Uriah Heep at Cambridge Rock
Festival, 2009 Review and photos by Strawb
I'd smell like a yaks ball sack if it were wrapped in foil and
subjected to heating with an industrial strength hairdryer for about
a year. My head hurts, something to do with 4 days of drinking,
steady but constant drinking. And I last got a full uninterrupted
hours sleep before I erected the canvas house in the trades
description act all time offender ‘Quiet Area’ of the campsite.
Yes, I am finally home after a month which has consisted largely of
festivals. It began with RBCS, finally able to complete the 25th
Anniversary once the licensing committee found a large jar of common
sense and a pair of kahunas. Compared to recent years the line up
was weaker, and I will be looking for a return to previous form next
year. Take a bow GMT, new life in the old boys and far and away the
band of the weekend. My month ended with Bloodstock 2009, where the
musical line up was the best ever, however the organisers need to
stop treating the paying public like fucking schoolchildren. Pay an
extra hundred sheets for a ‘VIP’ parking spot or park a mile away in
the next county. Arrive on a Thursday afternoon and queue for 2.5
hours just to get your wristband. Organiser blames ‘health and
Safety’ we blame lack of staff and the foresight of King Canute. And
here’s an idea, suddenly decide on the Saturday morning that no one
from certain camp sites will be allowed in with any beer from the
supermarket. Blame the council for the decision and hope no one
realises that it was down to the vultures trying to sell their slabs
on site for £30 for shit lager or cider. I could go on, but will sum
up by saying ‘ This time next year we’ll be at Metalcamp’.
In between these two, I found myself with a schedule free of other
commitments which meant that on the fourth occasion of trying I was
finally able to get along to the Cambridge Rock Festival. It was
held in a field just off of the M11, a new venue for the event and,
this year, actually in Cambridge. Part of the essence of the event
is a beer festival running throughout the whole duration, 4 days of
music and a well thought out licence. I attended on the Thursday
night to photograph the band in which my still musically active
brother in law was playing. No review of that here, as they are a
mainly Blues band, however if you want to check them out just open
another tab and head off to
www.splitwhiskers.com – but finish this review first. Photos
taken, the first of the old testament tests faced the organisers, 2”
of rain landed in 10 minutes. Tents were opened for shelter. Pallets
and straw used to negate mud. And when the combination of
electricity and water was realised to be a poor mix, possibly even
detrimental to the well being of the artistes, then a genuine Health
and Safety decision was made and the stages closed.
I blame a festival burger for my missing Barclay James Harvest by
spending the next night in a very small room with a freezer
extracted soft, strong and long product. Forever one to buck a
trend, I had not bothered ringing in for my Tamiflu before returning
to site on the Saturday. More people were here. The spirit was still
excellent. All three stages were attended and music was loud. We
caught an excellent set by Never The Bride, not metal, but if any of
the girls on this site want to find role models of women in music,
then get to see this band. Once they left the stage, the timetable
was running about an hour behind that on the official website. The
stage was set up, and the worlds most patient roadie did all that he
could to get a decent sound. Which is sort of important when you are
celebrating your 40th year as a band, have 21 studio albums to your
name and are to be broadcast live from the festival on Radio
Caroline. ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, live on stage, I give you Uriah
Heep!’ On to the stage they come, Mick Box the original member left,
and his current four co-conspirators, they strike up their
particular contributions to the bands sound and..... |
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Old testament test number 2 – A bang akin to a sonic boom and then
silence – I could hear the band, but then again I was photographing
from the press pit. No power, no sound, and no immediate remedy.
Switches are thrown, lines checked and changed, but after a few
acoustic entertainments the band submit to the inevitable and exit
stage left. Then the stage crew began to work their butts off, but
it still took hours. Some of the crowd grew restless and some became
vocal. The organiser of the festival takes the stage and explains
that all that is possible is being done, there is still music in two
other tents for the impatient and he has seen both of the remaining
bands who have agreed that no matter what the time they will do
their sets, and the licence is until 0300 and if need be that is the
time when the evenings entertainment will end. Gold star
performance. |
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Uriah Heep, take two. Three hours late the boys burst back on to the
stage. Fingers crossed they strike up and this time the system takes
it. The band members are no longer in the first flush of youth and
it may well be passed their bedtime, but the chosen setlist shoots
across the four decades of material available to them and a
concerted effort is made to wind the clock back. The opening track
is, pause for shock effect here, the title track of the most recent
album, Wake The Sleeper. A big sound track which gets all of the
instruments going, slightly favouring the co-writers, Mick on guitar
and Phil on the keyboards. The crowd are spilling out of the tent
and I look backwards over a sea of movement. Overload and Tears Of
The World follow, both on the album and in this live set. Overload
is my preferred track of the three, but none lower the standard of
this band in any way. Bernies voice is now warmed up and giving its
full range, and a considerable range it is. I am enjoying this set
immensely. So is Mrs S. We are sharing the pleasures of our first
U.H. concert together. Unusual for shared enjoyment , no |
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exchange of bodily fluids. And now the band have us all in the palm
of their collective hand, they begin to accede to my wishes and dip
into the ‘Classics’ section of their repertoire. Going to the letter
‘S’ and hitting us with Stealin’ followed by Sunrise. Does it get
any better than this? Anywhere? Anytime? I will need some
convincing. Some more newer stuff, before the classic Gypsy takes me
back to my era, and to follow this by Look At Yourself had me glad
that my camera bag does contain tissues, we were nearly at that
moment. Newer stuff, yes we have the album and it is good, but it is
during this time that when I take certain shots of the band members
I notice some of their traits, but spend half a track trying to sort
out in my own mind if Mr Box is in fact taller, wider or of greater
girth, or if in fact geometric perfection has been obtained and all
three of these measurements are in fact exactly the same? During
July Morning, Bernie gets fed up with the rock 101 pose of foot on
monitor speaker and introduces a new to me one of simply sitting on
it, facing the crowd, legs in the press pit showing off his snazzy
red shoes. The crowd loved it. And I am by now one of the crowd, as
are most of the photographers, during this set the numbers have
hardly dwindled. Easy Livin’ may well be the bands best known track,
and they use it here as a fitting ender to the main set. By now the
tent is crowded, the overspill many rows deep. And to a man voices
are raised along with Bernie. Very loud, but the decibel meter went
up with the rapturous applause. The encore is Lady In Black. The
applause continues long after the crowd have realised that in fact
that was the final track, but a top drawer performance deserves a
parallel appreciation. I don’t think I could have been happier if
I’d suddenly found I was supple enough to BJ myself.
A quick change of instruments and stage layout, and here on the
stage are the Quireboys. The act was similar to that which closed
RBCS but no bad thing to see a repeat within two weeks. However, I
was in a small majority for that, and this performance was enhanced
as the boys tempted a blues singer on to the stage to assist with a
number of their compositions. And here I would like to present the
award for the shortest skirt, take a bow Cherry Lee Mewis, no on
second thoughts not a good idea in that skirt.
Faced with a drive of at least an hour, we left the site at 0245 hrs
and as we went up the M11 could still hear the band rocking on until
the licence ran out.
“Next year Rodders, we will be on site all festival and with no
driving involved, drink lots more of the fine ales on offer. And we
might be millionaires.“ Great festival, join me there! |
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Electric Wizard and Blood Ceremony
Whelans, Dublin, Tuesday 8 September 2009 By Steve Earles
With Whelan's filled to capacity, its good to see in these dark
times of recession that true metal fans will always turn out in
force. The crowd itself is diverse and in great humour, and Whelan's
itself is a fine, friendly venue.
Revelation of the night has to be Blood
Ceremony. Very heavy, but also incorporating influences
from such bands as Black Widow, Jethro Tull, Goblin, and Coven.
Blood Ceremony definitely made many converts tonight, and in the
future should consider a headline tour of their own. Lee Dorrian
once again proves he has an ear for an original band. Blood Ceremony
showed class by taking their name from a 1972 Spanish horror film
called Ceremonia Sangrienta. What really gives Blood Ceremony a
strong identity is multi-talented (and gorgeous) frontwoman Alia
O’Brien (surely one of our own!), as well as bringing some
Crowleyian magic to proceedings with her fine vocals, she also gives
an Orchid vibe to proceedings by playing flute and also keyboards.
At times I thought we’d time-slipped to 1972. An excellent band and
one that deserves to be heard more in future.
Headliners Electric Wizard have
the weight of their own dark legend to live up too, and still
deliver in spades. Classics old and new are pounded forth on the
anvil of the faithful. Not a concert an experience…and one that
Irish metal fans would be happy to re-experience…and kudos to Rise
Above for putting together such a good tour. Doom in the most
positive sense of the word! |
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