• 1971 – During a concert by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at the Montreux Casino, an audience member fires a flare gun into the ceiling, causing a fire that destroys the venue. The incident served as the inspiration for Deep Purple's 1973 song Smoke on the Water.

Montreux Casino

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History


The casino—originally called "Kursaal"—in the early 20th century

Montreux Casino was built in 1881 and was modified in 1903. Throughout the 20th century, the site hosted many great symphony orchestras and well-known conductors. By the late 1960s, jazz, blues and rock artists began to perform there.

In 1967, the casino became the venue for the Montreux Jazz Festival, which was started by music promoter Claude Nobs. The three-day festival was held there annually and featured performers such as Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Evans, Nina Simone, Jan Garbarek, Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald. Originally featuring almost exclusively jazz artists, in the 1970s the festival began to include blues, soul, and rock artists such as Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd and Deep Purple.

1971 fire

On December 4, 1971, Montreux Casino was destroyed by a fire that began during a concert by the Mothers of Invention after a fan had shot a flare gun. A recording of the outbreak and fire announcement can be found on a Frank Zappa bootleg album titled Swiss Cheese/Fire!

English rock group Deep Purple, who had planned to record Machine Head at the venue, were forced to seek an alternate recording location. Their song "Smoke on the Water" was written about the incident:

We all came out to Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline / To make records with a mobile - We didn't have much time / Frank Zappa & the Mothers were at the best place around / But some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground / Smoke on the water, a fire in the sky...

Frank Zappa calmly urged the concert attendees to evacuate, and the fire brigade was on scene in less than five minutes. The fire quickly spread out of control but, due to the orderly evacuation and the swift assistance of firefighters, no one was killed in the incident.

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