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HEEPVENTION 2000
The fourth annual gathering of Uriah Heep fans was held in May 2000 in London. Uriah Heep was unable to attend because of a scheduling conflict.
As a replacement, former Heep members, Ken Hensley, John Lawton
and Paul Newton, put together a band to perform. The
Hensley-Lawton Band was chosen for the band's name. The
performance went over so well that Ken Hensley and John Lawton to put together a 2001 European Tour of the Hensley - Lawton Band. One of the most important things that
happened at HV2000 may have been the reintroduction of Bob
Carruthers to Heep. Bob and Cromwell
Productions (Classic Rock Legends) were to play a major role
in Heep's resurgence.
LIVE ALBUM FROM 1999 GERMAN TOUR
Concerts in Aschaffenburg and Munich, Germany on November 29th & 30th, 1999
respectively; were recorded for a live album. Pip Williams
was enlisted to produce the album. The resulting double CD,
Futures Echoes of the Past, was the first release by Classic Rock Legends.
THE LEGEND CONTINUES, HEEP IS ON DVD
Uriah Heep's first DVD release was filmed in front of a live audience
at the London Astoria on July 15th, 2000 by Cromwell Productions and Classic
Rock Legends. The soundtrack for the shoot was the live recordings made for the Future Echoes of the Past release.
HEEP UNPLUGGED? WELL... NOT EXACTLY
When Uriah Heep planned a special concert featuring
the acoustic side of the band, it was decided
the concert would not be totally acoustic.
As was explained on the Official Uriah Heep website,
"It is unthinkable to have the music of Uriah Heep
without the trademark Hammond Organ sound. Essentially
you will be hearing the lighter side of Uriah Heep with an
acoustically driven set." The Acoustically Driven Set
was performed in the Mermaid Theater in
London on December 9th, 2000 with strings, female background singers,
a steel guitarist, an uhlean pipe and various
exotic percussion instruments. Pip Williams once again
acted as producer and the concert recorded for CD as well as (perhaps you seen)
the DVD release. Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull was the special guest and he added his legendary flute to the mix on two tunes.
ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN
The Electrically Driven CD is a very
raw sounding recording of Uriah Heep's triumphant return to London before a 'standing room only' crowd at the London Astoria on March 23rd, 2001. Uriah Heep
had not had the opportunity to play in England
very much in recent years and this was a start at rectifying
the situation. In some cases, this CD was packaged along with the
Acoustically Driven CD to show both the light and heavy sides of the band. Appropriately, the 2
CD package was named "The Two Sides of Uriah Heep". The Electrically Driven is not
polished in order to allow the listener to
come as close as possible to hearing what
the concert-goer heard.
HEEP AND NAZARETH
Over the years, Heep has had a special relationship
with Nazareth and the band has toured quite a bit
with them. Quite often these tours ended with a rash of pranks on
the last night of the tour. On the last night of o ne tour,
Heep came onstage during Nazareth's set dressed in kilts. At the
end of another tour, Heep tied their hair in ponytails, put on
of the make-up and came on stage during
Nazareth's set dressed like schoolgirls. Darryl
Sweet returned the favor by coming on stage during Heep's set dressed like a character on a Naz album cover. Darryl Sweet was a close friend band and he will be missed.
CENTURY MEDIA TO RELEASE HEEP TRIBUTE
Century Media has announced plans to release a Uriah Heep tribute album by Metal bands. It is believed Gamma Ray
and Blind Guardian will participate.
SPIDERS AND LEPPARD
Trevor Bolder participated in a temporary formation
of a super group. Members of the Spiders from Mars and Def Leppard joined together to become the Cybernauts. The
Cybernauts recorded a live album during a short tour of Japan that included primarily Bowie & the Spiders tunes.
