[Heeplist] Trail of Diamonds and Traveller

[Bob Winward]

If it is Traveler in Time yes
I just thought of another magical epic song heep has done and that is Love
in Silence & Logical Progression  I enjoy that combo as much as I do MB,
Paradise/The Spell and July Morning


On 11/28/14 8:20 AM, "Stan" <evens78 at chartermi.net> wrote:

> I would really like Trail of Diamonds in the setlist, I think it is their most
> magically Heepish song that Current Bernie Heep has done. Another non Heep
> song that Bernie did that was magical was Traveller! Do others remember
> traveller?
> 
> 
> Stan
> 
>> On Nov 28, 2014, at 8:02 AM, Bob Winward <uriahheep at comcast.net> wrote:
>> 
>> Thank You Pete!!  I feel included now.  In my original rant, I was not
>> directing comments toward you.  I did room with Rich Wagner at TMBP 2001, he
>> is a great guy.  I have not seen him in over 10 yeas though.  Tell me, did
>> he force you to listen to any KH music during your navigationally challenged
>> excursions?
>> 
>> I suddenly have a craving for Bratwurst and Schnitzel.  I do know of a place
>> that serves it, just outside Holiday City.
>> 
>> I appreciate your comments on the Magician's Birthday, and possibly the
>> feedback may be heeded by the band.  I think Trail of Diamonds would have
>> been a much better follow up song than What Kind of God.  I never got to ask
>> Mick why they did not do TOD live.  There is a guitar riff in the middle
>> that reminds me of the Mag. Bday
>> 
>> Thank you I enjoyed the tale and hope some day to see Heep again and return
>> the act of kindness!!!
>> 
>> Bob
>> 
>> 
>>> On 11/27/14 3:09 PM, "Pete Wharton" <heeplistpete at ntlworld.com> 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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>> 
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>> http://www.uriah-heep.com
> 
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