[Heeplist] German gigs (longish post)

Thu Nov 27 18:28:15 EST 2014

Pete.
Between thanksgiving turkey and reading your story, I think Bob will be
feeling warm and fuzzy all over :)
Happy thanksgiving to our neighbors to the south.:)
D

On Thursday, November 27, 2014, Pete <heeplistpete at ntlworld.com> wrote:

> Was it something I said ;-? You can unsubscribe yourself but you can never
> leave :-) Right madman?
>
> Pete
>
>
> Sent from Samsung Galaxy on O2
>
> -------- Original message --------
> Subject: Re: [Heeplist] German gigs (longish post)
> From: Richard Gill <richard at dari.id.au <javascript:;>>
> To: "Heepsters Mailing List (Travellers in Time)" <
> heeplist at travellersintime.com <javascript:;>>
> CC:
>
> unsubscribe please
> thanks
>
> On 28 November 2014 at 06:09, Pete Wharton <heeplistpete at ntlworld.com
> <javascript:;>>
> wrote:
>
> > Just so Bob W doesn't feel left out :)
> >
> >
> >
> > Mike had left the Isle of Wight about 8 am and arrived at my house around
> > 10:30. He'd seen on the way up that there were some delays on the London
> > orbital motorway ,the M25, around the junctions we needed to get to, so
> we
> > decided to head off for our flight a bit earlier and take the back roads
> to
> > the airport. After Mike had time for a quick drink and freshen up, we set
> > off in my car as that was the one I'd booked into the car park, Mike
> being
> > a
> > car salesman wasn't sure which one he'd use to get to me. As it happens,
> > the
> > expected delays didn't materialise and so we got to Stansted airport in
> > plenty of time. We got some food at the airport as we didn't know when
> we'd
> > be eating next. Surprisingly our flight was on time and when we arrived
> in
> > Nuremberg, there was the wonderful Mr Wagner to greet us and drive us
> > around. As we had time before the gig, we decided to head into Nuremberg
> > city itself for a little wander. A beautiful place, just a shame we were
> > too
> > early for the Christmas market there which is a highly recommended visit.
> > There were a few market type stalls around though and as we went past
> one,
> > I
> > saw they were selling Nuremberg Bratwurst, which are smaller than others
> > and
> > more tasty they say. We each had a roll with three Bratwurst in and then
> I
> > spied a stall selling Gluehwein which Mike insisted we have :) It was
> very
> > nice to sit outside eating and drinking and catching up, even if it was
> > with
> > coats on and under a blanket. Having finished those we strolled back to
> > Rich's car and off to the gig venue. The venue in honesty was not great.
> A
> > longish walk uphill in what used to be the zoo gardens I think.
> > Semi-circular and concrete everywhere. For some reason the bar was at the
> > far side of the hall, so we made our way over there and got a beer. The
> > support band were  Rock Antenne  and the sound was loud and mushy. At
> this
> > point we were found by 2 of the German Heepsters, Nina and Angie, so we
> > decided to adjourn to the other room where the merch was and we could
> hear
> > ourselves talk. When Heep came on we decided to stay at the back of the
> > venue and at least get the best of the sound even if the view wasn't
> great.
> > Credit to Daniel the sound man for doing a great job under the
> conditions,
> > though Davey's bass did get turned up to about 12 briefly during Speed of
> > Sound. The set is the same as previously posted for Vienna, you don't
> > expect
> > Heep to change a set during a tour :( There was a good reception for the
> > new
> > tracks. They played all of Magician's birthday, Bob, pretty much as on
> the
> > CD. Though I don't like the way they do the altercation between the good
> > and
> > bad magician, where Bernie takes the role of bad magician and Phil the
> good
> > magician until the end where Bernie does the bit about the impenetrable
> > fortress of love as well, like they did at MBP with John Lawton. It's
> just
> > wrong. Either Bernie does it all or Phil has to be bad magician,
> otherwise
> > it just doesn't make sense. Magician's Birthday is introduced as old
> style
> > prog how Heep used to do it in the 70's and then they do What Kind of God
> > as
> > an example of how Heep are still writing epic proggy type songs.
> >
> > After the show we got to go backstage and meet up with the guys and have
> a
> > bit of a chat for a while before leaving for Rich's place just outside
> > Nuremberg where we were staying. Rich insisted we pick up some beer on
> the
> > way back to have a drink at his place. This we did and sat having a good
> > chat with beer for me and Mike and whiskey for Rich. Not quite sure how I
> > managed to get through 4 bottles, but it was about 3 am before I got to
> > bed.
> > For some reason I couldn't get to sleep for ages. Oh yes, that's right it
> > was my roommate Mike's snoring keeping me awake :)  He sensibly had
> taken a
> > sleeping pill and worn ear plugs! I think I finally drifted off about 5
> am
> > for a few hours before being woken up.
> >
> > After a hearty breakfast kindly provided by Rich and his lovely partner
> > Ulli, we set off on the long drive to Essenbach for the next gig. It
> > wouldn't have been quite so long if Rich's sat nav system hadn't decided
> > country roads were quicker than motorways :) By the time we got to
> > Essenbach
> > the light was fading and the chill and mist was staring to settle in. We
> > found the venue, and could hear the band soundchecking, but could see no
> > way
> > in. We decided to drive round to the other side of the venue and there we
> > saw Peter Weber the merch man and Vic the van driver. We went in and
> caught
> > the end of the soundcheck. This venue was completely different to the
> > previous night's in that it was a large sports hall with raised seating
> to
> > one side. They did seem to be having a little trouble with the sound from
> > Davey's bass, but they got it sorted in the end.
> >
> > We then headed off for our hotel. A nice little place, a guesthouse come
> > restaurant come social gathering place. After settling in we headed to
> the
> > guests' restaurant. Lovely pumpkin soup they served. Mike and Rich had
> the
> > day's special of ghoulash and noodles I had my favourite of Schnitzel. I
> > only mention this because apparently the Germans call anything like
> fusilli
> > pasta, noodles whereas noodles to us Brits is more like your Chinese egg
> > noodles, long and thin. Regrettably I had to let Mr Wagner get away with
> > this ridiculous concept :) Only because he did advise me I was putting
> > sugar
> > on my schnitzel not salt!
> >
> > After our meal we headed back the short distance to the venue, it was
> very
> > busy for parking as there seemed to be a coincident event on at the music
> > school opposite the venue. We picked up our guest passes and made our way
> > into the venue. The support band was the same as the previous night, but
> at
> > least this time the sound was good, so we stayed and watched. They were a
> > covers band. Musically quite good, but I didn't rate the male vocalist
> and
> > he was completely outshone by the female singer. Still, it boded well for
> > Heep's sound. Around 9:30, Heep came on. The numbers in the venue weren't
> > that fantastic, though it looked worse as the venue was bigger. I'd say
> 600
> > tops. The sound was excellent tonight, so we took advantage and made our
> > way
> > to the front. The infill speakers really helped. The set list was the
> same
> > as expected and they were performed well. Only annoying bit (apart from
> the
> > MB interplay being wrong again) was some young drunken idiot who decided
> to
> > push his way in-between the people at the front and very nearly caused a
> > fight by us until he was finally dragged away by his friend.
> >
> > Again we were lucky enough to get backstage and have a chat with the
> band.
> > It took a while as they had to deal with the VIP guests first and Bernie
> > was
> > still sitting round in his underwear until told to get a move on by
> Scampi
> > and Martin Darvell, who was also there for tonight and tomorrow. We had a
> > couple of beers with them before they left and then when they had gone
> had
> > another one with the crew who could finally relax. Fortunately it wasn't
> > far
> > back to our hotel, so there was a vague chance I could get some sleep
> > tonight.
> >
> > Arising early, well it felt early, we again had a hearty breakfast before
> > setting off on the really long journey to Mannheim for today's gig. Rich
> > checked the map before we left so that he didn't have to rely on the sat
> > nav
> > and I had it with me to check the route. It was a pretty uneventful long
> > motorway journey in the main, listening to all sorts of differing music.
> We
> > got to a motorway junction and despite my protestations that it wasn't
> the
> > planned one, Rich decided to listen to his sat nav and follow this route,
> > convinced it was the right planned road. Again I was shouted down in his
> > best Teutonic fashion :) Eventually we decided to stop for refreshments
> and
> > Rich wanted to check the road atlas to see what I had been on about,
> > convinced I was wrong about the road we were on. I wasn't and in shame
> the
> > German had to concede navigational defeat to the Englishman :)
> >
> > Anyway we decided to go and check into our hotel and grab some rest
> instead
> > of going to the sound check. We'd arranged to meet Nina again at our
> hotel
> > at 6:30 and get some food. I didn't sleep, the room was a bit cold and
> when
> > I tried to up the temp, the climate display just kept saying error. So I
> > went to reception to mention this, only to be told that that control was
> > for
> > the air con and only worked in summer, there was a radiator by the window
> > to
> > use in winter. Feeling somewhat abashed I went back to my room and  found
> > the said radiator hidden behind a curtain so I wasn't surprised I didn't
> > see
> > it. As I came out of my room to meet the rest, I got some satisfaction
> when
> > Mike asked me if my room was cold as he couldn't get the heating>
> temperature
> > adjusted in his. Kindly I told him of his error and how I had discovered
> > it.
> > We mentioned this to Rich who laughed and asked if we had not read the
> > label
> > by the climate control. He didn't believe there wasn't one there to read
> > until we went back to my room and showed him. Back of the net, Germany 1,
> > England 2 :)
> >
> > We then went and met Nina and her friend Katrine and had some food in the
> > hotel. Service was a bit slow, so by the time we'd finished and all piled
> > into Nina's car for the short drive to the venue, the first support band
> > had
> > already started. As we had been warned, this again was not a great
> venue. A
> > plain rectangular box shape with metal support girders the length of the
> > venue, down the middle and then the sponsors had put some beach sails in
> > the
> > arena which also blocked the view. First support(21 Octayne I think)
> were
> > pretty good and then there was Voodoo Circle whose guitarists had also
> been
> > involved on the Rock meets Classic tour with Mick And Bernie. Again, very
> > listenable. The sound wasn't fantastic and being a small venue it was
> quite
> > crowded at the front, though not as much as the stage shot makes it
> appear.
> > Again we decided to stay at the back and get the best of the sound. Set
> was
> > as before, very well executed and the crowd were very responsive
> especially
> > to One Minute.
> >
> > The crew weren't hanging around long tonight as they had to set off on a
> > long drive and had to change drivers en-route. We did eventually get
> > backstage as again the band were dealing with VIPs first. Nearly didn't
> > though. We were sitting waiting in a side room with one of the crew when
> > Katrine came back from being outside with Nina and told us we were going.
> > The crew man thought she meant the band were ready to see us and went one
> > way followed by Rich. Katrine went another way followed by Mike and me
> (she
> > was quite pretty after all). Unfortunately Nina had decided in a huff to
> > give up waiting and was going to leave. Well as we couldn't really leave
> > without Rich, fortunately we all went back in and found the crew man who
> > directed us to the band area. Bernie was outside with some guests and
> asked
> > how the show was, whereupon I said I wished he and Phil would sort out
> the
> > MB interchange. Ooops, didn't get understood properly as Bernie thought I
> > meant they weren't doing it well. Anyway we went inside the band's room
> > where Mick immediately thrust a beer in my hand :)  Of course the others
> > then ask how we thought it went at which point Bernie pipes up about my
> > comments on Mag's Birthday and I am then duly harangued by all :( The
> band
> > were very chatty although I did seem to end up chatting to the
> > aforementioned guests who had been left outside the room. So we had a few
> > beers with them before they left. Kindly Mick gave me a bottle of beer to
> > take home for the road as they left.
> >
> > Nina dropped us off at our hotel and the bar was still open though it
> took
> > ages to find the barman. So we had a beer and a whisky and I did have
> > Mick's
> > bottle to finish too, so again it was about 3 AM before we went to bed.
> >
> > The next morning was still an early rise as we had the longish drive back
> > to
> > Nuremberg for Mike and I to get our flight. It did mean though that we
> > would
> > get a chance to visit briefly the Technical museum at Sinsheim on the way
> > back. This is a truly fascinating place if you have any interest in old
> > cars, bikes, artillery, tanks, trains and planes. Lots of US cars on
> > display. You get to go inside a lot of the planes which are up on the
> roof
> > including an old Air France Concorde an the Russian equivalent the
> Tupelev.
> > There's even a Douglas DC3 where you can take a slide down a few levels
> > from
> > the plane's exit door. So of course Mike & I did :) A great place to
> visit
> > if you ever get a chance.
> >
> >
> >
> > Regrettably we then had to leave for the airport. A great weekend was
> over.
> > Heep were great, the new stuff went over well I think. Not everyone's
> ideal
> > set list, but it is what it is. Always great to meet up with Heepsters as
> > well and Rich Wagner is a very great host and travelling companion, even
> if
> > he doesn't know what road he's on :)
> >
> >
> >
> > I did remember to ask Mick this time about the Koko DVD. February he told
> > me. It's done and in the hands of the label. Why they decided not to hit
> > the
> > Christmas market with a November release he didn't know.
> >
> >
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> >
> >
> > Pete
> >
> >
> >
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> > http://www.uriah-heep.com
> >
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