[Heeplist] Uriah Heep Finnish tour

[Bob Winward]

Tapio, nice review and belated Happy Birthday.  It is good to see you take a
vacation and I hope you are vacatoning away from the Dio list too!  :-)

Seriously, you made 2 references about Mick that concern me.  He is mid 60's
now and I often wonder how long he can keep going.  Is he just tired from
the tour or is there something more?  I cannot imagine replacing Mick.  UH
would have to go to an almost all keyboard sound like UK did on their second
lp.


On 6/13/14 3:25 AM, "Tapio Minkkinen" <tapio at uriah-heep.fi> wrote:

> Well, the tour is now over and I'm enjoying my vacation at summer
> cottage by the lake. Peace and quiet, no people, no music which is
> very nice as it was quite a week. Four Heep shows in five days,
> luckily this time most of the shows were here in Southern part of
> Finland so only ca. 800 kilometers to travel.
> 
> Thank you very much to all for your birthday wishes. As I told the
> Heep guys after the Salo show it was the best birthday party I have
> ever had and I thanked them for it. 500 guests, Uriah Heep playing and
> I didn't even have to pay anything for it!
> 
> On Thursday was the last night of the tour in Lahti, today the guys
> are playing in Alta in Northern Norway by the Arctic Ocean and the
> next show is in Germany. This last show in Lahti was probably the best
> one of them all so it was a good way to end the tour. As I mentioned
> in previous mails the venues have been very different and this was
> also a bit special. It was like an outdoor-indoor gig really because
> it was in a hall that has two opposite walls made completely of glass
> so you have the daylight coming in from two directions even though
> you're inside. The ceiling is made of wood and actually the whole
> building is, from website http://www.sibeliustalo.fi/en you cvan get a
> better picture. Heep played in the part in the middle with glass wall
> and this is in fact the lobby of the building but it's also used for
> concerts and works quite well.
> 
> The gig itself was as good and energetic as all the previous ones were
> even thought there have been some health problems. Mick has been
> suffering from bronchitis and his throat was so sore that at the first
> show last Saturday he could hardly speak, he got a  bit better and in
> Lahti he was able to speak but still no backing vocals. Before the
> fourth show in Salo Russell got sick, they thought it was food
> poisoning and Dave was also feeling a bit ill probably for the same
> reason but Russell was fine already in Lahti.
> 
> I think Bernie has been fantastic at these shows, I have been admiring
> his vocals and presence on stage. It could be that now that Mick is
> not in the best condition and has to focus on just playing Bernie
> feels there's more weight on his shoulders as the front man and he
> carries that responsiblity well.
> 
> Both the new songs have sounded great aso live and they have also been
> recieved well by the audiences, the new album has been out only a few
> days so I don't think many of the people had heard these songs before.
> 
> This last gig was very special for me personally as Mick made probably
> the only speach between songs that he has made on this whole tour
> where he mentioned I had my 50th birthday the day before and he also
> thanked me for the work I have done for the band over the years and
> that was very nice of him to do and felt great.
> 
> After the show there was an afterparty arranged by local concert
> sponsor at a bar he owned, Russell, Dave and Phil came. Afterwards
> when we had escorted the band members to their hotel I had an hour to
> wait for my bus. The bus left at 3.15 a.m. and it was hour's ride. I
> still had to walk four kilometers and it was 5 o'clock in the morning
> when I arrived at our Summer cottage.
> 
> A friend fo mine called Jari Mantila had his truck decorated last year
> with Into The Wild artwork and now he has done the same with Outsider
> artwork. It looks really fantastic. I think there are still some
> pictures at uriah-heep.com from last year and I will be sending some
> pictures of the new one and some more stories later. Now I have some
> lawn moaving to do.
> 
> The setlist was the same on all shows apart from the first one where
> there was only one hour playing time.
> 
> Uriah Heep Finnish tour 2014:
> 7 June Espoo Kivenlahtirock
> 8 June Kauhava Hotelli Kauhava
> 9 June Pori Promenadikeskus
> 10 June Salo Astrum-Areena
> 11 June Pori Sibeliustalo
> 
> The setlist:
> - Against The Odds *
> - Overload
> - Sunrise
> - Stealin'
> - I'm Ready *
> - Between Two Worlds *
> - Can't Take That Away *
> - One Minute
> - Gypsy
> - Look At Yourself
> - July Morning
> - Lady In Black
> 
> encores:
> - Free 'N' Easy *
> - Easy Livin'
> 
> * not played at Kivenlahtirock festival
> 
>