Uriah Heep

THE PALADIUM, LONDON

There’s a dense, sparkling constellation of star-crossed songs and albums in the legendary lexicon of pioneering music by this surviving British rock institution. Over the course of their fifty-two years, the numbers speak for themselves: 25 studio albums; 21 official live albums; over 45 million worldwide album sales and more than 4000 shows, and counting, played around the globe. Tonight, Uriah Heep finally brought their long-awaited and belated 50th-anniversary tour to The London Palladium. As a mark of their high and mighty status, a five-minute tribute film from bands and artists effusively extolling their heartfelt congratulations on Heep’s big 50 trailed the start of this evening’s programme. Following this, the band entered this legendary stage to the stars to firstly play an engrossing acoustic set of curated classic songs. Stripped back to a smaller front of stage arrangement of instruments, positioned just in front of the film projector curtain, Mick Box picked out the notes to a couple of rarely aired songs: Sweet Freedom’s Circus then Tales from The Magician’s Birthday album. Then came an uplifting Free Me with the charismatic Bernie Shaw encouraging the audience to sing along, as he did for most of this evening’s songs. This preceded another rare and deep cut as Come Away Melinda topically resonated with the current state of world affairs. This cover song, that began its life in pre-Heep band Spice, sated the hardcore fans appetite for the career-spanning setlist unfolding into their ears.

‘If you’re going to confess, then there’s no better way to do it than in song’, asserted Mick Box as Confession morphed into Rain finding Bernie Shaw drawing sweet deep breaths from his lungs. These delicate renditions laid bare the raw beauty of these songs when stripped back to their core elements. Three tracks ‘glued together’ from the coveted Demons And Wizards album elicited loud cheers headed up by a magical The Wizard, with Paradise and Circle Of Hands rounding up this Heepful trinity of tunes. As Mick Box remarked, ‘a German DJ played this song and it went viral’, he strummed out Lady In Black leaving the audience singing it as the band walked proudly offstage to conclude the first half of this milestone concert. A poignant montage of vintage band stills and video clips, centring on Byron, Thain, Kerslake and Hensley also John Wetton, Lawton and Trevor Boulder RIP, heralded in the second and electric half of tonight’s giving it back to the fan’s concert. From the very ‘Umble start to the very ‘Eavy main course, openers Against The Odds and The Hanging Tree

were akin to Tyson Fury delivering the sweetest of punches to the solar plexus. With everyone catching their breath, Heep further unloaded a barrage of fan favourites in a sonic blitz that will remain seared into the cerebral cortex of every attendee lucky to be here tonight. Highlights included Dave Rimmer’s pumping bass on Sweet Freedom’s Stealin’ ramming home the unstoppable febrile productivity of Heep’s back in the day top-grade output. A latter-day Too Scared To Run and What Kind Of God contrasted beautifully with these landmark songs.

Like a cathedral of sound that has gathered different periods and fashions, whilst remaining true to its foundations, there’s a genetic lineage of trademark songwriting connecting all incarnations of this shape-shifting rock band. More proof of this arrived as a welcome outing of Traveller In Time, and a racy Sweet Lorraine, worm-holed tonight’s congregation back to the 70s. Talking of which, there’s something visceral when a full-force Hammond Organ, courtesy of Phil Lanzon, engages with a fuzzedup guitar to pulverising effect such as on Rainbow Demon. It’s a hallmark of classic 70s British rock successfully exported across the globe and Heep is one of the undoubted progenitors of this genre. Sunrise with its high pitch wailing vocal harmonies added to Bernie Shaw’s mesmeric onstage reputation as he resoundingly hit all the high notes. Furthermore, drummer extraordinaire Russell Gilbrook produced a peerless percussive, and concussive, masterclass throughout tonight’s incredible show. ‘Let’s give ‘em some heavy metal’ exclaimed Bernie as Free ‘n’ Easy let loose a pulverising sonic thunder of sound. Any band worth its salt has an epic song up its collective hand-me-down sleeve and Heep has, well, heaps of such as the tender crescendo of July Morning brought an end to a mostly bone-shattering second set. However, ratcheting up the decibel levels, Mick Box and the boys returned to crunch out the heavy dramatic thrust of Gypsy as this celebration of Uriah Heep’s heritage ended on a mighty high with Easy Livin’ sending a delirious audience into a mass reverie. The camaraderie between this band and their audience is a rare sight to behold especially on nights such as these. More ‘appy days will certainly come with a new album on its way. As ever, it’s those behind the scenes who never seem to get the major props that they deserve and Ian Bintliff, known to those in the trade as ‘Scampi’, produced a sensational light show. Moreover, he curated superb film sequences that visually told the tale of Heep’s journey from their formation to this delayed fiftieth-anniversary tour. Lights out, London. Until the next time…