It didn't start too well as the hotel I'd booked at the airport here in the UK didn't have a record of my booking. As it turned out I'd booked the wrong day.....what a plonker:-))) The flight was at 8am and went very smoothly. A short train journey in Munich took us to the centre of the city where we took the short walk to the venue for Monday nights performance. I'd booked the hotel attached to it and this is where we had a our 2nd scare. They had no record of my booking there as well. I was beginning to think I was mentally defective when the guy at the check in told me there were 2 hotels with the same name. Both were linked to the venue. He made a short phone call and within a few minutes we were checked into our room. Before leaving the UK I picked up a tourist book on Munich and in it it listed the Deutsches Theater as the most prestigious music venue in the city. Normally hosting major shows and internationally renowned artists. Mozart The Musical was having it's finale after a long run that night and alongside it's posters were those of Heep. There was even a TV screen and soundsystem showing forthcoming events which included Heep's performance of Acoustically Driven from 2000.

We did some sightseeing to see out the afternoon and just as we were finishing Dave Owen called me up and suggested we meet. He was with his girlfriend Claire who'd also flown in from the UK that day. We found a nice Bierkeller and downed a drink or two before we split to find some food. As it turned out the band were at a hotel 2 stops down the train line. No one could understand why they weren't at our hotel. It certainly wasn't cost and it was a decent hotel. Dave said that the shows so far had gone well.

The next day we did a bit more sightseeing and at 5pm Dave suggested we come in for the soundcheck. We went in the back door and very soon got totally lost. We even found ourselves under the stage at one time. Luckily we bumped into Bernie who showed us onto the stage. The inside of the theatre was fantastic. Fully seated and luxurious. I have no Idea it's capacity...maybe a couple of thousand. Claire was sitting at the front so we joined her for a chat while the band set up. As they finished Trevor came down for a chat and invited us to eat with the band and crew and we followed them down to the basement. I had this Spinal Tap vision of the band not finding the stage again as we seemed to walk for miles down long corridors and stairs to get there. All was very jovial and we seemed to spend ages chatting. Bernie's wife Radka and baby (no longer baby) Madelaine were there. Madelaine being the centre of attention. Mick gave me his camera and asked me to take some shots of the show including The Nits (support band) as everyone thought they were excellent. No one could say what music they played just that what they did was good.

Finding a seat was difficult as it was a numbered ticket/seat show and it appeared that despite the prices ticket sales had been good and whilst it wasn't full the turnout was really excellent. We managed to find some empty seats about a third of the way back on the right as you look at the stage. Most people were casually but smartly dressed. None of the usual beer bellied greasy haired (if they had any) rock crowd. The Nits were everything everybody had said about them. They're from Holland, only three of them and the crowd loved them, clapping along at every opportunity. The singer/acoustic guitarist said that when they found out they were touring with The Heep they were a bit scared as they imagined them being wild and would spit whisky at them. As it turned out they were the nicest people in the world.

Heep came on to huge applause. I'm not going to say too much as it's been written about before on this tour. The setlist was the same as listed and I love the new arrangements of July Morning, Sunrise and Pilgrim. In fact it was Pilgrim that got the longest applause. Everyone was seated but Bernie got everyone on their feet clapping and singing to Free Me and again to Lady In Black. The crowd really were amazing and seemed to worship everything Heep did. Something you don't see here in the UK. I liked the way Mick introduced most of the songs with a little story of how they came about. I think it's tours like this that keep the band fresh. They all said how much they were enjoying it. The noise to get the band back for an encore was like nothing I've heard in a long time. They could easily have done 2 or 3 encores but we only got one which seems like a Heep tradition these days.

After the show the band signed autographs at the merchandise area and were pretty well mobbed. As everyone went home we went upstairs to the aftershow party. The party was great. The band were genuinely interested in what we thought of the new arrangements and the light show (which was also new and excellent). Mick stepped in to open a beer bottle for me.......with his eye socket!!!! I'd been trying to find a bottle opener with no luck when he asked me to hold his glasses. He put the bottle up to his eye, twisted it around and there was this hissing sound. For a second I thought he'd done it but very quickly realised it was another joke. The hissing was from his mouth. Needless to say we all fell about laughing. Dave Owen came to the rescue with a proper bottle opener. We left the party at about 1.30 and here we are back at home.

Look out for the show from Merkers on Dec 2nd. Apparently it's a sell out and is in an arena 500 meters (about 1500 feet) below ground in a salt mine. It can only be reached by going down in a lift.