2004 Heep Club at Bush Hall

by Jerry Bloom

Having been given the job of organising this years Heep Club, I thought I'd jot down a few lines from my perspective: Firstly, when on the second day, Louis Rentrop announced that I was not a Heep fan but a Rainbow fan and after the performance the night before, now a Ken Hensley fan, I thought it was only right that I should comment on that.

My band had always been Deep Purple, and because of Ritchie Blackmore, Rainbow as well. Somehow for many years Heep was one of those bands that had bypassed me. Sure, I had a couple of albums and heard a few others over the years but never delved too far beyond that.

That said, I'm well aware that Heep has always been associated in the same genre as the likes of Deep Purple, and one thing is for certain: Both bands have had many ups and downs and line-up changes that have divided fan loyalties. During the weekend of the Heep Club, I saw so many of the same situations that I have seen with Purple fans over the years.

The appearance of Ken Hensley on the Friday night was a classic case in point. I guess just like Blackmore's departure from Purple ten years ago, Hensley's departure from Heep surely divided the fan base to some degree. At least with this band I could look at things more objectively. An outsider looking in and observing for a change, without being wrapped up in the passion of it all.

I had been told beforehand that Ken Hensley could be a difficult and exacting guy to work with: Blackmore has the same reputation. Is it coincidence they were both the major songwriters in their bands? 

Although the afternoon session on the Friday ran smoothly I was a little apprehensive about working with Ken although through the email correspondence we had, he seemed okay. No ridiculous demands, so everything was looking good. We spoke on the phone on the Friday afternoon and knowing that things never run to schedule I had allowed a little extra time for the soundcheck just in case! As it turned out Ken had some slight delays with the London traffic but only arrived a few minutes later than planned.

I kind of feared the worst, and imagined as soon as he got there he might want the stage re-arranged, and numerous other things. I couldn't have been more wrong, he instantly struck me as very amicable, and when I asked him if the stage set up was to his liking he replied, "Just do it how you want." Just to keep in his good books, I asked if he had a preference for the seating arrangements and again he was happy to go along with whatever I wanted to do!

Ken put on a very intimate performance and I know it was well received by the die-hard Heep fans that were there. The question and answer session was surely going to throw up a few passionate and difficult subjects but I thought that Ken dealt with all this very well. Listening to the fans afterwards some of them felt he had been very diplomatic on his view of the current Heep by not really answering the guy's question. I firmly believe that by telling the guy he was not in a position to give an objective answer was indeed very honest. It would be the same for anyone else if a job you had left many years ago was now done by others and you were asked to comment on it.

Anyway, I can only reiterate that you can only judge people by the way you find them and for me Ken was as nice a guy as any I have met in the business and I wouldn't hesitate to work with him again.

Still for those fans on the other side of the Heep fence, there was the Saturday to look forward to: The current band around the corner at the Empire, but before that an afternoon of more fun at the Bush Hall with the Heep Club. The acoustic set that the German tribute band Circle Of Hands put on was perfect for that moment in the day and I was very impressed with them. The crowd responded extremely well, especially when they played 'Lady In Black.' they were all clearly very accomplished musicians, but no more so than vocalist Torsten who really impressed me. If Heep ever change vocalist again, they could do a lot worse than get Torsten in the band. In fact I think he could easily hold his own in many a top rock act.

The other fun part of the Saturday afternoon was the quiz, and even as a 'non-Heepster' I got 15 of the questions right, but I don't think Louis believed me somehow!

Working at the event for two days, before it started, I had a feeling two days of Heep music and fans might have been too much for me, but as the afternoon session was rolling on I was having such a good time that I was hoping it could have continued longer. 

The magic of such events is the bonding and friendship that the fans bring to such a thing, and the Heep fans I met throughout the weekend were a truly fantastic bunch and helped to make my job a highly pleasurable one. It was really like one big happy family, and I've never experienced that before with other groups fans to anywhere near the same extent. 

I joined everyone at the Empire to see Heep in action but I had to leave long before they finished to prepare back at Bush Hall for the aftershow party. The number of people we had for this was far in excess of the numbers that had been in attendance in the afternoon or on the Friday. Not least because the band and their entourage turned up, and along with the music journalists etc must have swelled the numbers by another 100 at least. Both the Hall owner and myself looked on with slight apprehension when we realised at some point we would have to try and get everyone out when it was due to close at 1.00! The fact that the band was more than happy to stand around and chat with all and sundry only helped to make our job trickier but it must have certainly topped off the weekend for those fans. 

When we finally left the Hall at 2.00 in the morning, tired and exhausted, there was a great feeling that it had all been worth it. It really helped that some fans came up to me and personally thanked me for my part in organising 'their' weekend. I've no doubt that with fans like this they deserve nothing less. If Classic Rock wants me to organise next years Heep Club, I'll jump at the opportunity and will be determined to make it even better.

www.uriah-heep.com