London.
THE Heep
Weekend!
To the song Lady in Black.....a new verse for
John Lawton.
Well, I
came down to London town.
To see Uriah Heep,
To make a little party,
With very little sleep.
When John and Steve take to the stage,
The time it never drags,
John keeps his voice in trim, he says,
with Jack Daniels and
some fags.......................Stop it!
Mr. Lawton at a very crowded Borderline, went
down a storm. So I am told. I missed it I am ashamed to say but the feedback was VERY
good.
FRIDAY
I arrived at the Hilton (Heep festival) after
the press conference but in time to have a chat with Mick,Bernie,Phil and John
before the Classic Rock Sales Awards. This was conducted by Tommy Vance
(in excellent form) and nice to see the people who promote Heep
recognised in front of fans.
After lunch came the search for the world's biggest
Heep fan. A bit of fun really, hosted again by Mr. Vance. This culminated in Mr.
Rentrop ,myself and one other.(sorry,didn't get your name) being put in
front of the gathered masses, with blow up air guitars and asked to
perform Stealin' like Mick Box. WELL.....the air guitarists really went for it. The
crowd stood as one and cheered like it was Heep they were watching. The WHOLE room was shaking! Louis got the biggest cheer and
hence won the coveted Heep jacket. The remaining sad acts got consolation
prizes. I got a few compliments at the party on my prowess. One guy said I
was out of tune!!
Mr. Caruthers then brought the day to a close.
Long ,long queue for the Empire.
Inside, John Lawton appeared on stage and announced
an addition to Heep.Stella and Trevor Hensley took to the stage. Stella
looked out at 2,500 of us and just said...wow! These guys found out they
were going on at 1 pm on the same day! How's that for a stress free life? They
were20 great...respect! nice people too)
VERY long wait for Heep till just gone 9pm but
as
always...worth the wait.
Trevor striding up to his mike.
Lee and Phil settled into position.
Bernie from the right, stalking the centre
stage.
One take Box, grinning like a Cheshire cat, greeted
the family. is it my imagination or is the family getting bigger?)
Return to Fantasy hit the air and the crowd roared
it's approval. Similar set to York to begin with and a very up for it Uriah Heep.
I looked back at the crowd..amazing.Looked in the
circle and saw Mr. Caruthers with THE biggest smile on his face and I
laughed.The band were delivering.
Mick tossed an imaginary ball to Lee (mid song), Lee
threw it to Phil and he deposited it in an equally imaginary basket.
Logical Progression, Mistress of all Time, I'll
keep
on Tryin',
and the mega Magicians Birthday were the high points.Mr Van Leer of Focus
fame joined them on flute. Quite a presence on stage he is. When Bernie signalled
Mr. Hensley to join us.....well, what an occasion.
It was such a funny feeling watching Heep with Ken
on stage too.
Life takes us all in different directions , we
can't ever turn the clock back and the Heep now is THE Heep but I did
think...Ken's come home. Albeit for a visit. The backdrop flashed up
pictures throughout the gig and several times single pictures of David
Byron (nice touch). It all felt good. (there were no Gary Thain
pictures...would have bin even nicer touch)
John Lawton joined us. It was so great to watch him
and Bernie work together.
Sympathy with Ken and Mick on guitars was a joy
BUT....Free and easy was electric and so powerful. Never heard it played so
fast. neither had John, he said later)
This was such a memorable gig.
Encores done, band gone and Dave Owen appears.
Er...bit of a problem. Pip Williams in the recording
truck is unhappy with 3 of the songs. Mistress of all Time, I'll keep on tryin'
and Sympathy). Is it ok If we do them again please.......ROARS of
approval.
Back they came..Mr Leer again on Mistress.
Band for tryin'
and back came Ken and John for Sympathy.
3 songs done, we wait for the verdict. Thumbs
up, Pips happy..........It's party time.
Everyone is at the bar for? WATER and plenty
of
it.
One memorable gig. Our band Delivered good
style.
The party went on till 2 am with a glam band, carol
singing (new words) and general soaking up the atmosphere.
Last word on the clown (drunk clown) who was
wandering through the crowd hassling people to let him through to the front (mid gig
too!!).Big mistake....he approached the Scottish contingent and the
hassling ceased with minimal damage incurred by clown or anyone else. He
ended up on the stage at the end but the gig was finished. A roadie threw
him off the stage. He's probably still there now.
Saturday.
Great 2nd day. Pip Williams (articulate, confident, so
into his craft and a Heep fan too) was very interesting. If you ever get the
chance to talk to him, please Roger Dean was up too and in different way
was fascinating to listen to also. We were interrupted by Mr. Box saying
they were off to Germany and goodbye.:-)
I smiled when Pip told the crowd that Mick was the
best guitarist he has worked with. Pip's no slouch on the guitar, so it was
nice to hear cos Mick gets little recognition.
John Lawton and Steve Dunning on guitar did an
acoustic
workshop.Songs,questions and at one stage a Heep choir on stage too for Lady
in Black. (yes...me too..I can't help it). Rain, with Steve on bass was
breathtakingly wonderful. Well done guys.
The Heep auction was masterfully conducted by Louis
Rentrop (you are one funny guy ,Mr. Rentrop). Bids stretched from £32 to
£600.(a magicians birthday print with all band signatures with Johns and Kens
too.)
Hensley/ Wetton
The gig started with Mostly Autumn. They hardly
got started. They are good and didn't have long enough. A few people said, so
what? They are only the support but..I bet they were disappointed. I was
disappointed for them too. See them if you can...worth it.
Atmospheric start with Ken in the spotlight on his
own on keyboard. The band joined him one by one and with a suitable delay came
John Wetton ,guitar in hand.
Ken looked relaxed, sticking his tongue out at the
crowd at the front in fun.
He was suffering with his voice as he was on Friday
too but he soldiered on and did not disappoint.
They played Easy Livin',One Way or Another and a few
Wetton
numbers that I am not familiar with. I was impressed by the 3 songs from
the Running Blind cd due for release on Feb 11th. (by Ken)
Encore was lady in Black and an absolutely electric
rendition of Asia's Heat of the Moment. The audience loved it too.
A good gig?.............yes.
A fantastic gig?........no. Not sure = why.
Did I enjoy it?..yes ,of course. It was good to see
them on stage (and the manic Dave Kilminster)
It would have been nice to see the Forum
fuller.
It was good if not classic.
Mid gig, a guy collapsed on the steps I was
standing
on.(drunken stupor I think) but the Heep emergency squad (mobile unit) was
ready and with some effort ,I hauled him to his feet and set him off again. I watched as he meandered through the
crowd. To where I do not know. Hope he got home safe.
The rest of Saturday was spent in the pub. How
did I
ever find my bed. God knows.
High points of the weekend?
1...HEEP
2.Saturdays acoustic session with John and
Steve.
3.Coming Home............WHY?
Well, if you read my York review you'll know it was
my son's first EVER rock gig and he loved it. When I got back I gave him the
yellow lunch box (from the air guitar episode) and told him it was from Heep to say thank you for making your first gig a Heep
gig. His face
was a picture. He opened it..a drinking cup with T-shirt inside and 4
cds.(acoustic,re-masters,future echoes and Astoria official bootleg) He
was sooo excited. I had a festival leaflet signed by Mick, Bernie and John.
He's had that TOO!!!
Lunchbox is on his windowsill in pride of place and
lady in Black went straight on the player with headphones.
You can never get enough Heep Dad, he said..LOL
A very complete weekend with a truly great bunch of
people from all over the world.
Ken Hensley on Saturday, thanked Dave Owen and
Bob
Caruthers from the stage.I echo that, especially Bob, a modest gentleman
(Dave too ) who has been a Heep fan from the early days and has been able
to put his energy and vision into moving Heep forward again
.Bob. take a bow.
A nicer guy you will never meet.
Jim Ferrie
NO SLEEP WITH URIAH
HEEP! 
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