North American Tour Reports 

June 18th - Superior, Wisconsin

The events surrounding Uriah Heep's June 18th performance in Superior,  Wisconsin could have cast a very dark cloud on the evening.

Things started off well enough for me. Being the Chief Photographer at the  local NBC TV affiliate, I was able to score an interview with Mick and  Bernie before the show. I then raced back and edited the story together for  broadcast on the 10pm news. During the editing, our Meteorologist came up  to me and asked if the show was still on. I replied that indeed it was! He  then informed me of some REALLY bad storms that were heading our way. I was 
so in the high of putting the piece together that I dismissed it.

I arrived back at the venue around 11:00pm. The drive over had been  difficult at best with very dense fog and driving rain. We have a lot of  thunderstorms this time of year, so I thought nothing of it.

Once inside the club, I sensed something wasn't right...expecting the place  to be packed, it was far from it. I was shocked and immediately thought it  had something to do with poor advertising/promotion etc...In fact, Bernie,  Mick and I all had a discussion about this backstage prior to the show.

What we didn't know was at that very time we were talking a Tornado Warning  had been issued for the area and that in fact, that Tornado Warning had  manifested itself into a full blown touchdown and was completely wiping out  the town of Siren, Wisconsin not too far away from the venue. 

The aftermath saw three dead.

Again, none of us knew anything about this and in fact, it wasn't until I  went into work the next morning that I would learn of the devastation.

The band went on precisely at Midnight and proceeded to give the sparse  crowd the show of a lifetime. Between songs, Mick even joked that the gig  was an "exclusive" party :) The band was as tight as ever and Bernie still  has the high note! Mr.Box even provided us with an extended guitar solo  that really got the audience up and screaming their approval!

Being a long-time fan, it was such an honor to meet (and interview) Mick and  Bernie. I was able to videotape and shoot some stills during the show,  which I will send in to the site shortly.

Despite the difficult circumstances of the night, Uriah Heep rose to the  occasion and provided the rainbow after the storm.

Thanks Guys!
Dan Elsenrath
Duluth, MN