What: Deep Purple

Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre

When: Saturday (doors 6: 30 p.m., show 7: 30 p.m.)

Tickets: $65, $75, $85 (250 220-7777)

The temptation is to ask, you know - that question.

What's it like to be still playing Smoke on the Water four decades after the song was released?

But before a reporter gets the chance, Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover reveals his two most despised journalistic queries.

"They are, 'Don't you get tired of playing Smoke on the Water? And what's the highlight of your career?' I hate questions like that," he said recently from his home near Zurich, Switzerland.

OK. Never mind.

In some ways, Smoke on the Water is a victim of its monstrous success. The opening three chords - duh, duh, duh! - are arguably the most famous in rock. They signal the approach of heavy rock overload, of heads banging in unison. Or, if you're unlucky, it's the sound of a teen novice trying out electric guitars in a music store.

Smoke on the Water (based on the true story of a concert fire in Switzerland) is from Machine Head, the seminal 1972 album that signalled Deep Purple was an ear-splitting force to be reckoned with. With this recording, the English hard-rock act jettisoned most of its artrock pretensions (e.g. the 1969 album Concerto for Group and Orchestra) to focus on power chords and frenzied solos mixed with bar-band boogie.

Tracks such as Smoke on the Water, Highway Star and Space Truckin' became instant eighttrack staples. For a heady time, Deep Purple challenged even Led Zeppelin's supremacy in the rock heaviosity department.

It was not music for the faint of heart. Deep Purple once made the Guinness Book of World Records in the category of "loudest pop group."

A tremendously successful band unique for its overdriven organ flourishes, Deep Purple was regularly plagued by Spinal-Tappish infighting. Key members came and went. Devotees still weigh in on their favourite version of the group, with different incarnations being designated Mark I, II, III and IV.

Most - with fists in the air - will agree that Mark II totally ruled. The version of Deep Purple playing Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre Saturday retains a good chunk of that definitive lineup. The 2012 Purple includes Glover, singer Ian Gillan and drummer Ian Paice.

Keyboardist Jon Lord and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore are replaced by Don Airey (who joined in 2002) and Steve Morse (who joined in 1994), respectively.

Welsh-born Glover, now a 66-year-old grandfather, says the secret to keeping things interesting is to approach Deep Purple's oft-played hits like jazz standards. In concert, the songs are recognizable; however, each player has the freedom to change their parts, especially during solos. And because many audience members have never experienced Deep Purple in concert, their reaction keeps it fresh for the musicians.

"When you're on stage, you're still the 19-year-old boy you once were, in thrall with the music," Glover said. "I probably enjoy it more than I did before."

Back in the early 1970s, Deep Purple toured relentlessly. In 1972 alone, the band undertook six tours of North America and a tour of Japan - and wrote an album. Overwork sapped their joy, with the band folding (albeit temporarily) in 1976.

"Now, every night I step on stage I value it immensely. [Performing] is something very few people get to experience, therefore I can't take it for granted," Glover said.

"That's the only time when there's no distractions. There's no phone calls, there's no computers, there's no family, there's no children. There's nothing except for your music and the audience. - It's a lovely moment in time, and you're so in the moment. You brain is whizzing along at light speed, because you react to what the others are playing. It's a moving, liquid thing. You keep it together as possible, and also as expressive as possible."

There is talk of a new studio album from Deep Purple. On the phone, Glover jokingly dismissed this "vicious rumour."

There is truth to it, however. Last year the band got together for two weeks at a studio in Spain, jamming and creating rough ideas for a dozen new songs, he said.

"How it pans out I can't tell you because I don't know," Glover added. "We work in a way that may be baffling to other people. We do things in our time. There's no use in forcing it."

Older and greyer, Glover nonetheless remains slim and trim. Asked whether he maintains a fitness regime, he laughed. He is, after all, still a rock 'n' roll star.

"I'm not really an exercise person. I should be," he said. "I work out on stage. Two hours every night is like two hours in a gym. It is physical."

achamberlain@timescolonist.com