North
American Tour Reports
July 24th -Scranton PA !
Tinks
"The Scranton
Experience"
You can see pictures of this show at my
website, which can be accessed at:
http://users.erols.com/sthomas72/sanctuary
. Select - The "www.uriah-heep.com"
Tour.
For the first time in eight years, I
experienced Uriah Heep's performance at Jaxx
Nite Club in Virginia last month (see my
review from June 22, 2001). When I heard that
they would be playing in Scranton, PA, which
is only a few hours from my home, I could not
pass up the opportunity to witness the Heep
experience again! This time, a buddy of
mine decided to come along after I convinced
him that a Uriah Heep show is truly an
experience not to be
missed.
I have visited Scranton before, but was not
familiar with the location of Tink's.
The area seemed somewhat confusing, but after
a few loops around the block of the venue, we
found it. We arrived around 5pm, and
made it in time for the soundcheck. A
few "Heepsters" had already arrived,
which I recognized from the Jaxx show. I
spoke with Lannis Ethridge, Dave Owen,
Barry Lombardo, and a few other people.
The venue was small, but sometimes the
intimacy of smaller venues is more pleasant.
There was a balcony located above the left
side of the stage, which was a great place for
taking photographs. The souncheck seemed
a bit more relaxed than the one at Jaxx. Mick
and Lee were jamming for awhile before the
band performed an excerpt of "Love In
Silence." After the soundcheck was
over, we wandered around Scranton to find a
restaurant. Fortunately, we located one
down the street from the venue, since we only
had an hour to kill before the show.
The doors were scheduled to open at 8pm.
When leaving the restaurant, we noticed the
line of people waiting to enter Tink's had
stretched around the block! We rushed to
secure a place in line, but this would not
matter, as we had to wait almost a half hour
before the doors were opened! There were
a few people talking about the "glory
days" of Heep, and were not aware that
the current lineup has been together for over
fifteen years! Others were surprised to
hear that the band has been touring non-stop
for many years. To add to the excitement, I
shared my knowledge of the current lineup and
my experience at the Jaxx show.
Hopefully I succeeded in creating more
anticipation for this performance!
As we entered the venue, Dave was handing out
the new website flyers, and there was a
noticeable crowd around the merchandise stand.
The opening band, Hocus Pocus, was onstage by
9pm. Their set lasted over an hour, and
consisted of classic rock covers. They
seemed to get a good response from the crowd.
After their set was over, the anticipation was
building for Heep!
Heep finally arrived onstage after 10:30pm.
As the opening notes of "Return To
Fantasy" occurred, the crowd rushed to
the stage with excitement! The entire setlist
was exactly the same as the Jaxx show, and for
most of the tour. I was hoping for a few
more tunes to be added, but the current
selection of songs were just fine. I
think all the new songs received a
great response, especially "Universal
Wheels" and "I Hear Voices",
but of course the crowd went wild over the
classics. I don't think they were
expecting "Bird of Prey",
"Sunrise", and "Traveller In
Time". Mick's solo during
"Look At Yourself" was absolutely
fantastic! As many times as I've heard
"July Morning" live, I think the
performance is breathtaking every time!
When "Easy Livin'" ended, the crowd
wanted more, but this was the end of the show.
Afterwards, a few people waited for the band
to return to sign their Heep memorabilia.
I was able to talk to many people about the
performance, and everyone was blown away!
What a great response to a great band!!!
Bernie was the first to return to sign
autographs, followed by Phil. Eventually
everyone moved outside when the club decided
to close. From what I was
told, Lee was outside for a short period of
time, but had returned to the bus.
Trevor and Mick eventually appeared after
everyone was outside. Then Lee was
spotted talking to a few fans while "The
Magician's Birthday" was blaring from
their car radio. As usual, everyone's
memorabilia was signed.
I am so glad that I was able to witness Heep
live again, and to introduce a friend to their
performance. As mentioned on their
website, Heep should return to the U.S. for
another tour next year. By that time,
they will hopefully be promoting a new album!
Steve "The Hammer" Thomas
A couple of weeks ago, I
called Mac and asked him if Lannis and him
were going to go to the Scranton, PA on the
24th. At that time he wasn't sure, but
it didn't take a lot of talk to get it
arranged. I knew that, that is why I
made the call. Mac is easy that way. ;-)
I was willing to drive, even walk a little if
necessary, I wanted one more chance to see
them this tour.
I figured it would be my last shot outside of
London. So our plan was set up, wait
till Lannis got back from his latest venture
was the last step.
We left out from my house about 2AM, a ten
hour drive covering about 600 miles. We
got to Scranton about 11:30 that morning and
it took us a few trips around the downtown
area to find where we were staying. It
was less than 1/2 mile from the venue, which
was great because my car had a flat tire while
sitting in the lot. Great place to have
one if you asked me.
After we settled into the hotel, we decided to
walk up to the venue and check out the place.
Tinks was small, held around 300 or so.
For the lunch hour crowd they have a outside
area sort of like a low scale tropical setting
type thing. After a few brews, a
sandwich of some sort, we left and went back
to the room to grab a nap. Lannis and
Mac lay down, I sat up in a
chair so as not to get to comfortable.
After going about 30 hours without sleep, I
knew if I lay down I may miss the entire gig.
I got up about 4PM or so and woke the other
guys up. We got ready and walked on up
to Tinks about 4:30 or so, time sort of faded
around the daze in my mind about then.
Once inside we watched the crew bring in the
lighting equipment, and it looked like it
would be a while yet before the sound check.
Mac and myself walked a few places down so we
could grab a quick beer or so since the bar
wasn't open here.
When we got back, several members of Heep were
already there. Trevor was chatting with
a few people and Lee was sitting at the bar.
Lee walked past Mac and myself and said,
"trouble is here now with these
two." After a few minutes the
whole band was setup, except for Mick. I
don't know which member said it, but I heard
one of them say, "if we only had a guitar
player." Finally Mick showed up and
instead of picking up his Les Paul per usual,
he grabbed his acoustic and for the sound
check they played Love In Silence vs. the
usual Return to Fantasy I had seen at the
other shows.
While waiting for the show, I sat at the bar
with several other Heep fans from New Jersey I
think. I wish I remembered their names,
but with all the beer I drank, they bought
most of it, I sort of lost a few moments in
time. I was asked by several people if I was
Lannis, or the guy who saw 8 Heep shows as
they put it. I told them no and pointed
up on the balcony where he
was at and told them now he is up to 14 and
counting.
The opening act was called Hocus Pocus.
I met the brother of the lead vocalist in the
rest area and despite his attempt to have a
conversation at that time I made it brief.
They played a wide range of set from Janis
Joplin to Pink Floyd to Kansas. Not bad,
but they were too loud and I lost interest
waiting for the real show.
Once it was time for Heep to come one we went
up to the balcony to look down right about
where Mick was to be. The usual opening,
I never get used to Lee's drum intro, Return
to Fantasy. From there the set was about
the same as I've seen before with the addition
of Love In Silence added.
About two thirds into the show, I went down
stairs behind the bar and stood beside Dave
Owen. He was all smiles and tapped me on
the shoulder. I glanced over at him and
he gave me a small button with Uriah Heep
printed on it. I watched his booth setup
as he took a short break for about ten
minutes. Anything these guys ask of me
I'm willing to help.
After the show was over, most of the crowd
stayed around to have things signed and meet
the band. The wait to meet them is
longer each show, and this was a small crowd.
Outside when I was having Mick sign my photo,
a policeman told us to move it to the
sidewalk. In the process three people
got in front of me and I had to wait a few
more minutes.
I told Mick the same thing I told each and
every member. "You guys have got to get a
few gigs in the Carolina area, these ten hour
rides are murder and you are now officially
out of driving distance." That and
I'll see you in London. Most were nice
and made this remark or that, I don't actually
remember exactly what was said except for Lee.
He told me, "Tell me about
it, bloody Iowa." I don't know what
that meant, but I laughed along with him
anyway.
This may have been my last Heep concert this
year in the USA, but I was not about to miss
it. Hope they surprise me with a few
extra shows, but I've seen four now and that
is pretty good considering there was a twenty
six year lapse in between shows!
Ron Mann
Hello
Everyone,
Well,
after traveling about 300 miles to see Heep in
Pittsburgh, Pa. then another 1500 to Brookfield,
Illinois, I had the pleasure of seeing them
Tuesday only 10 minutes from my home here in
Scranton, Pa.
I was supposed to go back to work on Tuesday
after returning from Brookfield, but as a true
Heepster, I called in sick! So I took a
ride downtown and checked out the Radisson Hotel
sometime around 1 PM to see
if the Heep bus had arrived. I went there
purely on a hunch since many stars stay there
when in Scranton. Yep, I was right. It was there
and Big John, the equipment tech, was walking
towards it. He told me they were
having troubles again with Trevor's gear and had
to head over to test things out. The hotel is
about 2 blocks walking distance from Tink's but
they had to get the bus over there early since
parking was limited.
On
my way over to Tink's, I saw Lee and Jim walking
back to the hotel, so I rolled the window down
and yelled out to Lee. He looked at me, gave me
the thumbs up and said, "We made it."
Over at Tink's the guys were unloading gear and
I literally bumped into Mac, Lannis, and Ron
Mann walking out the door. So we talked a bit
and decided to meet back for around 4:30-5:00 pm
for the sound check. Tink's is a small place
right in the heart of downtown Scranton visited
by many popular bands. When filled to
capacity it would only hold about
400 occupants! When you first enter the
doors downstairs, there is a stage to the left
with an oval-shaped bar sitting in the middle of
the room. If you go up the stairs, there
is a suspended walkway that
overlooks pretty much the entire first floor.
My
wife and I arrived just a little after 5pm. The
Heep tour bus was park right out in front and
things were shaping up. Lights were being tested
and the equipment was all set to go. I think at
about 5:30 the
band came in. After the individual checks were
made with each instrument and microphone, Mick
began to play his acoustic, Lee got to his drums
and began to play a little duet with Mick. Then
Phil, Trevor, and finally
Bernie took their places and Mick started to
play "Love in Silence." WOW! It
sounded great and I loved every minute of it.
Best of all was watching my wife, Gail's, mouth
hang open with amazement as they
played.This was her first time ever hearing them
live and her first impression was, "they
are better live then on cd!" They only
played half of the song and quit. We talked to
most of the guys and got a few
pictures in before they left to eat, change,
etc. A local cover band called
"Hocus-Pocus" was to take the stage at
8:00pm and then Heep at around 9:00pm.
While
waiting for the show to start, I met a few new
Heep fans like Jim Kelly and a friend of his who
were sharing the corner part of the bar with us.
I also spoke to Barry
Lombardo, whom I haven't seen since HV99 . He
introduced us to his wife and son, then left for
an upstairs view of things. The crowd began to
slowly fill in the place and at 8:45pm Hocus
Pocus began to play some
cover tunes from groups like Pink Floyd and
Kansas. They are a six piece band from Hazleton,
Pa. with a very tight sound and great harmonies.
I do think the volume was a little much for such
a small place but after all
I WAS sitting just 10ft.in front of the PA
system :-o The thing that I thought was cool,
aside from their musical ability, was that the
guitar player wore a Uriah Heep T-shirt
throughout their set and the drummer had
to have his picture taken in front of the UH
logo on the drum kit during the sound check. It
was 9:45pm when Hocus Pocus ended their set.
Smoke rose and filled up every part of the room
and the people began to
shout for Heep. Colored lights overhead turned
down low and then Heep's intro music began to
play.....fans clapped and whistled ....many
people were right up to the stage so that I had
to sit up on the bar in order to
see.
One
by one they entered into almost darkness, people
cheered.....lights went up and "Return To
Fantasy" got pumped out to about 300 Heep
fans, old and new. From there... Gypsy,
Look At Youself,
Stealin', Sunrise, The Wizard, Traveller in
Time, July Morning, Only the Young, Between 2
Worlds, I Hear Voices, and Love In Silence. I
think that was the order.
They
did a wonderful part somewhere in the middle of
the set where Lee played a drum solo, Trevor
thumped out that steady bass and then Mick
played an awesome guitar solo, waving his hands
above the guitar as if
it's magic. He then played a little riff,
pointed to Lee, who in turn, did a drum roll and
Phil gave the keys all he's got......faster, and
faster. A really wild show. Bernie's voice was
in prime shape. Hitting
all those high notes and really relating to the
audience, telling them of the classic songs, the
new songs and the soon-to-be classic songs. At
the end of the set they thanked everyone, took a
bow and retreated to the side of the stage only
to be coaxed out by everyone to do Bird of Prey
(my all time favorite ) and Easy Livin. During
Easy Livin, a woman climbed up onto the stage
and began to dance in front of Mick while he
played.
Mick just smiled as the woman was quickly taken
by security.
After
a great ending, Mick threw picks into the crowd
and Lee sent his sticks flying. Hands were
shook, they made a group bow and went off
to the bus
to freshen up for the greet and meet. It was
about midnight when Lee, Bernie and Phil came in
to sign
autographs, however Trevor and Mick got stuck at
the bus outside. It was funny when we all got
kicked out from Tink's so they could close, only
to have the police chase us off the street
because we were blocking one
lane. So we all collected onto the sidewalk
until 2:00am. The guys stayed til every fan was
gone. Since their hotel was just a mere 2 blocks
away, Heep left on foot off to the hotel, waving
and shouting their farewells.
So ended a wonderful time with Uriah Heep in my
hometown!! I hope to see them again, December 7
in London. Take care everyone, God bless, and
like I once heard in a song, "it's time for
you to realize, there's gonna be no compromise,
it's gotta be Heep or nothin at all".
So
I changed it a little. LOL Keep Heepin' on.
Muzzy
Pictures
from: Deni !
I'm
not a big Heep fan, just a fan of all the old
bands I grew up with. Heep being one of them. When I saw they were coming
to Scranton, Pa. at Tink's I had to go. First, I went to the website to see
who was in the band. Being a little disappointed cause Ken wasn't in the
band, but went with on open mind. I really liked David's voice and Gary Thain's
bass, especially on Easy
Livin'. So I went with their spirits in my mind.
God bless all the ole' rockers who gave their souls to Rock
"N" Roll. I met some  guys from Mass. Now that's Heep fans
and some of my old buddies from years ago.
Show started with Return To Fantasy and moved on
from there... Some of the songs(not in order) were. Gypsy,Look At
Youself,Stealin',Sunrise, The Wizard,Traveller in Time,July Morning,Bird of
Prey,Only the Young,Between 2 Worlds,I hear Voices,and a song called Love In
Silence which I thought was the best song played!!!! I
believe this is what
they played, Having stole a set list.. I know all the old classic's!!!
Mick put on a great visual show and was pretty
good on guitar, Lee held the floor with his drumming, but the show stealer
was Trevor Bolder!!! WOW what an icredible bass player!!!!! He kick ass!!!!!
The keyboard player was decent having some big shoes to fill( I missed Ken's
heavy organ sound) and the vocalist was fair, being partial to Davids
vocals, it wouldn't be fair to
judge. But he moved around and had good stage
presence. The vocals could have been clearer and the bass turned up more. Guy's
who mix the show...Don't you come out on the floor and give a listen??
The show was over 90 minutes and covered alot of
the classic's as the set
list showed.
This was a high energy show, the crowd loved
it... I'm sure speaking for the crowd please come back to N.E. Pa.!!!
After the show was the meet and greet... The
band came out after a little
personal break and signed autographs and talked
and posed for photo's!!! This was really cool... no big ego's here. Heep
showed they appreciated the fans. Thanks to the band
members for signing all my
albums!!!!! I had quite a few.
I can't understand why all bands can't do
this..correct me if I'm wrong. Your talent got you there...My support in buying the
albums...etc and going to the shows keep you there!!!
I would definately go see Uriah Heep again!!!!!
In closing my hats off to the band, keep Uriah Heep going!!!! Also my personal
thanks for some fantastic songs over the years!!! I grew up with the
self-titled lp, Look At Yourself, Demon's and Wizards and The Magicians Birthday,
along with the Live lp. And to the Heep fans for supporting your
band...cool!!! I'm a big Savoy Brown fan and I know what us
fans do for our band!!! I saw some really cool merchandise at the meet and
greet!!!! I was proud to be a part of your Heep celebration!!! I posted a
short review on the internet
groups that I'm in.. Hope to see you soon...thanks, When my photo's
get developed I'll scan some for you...
savoykev
Fabulous
show, a great mix of old and new. Wish
there was more time to hear
MORE MORE MORE!
Salisb9620
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