Smoke on the Water

December 4, 1971 - This was the night that the historic Montreux Casino on the shore of Lake Geneva, Switzerland burned to the ground.

It was during a Frank Zappa and the Mothers concert that a fan fired a flare gun into the ceiling and started the blaze. Amazingly, nobody was seriously hurt.

The band Deep Purple happened to be in Montreux and the fire inspired them to write the song, "Smoke on the Water."

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 and 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, fire in the sky...

The casino was rebuilt and continued to the be the main venue for the Montreux Jazz Festival until 1993.