to play to full houses in Moscow, St. Petersburg

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MOSCOW, October 24 (RIA Novosti) - Ageing British rockers Deep Purple, one of the Russian president's favorite bands, are expected to play to full houses in Russia as part of their 40th anniversary tour, a tour PR spokesman said on Friday.

Vladimir Zubitsky said the band, with a collective age of 297, are currently on the Russian leg of their Rapture of the Deep tour and are due to play in Moscow on October 27 and St. Petersburg on October 28.

"The tour is going well, all tickets are almost sold out and we are expecting a full house," Zubitsky said.

One of the group's more high-profile fans is Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

In an interview last year with the Russian magazine Itogi, Medvedev boasted of his collection of Deep Purple LPs, saying that he had searched for the vinyl albums for many years.

"Not reissues, but the original albums," he said.

Last year, Deep Purple, which was formed in 1968, gave a private performance at Russian energy giant Gazprom's 15th anniversary celebrations. Medvedev, who was sworn in as president this May, was the company's board chairman at the time.

Many ageing British groups enjoy great success in Russia and ex-Soviet states.

The most remarkable story of all is perhaps that of the northern English pop band Smokie. All but forgotten in their homeland, the group regularly fills stadiums across the former Soviet Union, and was even invited to play at this year's inauguration of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

During the Soviet era, many rock groups were banned by the authorities. However, an official "blacklist" handed out to the leaders of Soviet youth groups in 1985 did not include Deep Purple. Many other famous rock groups were listed though, such as AC/DC (Neo-fascism), Alice Cooper (Vandalism), Black Sabbath (Religious obscurantism), and the Talking Heads (Propagation of the myth of the Soviet military threat).

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