Uriah
Heep in Holland in the middle of summer – that was something new! Long before
the show was held, we realised we would be in Holland when Heep played in
Helmond. Unusual because, being a teacher, most of the time we are abroad that
time of year! However, this year Leo and I managed to do a lot of travelling
during the school year due to leave I had saved – so by August 1 our big
travels through the Pacific Northwest of the USA as well as a part of the west
in Canada were sweet memories.
Summer,
by the way is a bit of an understatement – one heat wave after another made
Holland a tropical country all of a sudden and the day Heep played at Helmond
was the first tropical day of many to come. Leo was scheduled to work that
evening, but of course had requested the day off. Well, as it WAS the high
season, that turned out to be a problem. Only on the day of the concert he would
know whether he would be able to make it to the concert.
Unfortunately his boss
decided he had to come and work – too many people on holiday and too much
work. Still, Leo was hopeful – he would have to start work at 3.15pm and
thought he might have a chance to leave work after the first shift – that way
he would still be just in time for the show. He would take his concert ticket
with him and I’d go to Helmond on my own. Later that afternoon it was made
clear that there was no way he would be able to leave earlier – i.e. a big
bummer!! Sure, we have seen Heep countless times but missing out on a show that
is only about an hour away from home IS hard to accept!
I arrived at the venue
at the time the doors had just been opened – I was glad to see Dave and Yvonne
– long time no see and plenty to chat about! As I had the chance to talk to
the band before they were on, I decided to phone Leo on my cell phone – some
comfort for the working guy, although poor comfort, that he could at least
exchange a few words with the band. He was sure surprised! Everyone who writes a
review about seeing Heep live has the problem that is very hard to describe in
words WHY it is so special – but it is!
This band has, ever since I first saw
them in 1984, managed to connect to an audience – their enthusiasm, their
passion for music – everyone in an audience feels it and has a great night!
There were about 400 people in Plato – a LOT as only 500 fit in and everyone
must have been happy that there were ‘just’ 400 – this because of the
temperatures – there is no doubt in my mind that it was 40 degrees Celsius or
more in the place.
I still remember that I talked to Yvonne and told her that I
would have preferred seeing Heep do a concert on the beach – after all, we
have plenty of them and with these tropical temperatures; that would have been
so much better! Once the band started playing everyone forgot about the heat and
simply let the fever take control – a great set of songs and for me a first
time to see them play “Seven Stars” and “Shadows of Grief” – both
excellent!
Even then I phoned Leo so he could at least hear some Heep tunes
while at work! Only after a couple of songs Trevor decided to take off his
jacket – when you’re holding a bass guitar at the same time, that is more
difficult than you think so a good opportunity for the rest of the band to start
playing a striptease tune….. Ha, someone should tell him to wear a cotton
shirt next time it is this hot – polyester T-shirts are NOT a good idea when
it is this hot!
A very good sound that night and talking to Charlie afterwards
she told me that Plato had a new PA system so she too was quite pleased! Yvonne
had sold a lot of merchandise and clearly everyone of the crowd was in a great
mood after seeing the band! Not long after the show the band was ready to talk
to their fans again and to my own surprise I got a phone call from Leo that he
was on his way to Helmond – he had missed the concert but didn’t want to
miss the opportunity to say hi to the band that bring so much fun in our lives!
He didn’t need the concert ticket for that, so now we do have a collector’s
item – a ticket with the control stub still attached! It was especially fun to
talk to Bernie as we had been to his hometown! Lots of people think it’s
Vancouver but it IS Victoria, on Vancouver Island – a great place where we had
spent 3 days – we got to see it in spring while Bernie only sees it at
Christmas. After some 45 minutes the band had to leave – that night they would
travel to Switzerland as they’d perform at a festival there the next night.
Driving home (each of us in our own car) we both thought the same: a new album?
more live shows? – more Heep any time!
Foto's van het Plato concert zijn
te zien op de site van Henk van Houwelingen:
Van de muzikantenwebsite
komt dit verslag: ( stond ook in het eindhovens dagblad)
Uriah Heep schept familiegevoel
Tekst; Martijn Mansvelders
De Engelse hardrockband Uriah Heep
bestaat ruim 30 jaar en heeft inmiddels een van de trouwste
fanschare. Een concert van de band doet veel met het publiek. Door
hun muziek, passie en interactie met de toeschouwers brengen zij
veel emoties bij hen naar boven.
In het broeierige Plato te Helmond laten zij hun fans weer heerlijk
wegdromen en teruggaan naar herinneringen uit het verleden.
Zoals een hardrockband betaamt hebben de meeste bandleden nog lange,
doch dunne haren. Met een enorme dosis enthousiasme en charisma
krijgen ze vanaf de eerste tonen het publiek op hun hand. Op het
podium staat duidelijk een hechte band die de tumultueuze periodes
van hun bestaan heeft overleefd.
Jos Lepelaars (39) uit Riethoven is samen met zijn broer en hun
partners naar Helmond gekomen. Hij gaat helemaal op in de muziek en
zingt alle teksten luidkeels mee; “Deze band betekend alles voor
mij. Ik heb ze voor het eerst in Engeland gezien. De muziek brengt
heel wat emoties van vroeger naar boven. Mede daardoor sta ik nu ook
hier met mijn broer”. Miriam Geudens vult hem aan: “Ik hou
eigenlijk van Marco Borsato, maar zelfs vrouwen vinden deze muziek
mooi hoor! Broer Jan is de grootste fan van hen: “Ik ben trouw lid
van de fanclub en volg hen al meer dan 30 jaar. Het is eigenlijk een
uit de klauwen gelopen hobby, heel extreem. Elk optreden is voor mij
een hele belevenis. Uriah Heep doet alles voor de fans. Vorig jaar
werden er hier kinderen op het podium uitgenodigd. Dat doen alleen
zij”.
Zanger Bernie Shaw is een rasperformer en is, ondanks zijn 47 jaar,
nog steeds in het bezit van een hoog en helder stemgeluid wat
karakteristiek is voor de oude hardrock. Hij weet het publiek
moeiteloos massaal aan klappen en zingen te krijgen.
Een man die op het podium niet voor hem onderdoet is oprichter en
gitarist Mick Box. Zijn gitaarspel en solo’s zijn van
ijzingwekkende kwaliteit en zijn theatrale bewegingen befaamd. Alle
vijf de muzikanten blinken uit in hoogstaand spel zonder dat daarbij
iemand naar de voorgrond treed.
Tom de Lijster (41) uit Gouda pretendeert tevens de grootste
Heep-fan te zijn en is van mening dat deze hardrockband zich
onderscheid juist vanwege hun muzikale kwaliteiten: “Ze hebben net
iets meer dan andere hardrockbands. Ik volg ze sinds 1974 en kan
lekker uit mijn dak gaan. Vroeger waren ze nog commercieel. Nu
spelen ze enkel voor de fans en zijn niet gericht op het binnenhalen
van het grote geld”.
Maar volgens Jan Lepelaars is het toch de meerstemmige samenzang die
de muziek van Uriah Heep zo bijzonder maakt: “Queen heeft het van
hen gejat. In een interview hebben ze gezegd geïntrigeerd te zijn
door hun stijl van zingen”.
De samenzang van alle bandleden maakt het geheel melodisch en
pakkend. Oude en nieuwe nummers met afwisselende tempo’s en breaks
passeren, elk steunend op een strakke ritmesectie . Bassist Trevor
Bolder en drummer Lee Kerslake zijn een eenheid en grappen onderling
met elkaar op het podium. Toetsenist Phil Lanzon verzorgt de
keyboard en orgel intro’s en lijmt de nummers aan elkaar door de
diverse lagen geluid. De geestdrift en gedrevenheid straalt van de
rockers af.
Na twee toegiften en een gezamenlijke buiging heeft Uriah Heep ook
dit keer weer een totaalshow gegeven die aan de verwachtingen van
trouwe fans en nieuwsgierigen heeft voldaan. De Friese Nellie
Jouwersma uit Hyum is toch kritisch: ”Shaw was dit keer iets
minder bij stem. Ik ben hun muziek een tijdje uit het oog verloren
maar heb het weer helemaal opgepakt. Ik wordt erdoor meegesleept en
ben niet moe te krijgen”.
Wanneer enkele bezoekers na afloop van het concert bezweet in hun
auto stappen, zweven natuurlijk de klanken van een Heep’ nummer
over het parkeerterrein.
Ralph
Pluym :
A
Magical Evening with Uriah Heep!
Plato,
Helmond, 01-08-2003
The
temperature was rising while I found myself in the grip of what was yet to
come. I knew that this evening was going to be special. Not only because one
of my all time favorite bands was going to span their web of magic over their
audience, magic only Heep could deliver, but also because I found myself in
the best company I ever had. The company of my lovely girlfriend. She’s is
just getting into Heep music and already knows the first sentence of July
Morning. Together we waited excitingly for the band to begin their magical
voyage.
I
knew I wouldn’t be disappointed ‘because the last time I saw them, only
just a month ago at Arrow Classic Rock Festival, was absolutely amazing. The
band had played their hearts out in front of 28.000 people. Now they had to do
it with an audience that was only a tiny fraction of it, but still poppodium
Plato was good attended. It was the third time that I would see this band at
Plato and the sixth time overall in four years time. I was really excited.
With
the temperature still rising to what felt like 40 degree, the intro tape was
started and one by one, my hero’s took the stage. And then it really
started. Immediately the boiling pot of audience members was swamped in the
magic of Uriah Heep with their, probably most recognizable tune Easy
Livin’. From the start the band gave everything, though the heat had to
be immense on the stage, but for Heep there is no holding back, they gave it
all and the audience took it all eagerly.
Following
the tune they must have played at every show since 1972 the band hit us with a
song that probably hasn’t been played since 1972. Well, ok, they played it
already at Arrow and at the Magician’s Birthday Party 2002, but before
that…
It
was a blistering version of Shadows of
Grief that really pumped up the adrenaline. What a song. I loved it at
Arrow, but to hear it in a more intimate place was even better. Especially the
thunderous middle part where the band was totally putting the hell out of
their instruments was stunning. And what to think of Bernie’s high notes
near the end of the song. He really is an incredible singer. So to those of
you who still swear by David Byron, go lock yourself up in your room and keep
up listening to the old records spanning their 1970-’76 career, and give the
rest of your records that came after David, to some relatives of yours.
A
real surprise that came after Shadows
of Grief was the song Seven Stars that
they didn’t play at Arrow. Such a happy song, that makes you wanna dance all
night long. Great vocal harmonies and really nice organ parts.
“Uriah
Heep style, Hot and Sweaty,” says Bernie before the band takes us from the
seventies towards the eighties with the song The
Other Side of Midnight. I really think it’s great that the band didn’t
ignore this era, when Peter Goalby was their lead singer, as they did for the
so many years. Not that it’s my favorite era, but I think it’s a vital era
in the group’s efforts through the years, that mustn’t be overlooked.
From the eighties towards the late nineties with two songs from their
latest studio effort Sonic Origami,
the new classics: Between two Worlds and
I Hear Voices. Great songs, but I
hear them every time I go to an Uriah Heep concert, and the album has so many
more fabulous songs. Well, maybe next time.
After
the eighties and the nineties we’re delved back by the band into the
seventies, with a great rendition of The
Wizard, before the band served us with the song that compasses everything
a Heep song could have. It’s the song that always took a special place in my
heart, but after this performance it has even more meaning to me than ever,
‘because my girlfriend chooses the song as our love anthem. It’s none
other than July Morning.
The
show continued with songs that have been in the set for the last couple of
years, but played with such grace as this band does, it’s always a privilege
to watch and hear these songs perform. Gypsy,
Sunriseand Look
at Yourselfall classics that
still make my mouth watering. But besides these songs there was still space
for a song that I’ve never seen live, though it’s on the album Future
Echoes of the Past. It was a great performance of the song Sweet
Freedom. What a joy to hear this song live.
A
song that has been in and out of the set since December 2001 is one of my all
time favorite Heep songs called The
Magician’s Birthday. The fabulous guitar solo of Mick Box, with some
great improvisations, and the powerful drumming of Lee Kerslake, besides the
amazing vocal parts of Bernie Shaw makes this song an epic tale of pure magic.
The
encores of this magical night were Bird
of Prey, and crowd pleasers Stealin’
and Lady in Black, with a nice
acoustic solo spot from Mick Box. A wonderful ending of a fabulous show. Mick,
Bernie, Trevor, Phil and Lee have given us everything they had. Especially a
lot of sweat. And so the legend continues, but the band must be aware that
they don’t become an oldie band, so please give us fans a new studio album,
so we can go along with you in the future.
Marc
Stoute:
Gisteren weer een fantastisch concert in Plato
meegemaakt. Verrassende nummers die ik live nog nooit gehoord heb. Het enige
is, dat het geluid altijd zo godsgruwelijk hard staat. Ook waren er wat
problemen met het basgeluid van Trevor (die zich er duidelijk over opwond),
maar de avond was ondanks de enorme hitte in de zaal
weer en geweldig succes! Hoe ze het doen, weet
ik niet maar al de keren dat ik ze heb zien spelen waren ze altijd
enthousiast. En iedere keer slaat dit over op het publiek. Het was eigenlijk
te heet om te ademen, maar niemand stond stil...
Nu de nieuwe cd nog...
Hans van Meerendonk:
Ik wilde ook nog even kwijt dat ik het
geweeeeeeeeeeeeeldig vond.
Het is eigenlijk heel vreemd dat ik Uriah
Heep pas voor de tweede
keer live zie. De eerste keer was bij het
Arrow-festival eerder dit jaar.
Heb altijd alles gekocht tot ongeveer half
jaren 80. Maar ik heb het
altijd prachtige muziek blijven vinden. Nadat
ik vorige jaar de cd Acous-
ticlly driven (heel erg goed) kocht ben
ik me er weer meer voor gaan
interesseren. Ik zit er zelfs aan te denken om
mijn collectie aan te gaan vullen.
