Uriah Heep; Sellersville Theater 1894 6/20/11

[jimmy19029]

Sold out show! The most people I've ever seen attend a show here in Sellersville. Usually it's me and only twenty or thirty others.....But guys in my age group LOVE their Uriah Heep! Don't think I've ever seen as many 50-plus white guys gathered in one place anywhere else.

The band is still quite a big draw all over Europe, but until now, has only made it to the US infrequently in recent years. Most people, including myself, were shocked to see them do TWO YEARS in a row. They were at this theater last year...also in June....but sold out before I could grab seats. This year I was smart enough to call ahead and got the last seat available.

Current lead singer Bernie Shaw had this to say: “We played Sellersville last year for the first time and it was fabulous. It was the first tour we had done in nine years of the States. To be there in the summertime was amazing. And Sellersville — it’s a gorgeous little theater. Normally in between tours, we might go to Europe every year, playing seven or eight different countries. But playing America, it usually goes every six or seven years for us. So the fact that we played two tours there last year, and to be invited back this year, twice this summer, is amazing. We’re happily playing a lot of the same places we played last year. So that means sellout shows — promoter’s happy, the band is happy, crew is happy. Hey, what more can you ask for”?

And I myself am loving the fact that both my favorite classic artists and audiences alike are finding out about Sellersville and the other nicer, smaller venues in my general area. During the latter 80s and most of the 90s, the Heepsters would be playing in places way too far away to get to easily...when they weren't skipping over North America entirely.

And it hasn't been an easy 42 year road for the band either. Along the way, the group has had four different keyboardists, six different bassists, six different lead singers and SEVEN different drummers!

The perpetually upbeat and smiling Mick Box is the only one who has been with the group since the beginning (in 1969). And it is always a treat to hear Boxie, whether he's wailing on lead, strangling out a nice slide part or soothing us with a nice acoustic passage.

And Bernie Shaw sounded fine on lead vocals to me. During the last (and very first for me) Heep show I attended at the Classic Rock Fest in Trenton, New Jersey back in October 2002, Bernie had gone to the side of the stage, tripped over a cord that hadn't been taped down properly and twisted his ankle. He spent much of the rest of the show sitting on the drum riser in obvious pain before limping back to get the ankle taped and some pain killer then limping back out to finish the concert. That, plus other sound problems, had made that not one of their best shows, but still a damn good one.

In January 2007 long time drumming veteran Lee Kerslake turned the sticks over to Russell Gilbrook, who's played with Tony Iommi, Lonnie Donegan, John Farnham, Van Morrison, Alan Price and many others. I was quite impressed with Russell's aggressive style. Quite a firecracker! He hits those things pretty hard!

And veteran bassist Trevor Bolder(formerly with David Bowie's Spiders From Mars) is still holding down the bottom end of things as well as singing those stratospheric high harmony vocals with Mick and keyboardist Phil Lanzon.

Each tour it becomes harder and harder for the band to choose what they will put in the current setlist. With forty plus years of material, they know there is no way they will be able to play each and everyone's favorite. And with a brand new album this year, Into the Wild, it is tougher still.

Tonight's set had no less than FIVE selections from Into the Wild. I like when bands showcase their new stuff. Unfortunately this means that alot of fine albums end up being completely skipped over.......like Abominog, Sonic Origami, Sea of Light and the recent Wake the Sleeper.

Besides the five new songs, UH stayed mostly in the 70s, with the brunt of the other material being drawn from their 1970 debut, Look at Yourself(1971) and Demons and Wizards(1972).

Oddly, Mick introduced Free & Easy, from 1977's Innocent Victim, as "the very first heavy metal song ever." Not sure what he meant by that. For this rave up, Mick had a group of audience members("A bunch of the biggest headbangers", he laughed) join the group on stage to sing and jump around.

As the show began the announcer said.."No flash photography and silence anything that beeps or glows." I laughed and said..."That's alot to ask.." The guy next to me agreed since he spent most the show glancing at his phone messages when he wasn't snapping pics. But he was totally into it, as I was, and we sang along together on many of the choruses.

Lead singer Bernie implored us all to stay on our feet..."This ain't no Saturday morning show. Come on...UP! UP! UP"! Then he said he'd allow some of us oldsters to sit as long as we stood and made even more noise later....


Setlist:

I'm Ready
Return to Fantasy
Stealin'
Rainbow Demon
Money Talk
Russell's Drum Solo
Nail on the Head
The Wizard
Into the Wild
Gypsy
Look At Yourself
Mick's Guitar Solo
Kiss of Freedom
July Morning
Lady In Black

Encore:
Free 'n' Easy
Bird of Prey
Easy Livin'