Thanks again Graham and Mike for putting the pressure on me to write a gig report and then putting in the main details yourselves! :-) So apologies if I plagiarise some stuff - NOT!
OK so let's start with Norwich. As Graham says, the social side of these gigs is a great part of the fun of the event, so let me also ramble on about some of that aspect. Meeting place was the Ferry pub about 200yards from the venue. I was walking down there with Brian Jones and his wife Lorraine. I had accidentally photographed Brian shaking hands with Mick at the Bull & Gate last October and we had kept in touch since. They too were doing all 3 gigs. Went past the venue (The Waterfront) and if it hadn't been pointed out to me I would have easily missed it. Immediately obvious was a lack of advertising for the gig (a trait that was unfortunately going to be consistent for the rest of the week.) Anyway we met up here with Dave Owen and walked down to the Ferry Inn. Dave had seen Phil who said he was just off to do a bit of shopping. Oh the grandeur of a rock star's life!
In the ferry already are Yvonne Owen and Alan Hartley and Barry Winton and a friend of the support band's drummer. It was nice when just a while later a guy called Andy Keys came in with his wife and some friends. His interest in Heep had been rekindled after I had responded to his entry on my website guestbook about Heep dates last year. Anyway after their arrival, the pub is already cosily crowded in the main room, but the landlord was a star the way he put on food for us. It was pure delight to see the shock on Barry Winton's face when he saw just how large a mixed grill he had been given. The barmaid was a sweety too, she asked me if I could get the bands' autographs for 'her daughter', thinking that Dave, Alan and Barry were the band! Well I hope she did get them when the band did come in later. It was amazing just how many people suddenly appeared when the band were there! It was nice to have a chat with Trevor about the inspiration behind 'Fires of Hell' It's based on a TV documentary he saw about the youngest person to sign up for the 1st world war. Alright I'll get on to the gig now. As I mentioned before this venue was small, blink and you've walked past it. We are talking in the region of say 300 people. The audience area was about the size of a large night club dance floor. The support band 'Deadline' were already on. First impression was just a wall of loud unclear noise. The only bits I could make out clearly were the gaps in between songs. So having got my T-shirt (merchandising was overpriced I thought at £12 for a cap and £14 for a t-shirt £21 for a long sleeved shirt), I decided to look for Willy & Rinus who hadn't been at the pub. Well I found Willy just on the way to the bar, so how could I not help her carry drinks right to the front, especially as the support band were just finishing. Not only was Rinus there, but Willy's sister Sandra too, a more recent convert to Heep. It was great to meet them again.
About 9, Heep arrive on stage, and start off with Between 2 Worlds. Well you know the set list, it's the same as the rest of Europe. I think B2W is a great way to start the set, but it can be spoiled if the sound is not balanced right and unfortunately, the sound at Norwich wasn't balanced right. It must have ben about the 3rd or 4th song before you could hear Bernie clearly. What was the reception like for the new stuff? Excellent. It's difficult to say there was a wild reception, for a short arse like me to see the back from the front is not easy. But the people I talked to around me who hadn't seen Heep for a while were definitely enjoying it. There was one guy Jim, from Iowa, I met who was thoroughly enjoying it, but more of him later. Heep finished just before 10:30 but the bar had finished even earlier. Anyway we hung around to see who there was to see, but there was no backstage really. Phil came out and was chatting with Don Frizell, Mick came out and was chatting as well. Suzy the merchandising girl let me have a couple of the Sonic Origami Cd posters. From what I gather, talking to Willy, Trevor was driving back home to Hull that night. So after about half an hour with my ears still ringing I said my farewells and made my way back to my guest house. Sleep, not a chance yet. It was at least 6 cups of tea before I was ready for that. So now we had a baseline to compare against for this year's tour and boy was I already looking forward to stage 2. The one annoying thing was I had somehow lost the plectrum that Mick had actually used that night. I know he'd used it cause I saw him using it and then he passed it to Willy who passed it to me. Apparently it's almost a tradition for him to pass the first one to Willy if she is there.
So on to Wolverhampton. Actually a very pleasant drive in the sunshine for 3.5 hours. Shame that when I got to Wolverhampton it started to rain and went cold. Not many places look their best in the wet. I thought the first thing to do was find the venue and some parking place. After the size of the Norwich venue, I thought it may take some time to spot it. Fortunately this time it was a bit larger and backed on to the Civic Hall. The two great trucks and luxury bus (which belonged to Catatonia who were playing the Civic Hall the same night) were a bit of a clue. Yet again there was no advertising around the venue for Heep, there were still posters and flyers around for the previous nights band called Gene though. This is something Heep management really must work on. Well having checked out the venue, the obvious step next was to check out the meeting place, Edwards bar. Nobody else there yet so off for a wander round the shops. 3 record shops I went in and the only Heep stock was Equator, Abominog and Demons&Wizards. 1 shop had none at all. Come on promoters, get some stock in towns where Heep are playing. At least the poster for upcoming events at the Wulfrun hall had Heep mentioned on it, unlike their web site! Enough depression, it was time to head back to the bar.
Now Jim Hughes says I'm not supposed to mention catching sight of him actually doing some work at the venue, so I haven't, OK. As I arrive at the bar, so do Dave,Alan and Yvonne. Brian and Lorraine are there and Joe and Mandy from Scotland have arrived from Norwich as well. Slowly but surely the place is starting to fill up with Heep fans. The bar area seems to filter into two groups, Heep fans at one end and Catatonia at the other side. Nice thing is that there are young Heep fans turning up, as well as us old fogies. You need a double take when you see Mike Taylor with his son Kieran. Kieran had all Mike's hair and more, I think you should go for the nose ring look as well Mike! I can't believe it but I had succeeded in persuading Iowa Jim to make the trek up to Wolves from Norwich after seeing Heep last night. Apparently he is a US policeman on leave of absence working with the UN in Bosnia, helping to set up a democratic police force. More of him later. As Graham said, Mick,Phil, Lee, Jim Hughes and Don Frizzell turned up with Willy,Rinus and Sandra. I managed to get talking to Don and promised to e-mail him with details of HV99 week, with the advice that it would be great to get Heep performing in Myrtle Beach that week if they were going to be in the US then. He seemed genuinely interested, especially when I said people from the UK were going over for it. He had a nice 'House of Blues' jacket on as well.
I asked Sandra to let me know when she was going to the venue and I would help her carry Willy and Rinus's drinks to them. They had already gone to get their place at the front. So she does tell me, but what I don't realise is that we are going to walk across there with the band and in through the stage door into the changing rooms! We only stayed long enough for Sandra to dump her coat and wish the band well and then into the hall. Great when Mike tells me that the main entrance was like Fort Knox and security have taken his camera as he came in! The gig. Deadline were on as support again. At least this time they were slightly clearer. The drummer was good, and I think the vocalist has some talent, but his mannerisms reminded me too much of John Sloman. I don't know what he was on, but his eyes were definitely in a different world. The bass player was young but competent if too loud, and the guitarist was your typical run of the mill wall of sound metal guitarist. No encore requested I don't think. So on to night 2 of Heep. Same set list as before and as it will be on Saturday. Bigger venue this, I suppose about 2000 capacity maybe slightly more. Not full by any means from what I could see. Alan Keetley and his wife Margaret were at the back I believe, so maybe Alan can give a better impression of how full it was. My impression was that people were everywhere but there were comfortable spaces around you.
Straight off you can tell the sound is better tonight, but again Bernie starts off with too low a volume. Fortunately it's resolved in time for you to pick out 'that note' in between 2 worlds and yes he hits it again spot on. Graham has already touched on Trevor's performance, but I must emphasise how good this man is. Next time Mick is wah-wahing away, just force your eyes away and look at Trevor. It is totally awesome. I didn't realise until I saw him that some of the tune in Love in Silence is actually Trevor's bass. Heavy rock bands are not supposed to be able to get away with doing quiet numbers live but Heep had the audience entranced for theirs. Graham also very astutely picked up on Bernie's performance this night. He has matured incredibly. Heep are not having long gaps between numbers as they did in the old days, many songs just flow straight from one to another, so the chances for Bernie to talk to the audience are fewer, but he is doing it and even you could enjoy the ending to Gypsy now, Vlad. Bird of Prey is really thumping and rocking now and really goes down well. I must remember to ask Trevor what his opinion of the bass lines in the old stuff is as he always seems to be working very hard on them. We hung around after the show, hoping to meet the band but security were very good at ushering us out. I finally left about 11:30 for the 2 hour drive home and work the next day. Conclusion - a better gig than Norwich for the sound quality and being bigger.
So a day's break from touring and time to have a rest at work! Then it's stage 3 and party time at the Forum. Mrs Wharton even knows I'm going to this one! Like Graham and Mike, I half expected this one not to be as good as last year's Forum gig with not so many people coming. Ha, more fool me. It was of course disappointing not to have Alan and Graham there, but you'll be glad to know Alan that Scottish Louis managed to continue your fine work in taking the micky out of me, ably assisted at times by Mike's wife Denise :-)
OK, I have to mention the start of the evening as I get off the tube, look back over my shoulder and see Lee walking along. Well I had to walk with him and have a chat didn't I. I hope the piccy of Lee's jacket turns out OK, it was presented to him for his birthday and has 'The Golden Palace Casino' on the back. He tell's me what a big night it is for the band with various record companies from around the world supposed to be there. Well I let Lee go off and rehearse whilst I rehearse my Guinness consumption in the Bull and Gate. Well I'm not the first there. Scottish Louis and wife May with a raucous greeting and there's young Mark Dinardo and Brian and Lorraine. They introduce me to Giles and Rainbow (I kid you not) two people who had gone to see Dio last year and were now Heep fans. yes this is what I like to hear. May is going mad with her camera already.
Gradually old familiar faces start to turn up including Enrico who'd been in Tampere with Tapio, and more new people to meet. Mike mentioned the atmosphere, but I would describe it as like a happy family gathering it was so good. There was a loud cheer for Dave and Yvonne Owen who'd managed to make it to all 3 gigs even though they thought they couldn't make it tonight. Policeman Jim from Iowa turned up again. This time I got his business card, but it's only the next day when I look at it that I notice he is no ordinary policeman, but the Chief of Police of the city of Shenandoah! So Mike, tell Kieran to be careful who he offers his lit joints to! There were just too many experiences to pick single ones out. I was having such a good time I almost didn't want to leave and go to the venue! Mind you, Phil was there at the other end of the bar till quite late. Fortunately by the time I got there I had missed the support band who were Deadline again. Managed to get about centre stage and second row. The Forum was bigger than Wolverhampton and still more crowded. Some people let me through to the front and even standing on tiptoe I couldn't see Willy and Rinus. I saw Mike Taylor and Mark Dinardo off to my left. The air was heavy with anticipation and fortunately it wasn't long before Heep came on to a loud cheer. Thats the way it went all night with every Heep song greeted with loud cheers and applause. Fan Paul Rickard even spilled a pint of beer down the back of my jeans and it didn't matter.
Wolverhampton was good, but this was better. You could just sense that the band were up for this one and that came across to the audience. Seeing such a big audience enjoying it seemed to inspire Heep even further.
Nice to see Heep on the bigger stage and using the Sonic Origami backdrop. There were apparently a few technical difficulties with the lighting, but it didn't affect anything from where I was standing. Question was a highlight for me. Mike, you can tell Denise that I definitely love this one. Just grab the girl nearest to you and cuddle your way through it. Thanks Tina! All too soon the show is over and we're being ushered out. No backstage pass, but I know where the stairs are and when the security guy let's Mike through I follow on pretty damn sharpish before he objects. I would agree with Mike's comment about the atmosphere being euphoric up there.
Next time Heep are up town though, I'm staying the night. I had to leave about 11:45 to have a hope of catching my last Tube home (which I missed). Luckily there was a main line train I could catch at 0030, which would only leave me with a five mile walk home. Lovely frosty night and so many things to think about.
Final thoughts on the tour. What a way to meet friends old and new.
Controversial point: Get off Bernie's back. Before the last two years the only Heep I had seen (other than on video) was about 6 or 7 times all with David Byron as front man. Now Bernie will never have David's voice and sheer presence. The guy could look anywhere and you would be convinced he was looking at you personally. That said, I think Bernie has learned his craft immensely over the last few years. He has obviously listened to what people have said. He does talk more between songs and he doesn't keep telling people to sing along and come on like he used to. This is a guy that is having a good time with the band and they are having a good time with him and it shows. In all honesty I can't imagine David performing the stuff from Sea of Light or Sonic Origami any better than Bernie does!
Well that's it for now. If you've got to the end in one hit well done. Now get out there somewhere and go see Heep for yourselves!!
Pete