Hi
Dave et al,
Here's
a few photos that I took during Heep's gig at
Studebaker's in Burnaby (just outside of
Vancouver), British Columbia.
A
number of us from Victoria (Bernie's home
town), including Bernie's Mum & Dad,
caught the ferry and headed over to see our
mate do his thing... caught up with him on
"the bus" just before sound-check.
Later, the whole group of us invaded
"Joe's Place" for dinner.
I
thought the waiter (who was the only one
on...) was going to pass out when we all
walked in! The guy was running around
freaking out trying to get our orders while
Bernie treated us all to a number of
"tales from the road"!!
Later,
at Studebakers, Heep came on after the opening
act at around 11:15pm. They were in
wonderfully fine form and really won the crowd
over in short order.
It was a treat to meet the other guys in the
band. Mick is a lovely chap who exuded a
warm & friendly glow, even after a very
exuberant performance. Also had a brief
chat with Trevor about his "Spider's from
Mars" project. Phil mentioned that it was
a relief to do Vanderhoof as it allowed them
to cool down (typical B.C. - rainy & cool)
after the very hot weather that
they encountered in the States.
Cheers,
Phil Rossner
Anyway, about 265 showed up for last night's
show in Burnaby (about five
miles southeast of Vancouver). I'm just
estimating that attendance figure,
but the venue (Studebaker's) seemed nearly full.
It's a great place -- tables
and chairs for practically everyone, and a good
view from anywhere in the
joint. Bernie's family and friends from the main
island showed up in force, and they occupied a whole section of seating.
The only thing that sucked
about Studebaker's was the obnoxiously
overbearing "security" team. These guys were way too active, supposedly protecting
the middle-aged audience from itself.
But everything else was better than the 1994
shows I saw! The sound quality
was much better than '94, as were the venue and
the set. The '94 performances were good and solid, but last night was more
inspired and spectacular. The set-list, in order:
RETURN TO FANTASY
UNIVERSAL WHEELS
STEALIN'
LOVE IN SILENCE
BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
I HEAR VOICES
THE WIZARD
SUNRISE
TRAVELER IN TIME
LOOK AT YOURSELF
GYPSY
JULY MORNING
(encore)
BIRD OF PREY
EASY LIVIN'
HEEP took the stage just before midnight. About
ten minutes into it, as the
band were really jamming on some red-hot
UNIVERSAL WHEELS, all electrical power to the stage was suddenly lost! This
resulted in a twenty-five minute delay, while power was being restored. The band
looked a bit p#ssed as they left the stage during the delay, but the
audience handled it well. HEEP resumed by starting over on UNIVERSAL WHEELS,
but it took a couple of songs
for the band to get completely back into it.
LOVE IN SILENCE was utterly
brilliant; it's the best version I've heard yet.
But as last night's showcase tune, it should have been placed much later in
the set; it seemed awkward hearing it right after STEALIN'. Besides LOVE IN
SILENCE, the other standouts were THE WIZARD and especially LOOK AT YOURSELF,
both of which had strong audience participation.
My apologies to fellow live tape collectors, but
there was no way I could have taped this show. Security was just way too
tight. We couldn't even smoke an innocent bowl -- at a URIAH HEEP concert!!!
What's this world coming to?
Keep
On Ridin',
"HC"
