On Tuesday night my buddy Buzzard and I went to the Uriah Heep concert at Union Hall. Uriah Heep are an English rock band that formed in 1969, considered one of the first heavy metal/prog-rock bands. I didn't realize til after I bought my tickets that there was only one original member left in the band, that being guitarist Mick Box. I was starting to think maybe I shouldn't have got tickets for this show, but I was committed now, so to the show I go.
We missed the opening band Alleviate who are from Northern Alberta.
Next up was Uriah Heep, after looking into who was in the band, I was surprised to see that this line-up has been together since 2013, and that the lead vocalist Bernie Shaw ( whom is Canadian) and keyboard player/vocalist Phil Lanzen have been in the band since 1986. Rounding out the band is Russell Gilbrook on drums and Davey Rimmer on bass. So this band are no slouches.
The show started with Uriah Heep's very first single "Gypsy" from their debut 1970 album ...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble, what a sweet way to start the show, the classic keyboard sound and then the Mick Box riff, and away we go!!! Bernie Shaw on vocals sounded amazing, he sang the same way as original vocalist David Byron (RIP). David passed in 1985.
That song was followed up by two songs from the 1971 album Look At Yourself, the title song and "Shadow Of Grief", other songs played were "The Magician's Birthday" which went on for a while, very proggy and fun, "The Wizard", again sounding awesome, "July Morning" and "Lady In Black", seems the band were playing heavily from the Look At Yourself album, but then damn near the whole set except for a couple numbers, most of the songs were from the 1970-73 era, classic Uriah Heep stuff. And there was just no way that they were going to get away without playing "Easy Livin'", which is what they played for the encore. Again, amazing!
What I also really liked about watching Uriah Heep was how much fun Mick and the boys looked to be having. Mick was smiling and ripping it up all night, and Bernie on vocals was having the time of his life singing these classic Uriah Heep songs, and can't say enough about keyboard player Phil Lanzen pounding the keys and singing his heart out as well. And this was their 48th of 50 shows for this tour, so well road tested and maybe just happy to see the end of the tour coming. But no, in all honesty you could just feel a vibe from the guys that they were having a lot of fun playing this music.
The crowd of about 300 people, and I don't think there was a person there under the age of 40, and they were eating this old school rock n' roll up. I used to think of Uriah as a Deep Purple light, but have so much more respect for this band and their music after seeing them live. A really great show and am so glad I went. Good times!!!
Uriah Heep at Union Hall in Edmonton.
My wife and I got to see Uriah Heep twice on this tour...once in Sioux City, Iowa, and again in Portland, Oregon. We had a great time both times. They've been my favorite band since buying "Demons and Wizards" on cassette when I was in high school. Even though the line-up has changed over the years, they still rock! Looking forward to their new album release this fall!
ReplyDeleteHi Tom, Thanks for checking out my blog. They sure do still rock, I loved the show here and would go see them again in a heart beat.
Delete