Monday 17 November - what puts a gig into the top five or ten of a person's lifetime? Well, personally it's seeing a huge band, playing really well, at a smallish venue. So for me that includes; Genesis (Duke tour) and Thin Lizzy (Black Rose tour), both at the Portsmouth Guildhall (many years ago!), Thunder and Deep Purple, both at the York Barbican, and Thunder again at Sheffield Town Hall. Tonight I'm hoping to add another band to that list, Uriah Heep appearing at The Duchess in York, a venue a fraction of the size of my previous top gigs.
But we start with the support act, and let's face it, who in their right mind wants to be the support act to such a legendary band? Maccara would. I'm not sure when or where they originate from, the UK according to SpaceFace. Vocalist Holly Evans is Scottish with a soft accent that drips like honey on your ears when she speaks, but when she sings she has a powerful Siouxie Sue rock voice that belies her slight frame. Lead guitarist Boanecker ILLY (what's with the capitals?) comes from Sri Lanka, bassist Nic Klaus (is that a joke?) looks/sounds Germanic, but I'll give you Tom Kirkham (drums), and Andy Brook (guitar) are probably from the UK. The band itself only seems to have been around since 2007 or 2008 and also appear to have had a previous singer, Laura. I've no idea what any of the songs were called but they started off extremely heavy metal and then half-way through the gig changed to playing heavy reggae. Sorry, that's that only way I can describe it. The volume was sky high and yet Holly's voice was crystal clear, a testament to the sound engineer and proof that it can be done even against such high volumes of music. The Druid was so impressed that he purchased a preview copy of their album, and got it signed by Holly and ILLY. When we looked the CD over we spotted that the producer was noted as Francis Rossi. Yep, it was indeed produced by the frontman of the Quo.
So to the main event, Uriah Heep. Now I have to admit that I'm a bit of a Heep virgin. I first heard Overload on a Classic Rock cover CD, liked it so much that I bought the album, Wake The Sleeper, and that's how I started. Fortunately for me their latest album is what t'Heep are touring with so I knew that I could expect plenty of material that I was familiar with and a sprinkling of old (but new to me) stuff to boot. They didn't disappoint. Quite how they managed to get a stadium-sized outfit like t'Heep on the stage at The Duchess was nothing short of a miracle. Wake The Sleeper is their twenty-first album (but the first in a decade) and the current band line-up is: Mick Box (guitar/hair) the only member from the band's founding in 1969 who is still active with the group, Bernie Shaw (vocals) a Canadian, and since 1986, the lead vocalist, Phil Lanzon (keyboards) also in the band since 1986, Trevor Bolder (playing a D'Alegria Defender TB 4-string fretted signature bass) he of the Spider From Mars, was in t'Heep 1976-1981 and then re-joined in 1983, and Russell Gilbrook (drums) who joined in 2007 and is regarded as one of the UK's finest drummers and drum clinicians.
They were, frankly, awesome; totally full-on, technically prefect, utterly superb, and with an immediate and fantastic rapport with the audience. Quite the best live band I've seen in years. The Druid had his jaw permanently dropped to the floor. So what did they play? The opening three songs were lifted straight from tracks 1-3 of their latest album: Wake The Sleeper, Overload, and Tears Of The World. Then a couple of oldies: Stealin' from their sixth album Sweet Freedom (album released September 1973) this is probably their best known single reaching #18 in the UK chart in 1973, and Sunrise from their fifth album Magician's Birthday (album released November 1972). Next, two more from the album: Heaven's Rain and Light Of A Thousand Stars. Another oldie and one that I really enjoyed despite not having heard it before: Gypsy from their first album Very 'eavy... Very 'umble (album released June 1970) which was released as a single in 1997. Then another four from the latest album: What Kind Of God, Shadow, Angels Walk With You, and War Child. Finally they played two more oldies: July Morning from their third album Look At Yourself (album released October 1971) released as a single in North America in 1973 but not in the UK, the single featured Manfred Mann playing on synth, and Easy Livin' from their fourth album Demons And Wizards (album released May 1972). The band went off, the crowd went wild, and the band came back. For an encore they played a track that Bernie billed "as much as your song as ours": Lady In Black from their second album Salisbury (album released February 1971), released as a single in 1989 and again in 2001. It was, Mick quipped, "Like playing in someone's front room." As the background music started up, the band remained on stage leaning over the barriers to shake hands with the audience for a good five minutes before most of them left, leaving Mick and Bernie hugging each other and waving to the crowd; a fitting end to a truly spectacular performance.
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