Uriah Heep wsg Howzat

London pays homage to Rock Legends

This past Sunday night at London Music Hall I had the pleasure of enjoying two events in one.

First my dear friends in Howzat were taking the stage at The London Music Hall as opening act to legendary rock icons Uriah Heep – and secondly I was allowed to take pics of both these acts – one band in particular that I have followed since their Demons and Wizards release on May 19, 1972.

Getting there for sound check was a lot of fun as I got to hear Heep rev up the engine with what turned out to be their encore “Easy Living” from the above titled album. I knew that Mick Box was the only remaining founding member from the glory years of the 1970’s. Founding member Ken Hensley had left the band in 1980, other founding member David Byron (Vocals) died in 1985 from alcohol-related complications including liver disease and seizures, Gary Thain (Bass) died in 1975 from drug overdose, Lee Kerslake (drums) left the band in 1979 and then returned only to finally leave for good in 2007 due to health reasons that have sidelined him from drumming ever since. In between the early 70’s to now the band has had a roster of  “who’s who” of the rock royalty world come and go.

Since 2013 the band consists of  lead and rhythm guitarist Mick Box, keyboardist Phil Lanzon, lead vocalist Bernie Shaw, drummer Russell Gilbrook and bassist Davey Rimmer – so as a fan of 40 plus years I was anxious to hear this live.

First off though, my pals in Howzat had the job of getting the packed LMH crowd in the mood. Add to that my friend Brandon Eedy was gracious to have given them this slot so I was nervous for them as well.

Backstage Kevin was pacing and he was also battling a 3 day onset of the flu so his vocals were going to be put to the test. Greigg Fraser was pretty quiet and subdued, Dan Ransom was just Dan where nothing fazes him and Dave Buland and Dale Penny seemed pretty loose about the whole affair. It became show time and the boys hit the stage to a very warm welcome from London and then they kicked it into high gear. The band whipped through a 45 minute set of original material, the crowd applauded very enthusiastically and with all sincerity – they were totally into what the band was playing from their catalogue. People were cheering and screaming and you could tell that Howzat has won the crowd after the first song. They sold a ton of merch and the show went off without a hitch or Kevin’s flu handicapped vocals missing a beat – it was a great success.

Then came the main event – Uriah Heep.

Well they roared out of the gates and never let up on the gas from start to finish. Mick Box might have been over shadowed in his day by the comparisons to Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple) this man takes guitar playing to a whole new level and frankly as I followed the band all the way from Demons & Wizards I always felt it was unfair for him to be described that way. Watching him during sound check and up close with my camera during the show, you could just feel the man was having a ball up there. Quite a few times he caught me in the gated off section of the pit with my camera and just gave me a smile and a nod as if to acknowledge “Thanks for coming out to our show”. All through the night he had this immense smile on his face while interacting with the crowd with hand gestures that were almost Zen like. As for his playing, well, the man has totally mastered his craft, the musicianship was unbelievable.

Bernie Shaw will be 62 this June and while I have watched guys like Coverdale and others lose their range, Bernie still has the range and the power that most guys in their 20’s wish they had – this man has lungs to spare. Sure he has a few pints on him, but he knows how to work a crowd and get people energized and fired up for a Heep show – and did I mention he can sing like crazy?

Keyboardist Phil Lanzon is NOT Ken Hensley’s replacement, not sure if he can write hits like Hensley did but this man is a wizard on keys – think Rick Wakeman or Keith Emmerson. Those hands are very, very talented and while his being anchored behind a keyboard arsenal would normally restrict a display of high energy to the crowd while playing – it doesn’t inhibit him at all. He reminded me a lot of Jon Lord who would be moving around while playing his Hammond and as a result becomes one more visual aspect of the bands stage show.

Bassist Davey Rimmer was from my few minutes with him, very very gracious and accommodating. Him and Dave Buland both hit it off as they are both left-handed bass players which is not that common, Davey had come out and noticed that during Howzat sound check that Dave’s bass had fallen and one of the tuning pegs had broken off. Davey (UH) had offered Dave (Howzat) the use of his bass for the show, now that was damn impressive for not only someone he had just met but that was in an opening band, to offer his bass to help out. That kind of character you don’t find often. As for Davey Rimmer’s playing, the man is the absolute foundation of the band. I LOVED his style of playing and have to admit the bass with the illuminated lights on the fret board was kinda cool to.

Drummer Russell Gilbrook, now this guy is not human, I’ve never seen an elite level drummer play that hard and I’ve seen some of the world’s best live. The highlight of Russell’s playing was an electrifying duo with Mick Box wailing away on guitar and Russell accompanying him on drums. You would think that in this day and age that would leave a crowd rather disinterested but it had the opposite effect. People appreciated the elite skill these two displayed on their respective instruments and loved every second of it.

The only disappointment I had from the show was that as I was tracking each hit from the bands storied career and it came down to encore time, I figured they would deliver “Easy Livin’” from the sound check and hopefully “Sweet Lorraine” which was highlighted on Uriah Heep Live (1973). As it turned out after the show many of my friends had been expecting that tune too but the band never played it.

All in all the show was a success from start to finish.  Huge shout out to Mike, Lauren, Dimitri and all the staff at London Music Hall from the servers to Marty and the sound techs, to the bouncers who time and time again do their job with excellence. And to Brandon Eedy for working with Howzat to insure making the night run so smoothly for the boys and for bringing such a great event to London.

Interesting also to point out is that the show was on a Sunday evening and doors opened at 7pm on a cold winter night in February. When I stepped outside prior to the doors opening, a large crowd has already gathered around 6:30pm in anticipation of getting in for the show.

Over a 1,000 people attended this show and the demographics were in the 35–60 span, meaning most of them had to attend work the next morning and still they came out in force for a Classic Rock era band which ended by 11pm.

Now if London venues made this transition to a more suitable time for that age demographic to attend live music events, then they might not have near empty bars at 12:15am of a 10-2am show.

#Allstage #TurnUpTheLiveMusic #Howzat #MusicLover #LondonMusicHall #UriahHeep #LondonOntario

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