By Mike Taylor:

The road to the Astoria didn't start too well as our 4pm ferry sailing from the Isle of Wight was late arriving and subsequently leaving. Due to work commitments this was the earliest sailing we could get. On the ferry we collected Larrisha a 17 year old girl we had met at the Portsmouth gig and suggested she should make it to the Astoria. She's now a dedicated fan and is pretty up on Heep history. I also had with me 70's Heep fan and Jethro Tull fan Mike Bauldry and his wife Lynne. 

The next part of the journey (horse with no name) was pretty uneventful until we hit the M25. The traffic was just at a crawl and with us having to get to our hotel we eventually made the Astoria at about 8.15. Nazareth were on and we'd missed Stray but nevermind we'd seen them both at Portsmouth anyway. On entering we immediately bumped into a string of Heepsters, Louis, Pete, Alan, Brian & Lorraine and more. I went upstairs to see Dave Owen and when I came down...horror...Denise and the rest of our crowd had already gone in and with the volume of the people in there I didn't think I would ever find them. 

Anyway after Naz had finished I pushed my way to the front and found Denise but sadly I was a little wound up but after a few words all was OK. Apologies for all who were around us at the time. Dave White was next to us....it was great seeing him again, and very soon Louis arrived and yes Louis Ramp and Meg were there as well along with Paul Rickard. Although we were only a couple of rows from the front it was difficult to see as it always seems that the very tall people get to front with the express view of stopping us shorties from seeing. Anyway there wasn't much we could do and very soon Heep were on. 

As we'd expected Return To Fantasy started and immediately it was noticeable that the sound was much better than at Portsmouth. I could hear Bernie clearly whereas at Pompy his vocals were almost inaudible. Perhaps it was where I was positioned? Mick, Bernie and Trevor moved freely around the stage, acknowledging fans in the first few rows and almost certainly posing for the number of photographers running up and down the press run at the front of the stage. 

They really seemed to be enjoying themselves. It soon became apparent that I was not going to enjoy my own space to watch the concert as I found too many people pushing and shoving. I had beer poured down my back, I was elbowed in the head countless times and felt like I'd exchanged underwear with a few of the guy's around me. Sadly none of them were female and attractive (except Denise) like Jim Ferrie had the pleasure of experiencing. 

The people around me were going mad. At first I started to get annoyed but then realised that this was what it was like in the 70's when Heep were at their peak and was something I was going to have to get used to in the future as Heep hit the big time again. After that I just joined in. I could really only see Mick, Bernie and Lee with a few glimpses of Trevor and Phil but again my enjoyment was not spoilt at all. I tried to take some pictures but due to the crush and movement it was very difficult. You'll see what I mean with the pictures I've sent through. 

The gig was just stunning from start to finish. All the guys performed utterly brilliantly and put on the best Heep show for many a year. In fact I can't remember such a great performance. It must be close to my all time favourite Heep gig at the Ally Pally in 1973.....no I think I'll say it was better....much better. Ian Anderson's performance of Circus and Blind Eye was flawless and he got a tremendous reception. All too soon this word curfew came up again and almost as quickly as they came on Heep were gone leaving us to try and catch our breath. We filed out slowly and on the pavement (sidewalk) outside huge Melinda posters were being sold and I mean sold as quickly as they could be picked up. 

That was it, the gig was over and so we slowly made our way over to Leicester Square and to the aftershow/end of tour/ Phil Lanzon birthday party. And a great party was had by all. Mike "waiting for the next one" Taylor

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