2009's first gig saw Deep Purple as a headliner band on the World Ski Championship. After this one-off show they quickly moved to South America. Although Ian Gillan caught a flu and was extremely ill, with the 11 dates in South America Deep Purple sold over 250,000 tickets (including 150 000 tickets at Cosquin Rock festival, 50,000 at Antofagasta's velodrome, 20,000 tickets at two sold-out shows at Luna Park Stadium and 15,000 tickets at two sold-out shows at São Paulo's Via Funchall hall). Ian Gillan released a special video message about his illness, as fans were worried by his vocal conditions caused by the flu.