REVIEWS

Wolverhampton * March 19 * Fifth gig of the tour.

SOLD OUT!!

Review By Bob Carruthers- Pictures by Pete Wharton

 

So I finaly made it .........Like the child who is given all his Christmas presents , but told he can't open them till boxing day all week I had been living on scraps of info from the web-site and unspeakeably bad mobile phone calls with dave Owen. "Hello Dave how was it ?" " Great !! they started with ..fizz crackle..beep then they played bzzzzzz and by the time they got to brrrr fzzzzzzzz the crowd was going mental ! " " ..er thanks Dave I can't wait". 

And so it went on each call seemingly worse than the last , I just about gathered that Folkestone was a good start, Portsmouth was better , Bristol an improvement and Manchester a mini -triumph with the first sold out signs of the tour. So on Monday at Wolverhampton I finaly got to judge for myself. Rolling up to the hall fashionably late after a Guiness or twain we encountered a large ticketless group on the stairs, we had 2 extra which we donated to the cause but the others had to be turned away .These days with draconian health and safety laws , house full means just that . So if you are going to Glasgow or London for God's sake book in advance. 

What you will miss if you don't , is Uriah Heep cruising back towards headline status. It's crazy to have 2 support bands because heep's set is ludicrously truncated.On the plus side the band is playing better than ever , the set is finely balanced and the performance is faultless.We got ...Return to Fantasy,Love in Silence, Gypsy, Bird of Prey, Come Away Melinda,Sunrise,Between Two Worlds,July Morning,I hear Voices ,Stealin' and Easy Livin' and just when we were getting into a groove ..they were gone !.. like a signal from Dave Owen's mobile ! Still,there's always next time hopefuly without the support bands ,so we get the full show. 

As we all know you can't keep a good band down..and this is a very good band indeed .

WOLVERHAMPTON...March 19th....Jim Ferrie

Last time I was able to see Heep live was in Bristol, one cold Sunday night about 7 years ago.Missed them at Wolverhampton 2 years ago due to work commitments BUT last year was a big Heep year with Heepvention in May, DVD recording, planet Hollywood,Acoustically Driven (missed it).I was very pleased that the guys were so busy. Soooo I was finally looking forward to seeing them live again.

Met the anniversary couple in the pub (nice people) and a load of other Heep fans(Richard kenna,Duncan Ball and spouse,Alex Gitlin,Pete Wharton to name a few).
Wulfrun,still quiet crowd wise came alive with Stray.They were pretty good and I enjoyed watching the guitarists antics at the end where he fell out with his guitar and put it on top of the PA stack and had trouble retrieving it as vibration had shuffled it along and away from him. They were quite tight although only the last song was memorable to my mind.
I am Scottish and have a soft spot for Nazareth.The sound was such that Dan's vocals were difficult to hear.When he asked the audience a question no-one answered so he said "Just say..YES DAN" so the audience did.Dan....we couldn't hear the question my man..sorry.Highlights..Bad bad man,love hurts,the son of a bitch one(can't remember title) and the EPIC This Flight Tonight as the encore and it was wonderful.My white bycycle was a disappointment as was the total sound I have to say.Dan's vocals are good and needed to be clearer.

A very slick equipment change and music started,lights out and I could make out Lee climbing on board,Phil,and then Trevor.Bernie appeared and up to the front came Mick to cheers which made me turn from the front and look behind.I realised that the hall was full (YES!!!).Bernie was striding up and down in front of Lees kit waiting for the sound system to die down.It did and LIGHTS ...Return to Fantasy and we were off.The difference was immense.The sound was better balanced,they were smiling,relaxed and happy to be with us. A thought sprung to my mind and in my head I could hear myself talking..."That's my band up there" and a great sense of pride wafted over me.I then shook my head and thought..Jim ,don't be ridiculous.BUT..after 28 years,having seen all the line-ups,got all the albums and having NEVER lost interest in Heep as my MAIN band (by a long way), I just do feel they are my band.There are a few of us I guess.
Stealin' was starting up and sounded good.
The band just grew within the set.Better and better.
Come away Melinda is a great addition to the set.(I never really liked it till the dvd) but we seemed to lose timing at one stage temporarily (to my ear).
The set was too short but the guys looked good.
Highlights .... Universal Wheels was awesome as was Love in Silence (like Trevors bass). I did like Come Away Melinda too.
The set was very slick and the audience were with the guys all the way.So nice to see a BIG crowd.
Lee ...powerhouse ,solid and masterful timing as ever.
Trevor...precise and more animated than I've seen him.
Phil....enjoying himself,expressive..excellent.
Mick...Smiler.He picks out people in the audience and greets them individually.I'm sure he got round the whole crowd with a smile each.You feel part of it. Solid guitar,smiling in the easy bits and concentrating hard at the difficult bits...A PROFESSIONAL. A true professional.

The vocal harmonies were ace on the night which brings me to Mr Shaw and confession time.I have met Bernie several times and he is a great guy.Easy to talk to and interesting BUT I have never been at ease with him as a vocalist or Heeps front man.....UNTIL NOW. This year of action has shown him to me in a different light.I've heard him sing Rain and Melinda and he is so good with them. Takes your breath away. So,Bernie ,after 14 years...a warm welcome to Heep .You are the best there has been in the band and last nights performance at the Wulfrun proved it to me.
Ladies and gentleman (I didn't realise it till now) we have a complete Uriah Heep,firing on all cylinders. They kicked ass last night.Every one of them and there is a fire in the belly and we are moving forward fast.

See them if you can. They are just so worth the effort.

I look forward to the 2nd instalment at the Astoria..It's my birthday that day.What a birthday it's going to be!

Jim Ferrie
An extremely cotented Uriah Heep fan.
NO SLEEP WITH URIAH HEEP!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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