YORK 2001 (October
actually)
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Would you welcome the UK's
finest, and the Worlds best.
URIAH HEEP!
This was destined to be one of THE most exciting
gigs for me. I first saw Heep in '73 on the Magicians Birthday Tour in Glasgow and I
remember (my first gig) what a wonderful experience it was. Heep were
great that night. Even though I had all 5 albums up to Magicians Birthday (and
including) ,the live experience was what cemented the lifelong relationship I
was to have with the band and their music. York saw me in the
company of my eldest son (11) Alasdair. This was his FIRST ever gig,
just
like my first Heep gig was. I have seen them so often since '73 and they
were always superb. The last 2 years have been busy for them AND us fans.
The Arrival.
As Alasdair and I were touring the streets of York
to get our bearings, we saw what appeared to be a plain clothes traffic warden
directing a vehicle into a tight parking place on the street.Mr Kerslake
was doing a fine traffic controllers job. We said hi to Mr. Lanzon who
seemed surprised at being greeted milliseconds after his feet touched the
pavement. We shook hands. He explained that they had just arrived. I said
how much we were looking forward to the night ahead, wished him good luck
and moved on. I stopped again to explain to Alasdair who was who. Lee on
controller duty, Mick in the vehicle awaiting final touchdown and Phil of
course.Alasdair couldn't believe that we had met them just like that. I explained that the band were not kept in boxes like vampires
between
shows and that they did have lots of other things to do. Giggles from Alasdair
at the thought of this.
Mostly Autumn.
They started us off at 7.45 prompt within the most
impressive York Opera House with it's boxes and ornate decorations. It was
like being at a gig inside a wedding cake.
They were excellent.
The lead guitarist and keyboard player (we liked him
lots) in particular but I could dwell on each member.
The animated bass player, driving competence of the
drummer, the restrained but note perfect rhythm guitarist and finally the
lady on flute and vocals who was excellent too.
Oh yes. Heather on vocals and a few other
things.Yes,she was excellent too and looked very good.
Heroes Never Die, Shrinking Violet and Mother Nature
(an
anthem? not sure what you meant Heather) all came over strongly and stick in
the mind.
I look forward to seeing them again in December.
they left the stage to spirited applause.
URIAH HEEP
Now, the minutes ticked slowly in the VERY hot venue
as we waited for our band to take the stage.
Finally at 9.20,the safety curtain went up. It
then tried to come down again but some eagle eyed person spotted it and up it
went
again.
Darkness descended to muted cheers.
Phil came first...ready.
Lee climbed into the driving seat, settled in the
black, sticks poised, adjustments made...ready.
Trevor, appears by the mike to the right of the
audience as usual as if by magic, Trace Elliots fired and.....ready.
Mick and Bernie almost together,Micks hands raised
to audience welcomes.....ready.
Bernie prowling the stage of darkness, the odd flash
reflecting off his hair and vest....ready.
LIGHTS...Wham.....RETURN TO FANTASY.
Take off, clean and swift. The climb to operating
height
effortless and almost immediate.
They just kick ass like no others.
UNIVERSAL WHEELS kicks in.
This show was quite different from most I've seen
and you can see that from the track listing. in no particular order and I probably
missed a couple. I hope not.
Return to Fantasy
Universal Wheels
Logical Progression
Sweet Sugar (I'm sure they played it. didn't
they?.....................................postscript...NO they didn't, on good
authority)
Sweet Pretender
I hear Voices
Stealin'
I'll Keep on Tryin' (I couldn't believe it
either.....mouth fell open 
Gypsy (bit of a surprise this one!)
Look at yourself
July Morning
Magicians Birthday ( The Whole thing...soooooooooooooooo
good)
Sunrise
Only the Young
Between Two Worlds
Bird of Prey (encore 1)
Easy Livin'(encore 1)
Bird of Prey (encore 2)
Now, I do like the old stuff BUT I do like to think I
am a forward looking fan and so I always say I like the new stuff equally if
not more so BUT....I'll Keep On Tryin' was just such a surprise and it
sounded so good. Really mega stuff. Never heard it live before. It was
superb.
There was a small gap in proceedings as young Mr
Kerslake (to quote Bernie) lost his monitors and couldn't hear anything. He carried
on with one functioning.Mr Magician Box then launched into Magicians
Birthday (kazoo and all) Yes..the whole damn thing. The lead section saw
Mick and Lee left alone on stage and it was just wonderful to listen to. I
haven't listened to it for a while (too busy listening and watching all
the recent output). It was just awesome. Well done guys...nice surprise. Sweet
Pretender is a good song and also somewhat of a surprise.
Hey Folks! It took till we got to the last song
(Bird of Prey) before Mick got out his acoustic.
It really was a truly Electrically Driven
night.
Alasdair had a great view of the stage from the
circle, right in the centre.
Bernie looked great and was really in fine voice. YOU
sir get better with every gig I see.
Trevor played a blinder too, excellent (nice
threads too)
Lee is just so in command of that kit.Brilliant.Such
a
presence.
Phil sounded great too and even got the audience
clapping at one stage.
Mick......Mr. Happy,Mr Cool...Mr a lot more up =front
this time out and we liked it. He just so enjoys himself (they all do)
The whole band looked really pleased with themselves
as Land of Hope and Glory blared out the speakers.
How was Alasdair? Dog Tired actually.Not used to
being out so late.He did well but I had to wait till morning to get a response
from him.
SO, the gig was perfect? Er,well no actually. The
audience were very strange.Firstly,I detected a very much older than normal
contingent (some blue rinses?), I assume drawn by the varied styles of
Slightly Autumn (I know it's mostly ;-) Certainly ,in the circle, they would not get on their
feet and some in the row in front actually left
early!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One guy in front of me never moved
hardly all night. I saw his finger tap at one stage. Bernie tried to get the
stalls on their feet but I couldn't see how successful he was. He certainly failed in the
circle. Weird...like very weird feeling.
Anyway, it didn't seem to put the band off and the
two of us had a ball anyway.
URIAH HEEP.........thank you for another
great night.
On this occasion, the last words go to my
son.
The Younger Opinion.
Alasdair says..........
Mostly Autumn were good but not as good as Heep.I
enjoyed them but no-one's as good as Heep.THEY were very very very good. Extremely
good but I got a bit tired towards the end. I liked all the songs and I
thought Micks Endless Love joke was VERY funny.
I might like to go to another Heep gig.
I think we have a new Heep fan. After a good nights
sleep, we set off home.
We listened (at his insistence) to remasters for the
3 hour journey home (actually 2 hours and 50 mins exactly, cos he timed it)
interspersed with a little Astoria Electrically Driven thrown in for good measure.
I look forward to London in two weeks time.
Well done guys!
Forget the rest, cos we're with the best!
THERE IS NO SLEEP
WITH URIAH HEEP!
Jim Ferrie.
comments welcome at
jim_ferrie@hotmail.com
See you all in December.
Stay cool.