“It was among the most amazing moments of my life,” Ian Gillan says of his naked performance in a see-through poncho.

I remember doing a show in Germany, a solo show with an orchestra. It was a disaster. It was in a mining facility [with] huge machinery. It was like a science fantasy kind of background, a Ferropolis, it was called in Germany. They have big festivals there sometimes. It was a disaster. It was raining and they sold no tickets. Should have held 20,000 people. There were 200 or 300 [people] there. The promoter put the seats a long way from the stage. There was no cover on the stage. There were no monitors. There were no lights — just one white light on the stage. One caravan for me. Nothing for the orchestra or the musicians. The rain was coming down. We reached halftime. Everything was terrible. They’re all sheltering under the stage, wet with their instruments. I’m sitting naked in my caravan. My P.A. [personal assistant] comes in. My clothes are drenched. She said, ‘Oh, they’re making a fortune out there’ — she’s joking, ‘they’re selling ponchos. Look, I bought one for you.’ It’s like they have at Niagara Falls when you get on the boat, and they’re just transparent plastic ponchos. I said, ‘That’s what I’m wearing on stage for the second half of the show.’ So she said, ‘I dare you.’ I said, ‘Okay, I will.’ So I walked out naked on the stage, apart from this plastic poncho, which was transparent. And the orchestra got up, and they realized what was going on, and they started playing with fire. And we had just the most wonderful time because we were laughing at the rain, we were laughing at the circumstances. And the audience all got out of their seats — there weren’t many of them — and they all came to the front of the stage, and suddenly we were all entwined in this thing.