By Dave Owen UHAS

I Was There…………

I did say that I'd just put down one word "WOW" but I guess I'd better pad it
out a little as I have a magazine to fill .

As Yvonne will testify I'm a man of few words except when talking about Uriah
Heep .Then all of a sudden it's as if I'm possessed by the spirit of a
trainspotter complete with quilted anorak, sharpened pencil and notebook!

I am completely in my element when talking about my specialised  subject and
the thought of three whole days of Uriah Heep chat was enough to make me a
very happy man , but what actually happened literally took my breath away.

Having escaped from work on the Friday about midday we made our way down to
London , 140 miles , I'd booked us into the Millard on Sussex Gardens , into
what I soon discovered was a densly populated Heep fan area . The hotel was
adequate but lacking in the decoration department and the bluetack holding
the toilet seat up had a nasty habit of giving way and  slamming down when
you got condensation in the bathroom from the shower ! We chose to walk over
the Friday night pub , it took an hour or so having got lost once or twice ,
but we got to see Maida Vale Canal in the warmth of a Friday afternoon which
was very pleasant.

We made it to the pub for around 6pm to find Pete sitting quietly at the bar
guzzling away at a large pint of Guiness , well we couldn't just let him sit
there on his own ! Pete the gratious host treated us to a drink and we
chatted for a little while till the next batch of Heepsters arrived . I was a
little taken aback that the Scottish contingent were not already in
attendance, I'd been expectecting Rampant Lou, Meg and Joe to have been on at
least their 5th or 6th pint !! and I was looking forward to catching up . I
think Pete and I had just enough time to say " I hope more turn up" than in
walked Per and Lasse from Sweden , then more and more and more , till we'd
got one heaving mass of happy Heepsters .

The pub was superb , putting on Richards Heep CDs for us all , it just gave
us that background that set the whole weekend off. I've always said I'm at my
happiest when I'm in meet and greet mode , and that night I met so many
people that I've known for so long that it really made my night , I could
list everyone but that'd be a whole mag full . Some though have to have a
mention , some of my collecting rivals :o) people who will scour the ends of
the earth just to find  a poor copy of something because it has a Heep
connection , Egil , Tap , Henk and Evert , who has really saved my life with
his floppy disc of Heep rarities which I can use to replace my lost files on
my PC. You have no idea how much work you've saved me .

And of course , no small mention to the webmasters Dave, Rod and Louis. The
American crowd who despite obvious jetlag were raring to go . The Bull and
Gate crowd  and on and on ……………

It was really wonderful to just to be able to say Hello to you all ! In fact
the quote of the night came from one of the pub regulars who said " whats
going on? Why is everyone so happy and talking to each other ?" Seems it
doesn't happen much in London . Not enough perhaps ?We thanked the bar staff
and landlord on the way out and Yvonne commented on the pub dog which I don't
think left it's box all night , it was as good as gold . You should have seen
the look on Yvonnes face when he said "we're having him put down tomorrow" I
had visions of coming home with a dog ! luckily the landlord just had a very
dry sense of humour.

It was a great night and the Taxi ride home just seemed to come too soon .

Next morning after a scolding in the shower and a cracking breakfast, I
nipped out to get Yvonne a newspaper and a cucumber , which to my
disappointment she cut up and stuck on her eyes ! The area outside the row of
hotels was full of Heep fans , what a great start to the day . Yvonne went
out shopping and I made my way over to the Corrib Rest with the TV, Video and
assorted memorabilia . Not to mention two bin bags , one filled with Phil's
musty T-shirts and the other with the tour jackets from Mick which we were to
raffle off on the Sunday . It was nice to see the room in an empty state and
to see that the Corrib Rest had provided an extension to the stage , even
though they had covered up a couple of plug sockets . I carried my bits in
and was given my Heepvention hat with my name on the back , I'm very proud of
that hat.

Soon after John arrived and next thing the lorry with the PA , a 3 KW arena
PA all flight cased up with various big name bands written on the labels
including Uriah Heep. Also stenciled on the tops was the weights ! Now , I
consider myself to be, well not exactly fit , but able to lift and carry
reaonable weights, but these boxes defied belief . They were HEAVY . and
after 4 of us had struggled up the stairs with a box 175KGs and sweated
buckets doing it , to see another 8 on the pavement with 215KGs on the top ,
well we had to conseed defeat ! John Henry's called in a pro team to bail us
out otherwise we may have never got started at all , let alone late.

Once the soundcheck had been completed it was downstairs to a full and
restless crowd to announce that the room was now open . I had to queue to get
back upstairs such was the crowd . Inside I heard Graham's emotional opening
speech , some must have wondered what was going on, but the work  Graham,
Alan, John and Iris have put in , well it had to be emotional, that's what
the occasion was.

I stood at the bar shortly after Graham had announced the special guests and
chatted to Iain Clarke who was in charge of the local youth club when I used
to help out with the local disco's there many moons ago and then my phone
rang , It was Mick  "Hi Dave , how's it going ?" I said , everything was
going OK and then said to him that there was somebody next to me who he might
like a word with and that was the last I saw of my phone for about 15 minutes
! He chatted with Iain , I caught Iain saying that he was now one of the
people that they used to hate in the industry, a suit ! Then the phone went
up to Paul Newton then to John , unfortunately Mick just missed Ken who had
gone back to the hotel to get ready. It was the usual have a good one from
Mick, If only he knew just how good it was.

I listened to the first jam and then the buffet was announced and everyone
seemed to head for the smaller hall . I'd helped Rob Corich carry the sale
CDs up to the room earlier, he was trying to generate money to pay for the
mobile studio. From what I saw he must have done OK, as did the sale of
T-shirts ,hats , Gunhill cds and Kens CDs. I just hope he doesn't retouch the
recordings as I really don't think they'd need it. Reuben did say he didn't
think he'd played well , all I can say is I want to burn my guitar , I'm not
worthy ! I missed Trevor, Stella and The Hensley Clan doing their bit and I'm
very dissappointed I did. By all accounts they were excellent and Id have
loved to hear Stella singing as by all accounts she sounded a lot like Alison
Moyet and that's no bad thing in my book.

The Hensley/Lawton band, with Paul Newton, Reuben and Justin. Paul was the
natural joker , he played superbly and added the humour into the set. He did
make me laugh doing the head swelling signs behind Ken , and the other signs
too .

John sang his heart out and gave as good a vocal performance as you'll ever
see anywhere from anyone , quite incredible . Ken was , well just Ken . He
has a stage charisma all of his own and seeing him back doing what we all
know only he can do was just sheer joy . I always loved the twin guitar sound
in Heep and suddenly there it was again, and the sound of the swirling
Hammond being punished and beaten into submission , all of a sudden it was
1977 again and that last note in the Gypsy solo , I shiver now just thinking
about it. The absolute high spot was for me "Wise Man" , I'm not one to be
moved to tears by music normally but there I was , tears streaming down my
face, I was just overjoyed at the incredible sound and quality of sound too.

The applause and cheering at the end was deafening , I cannot imagine how
Reuben and Justin felt . I hope that they'll be able to feel that feeling
again because it was special . They played their parts spot on and I think
the best compliment came from Johnny Allen at the end of the night . He now
heads up Sanctuary music and looks after Iron Maiden and others , but in 1971
till around 74 , he was a roadie with Heep and many others. He said at times
he closed his eyes and he could imagine David up there singing , for Justin
and Reuben to play that well to make someone think that , well they should be
very proud of what they achieved . I hope it spurs them onto another level ,
they deserve it.

As anyone who was there will tell you the bloke with the glazed mouth open
expression at the end of the night was me , I was just overwelmed and
completely dumbstruck by the whole thing , I couldn't get to sleep , when I
did , ti couldn't have been for long and at 5am , I wanted to get my discman
out , I needed more ! I can't believe I didn't record it ! I had my discman
there I could have done it but , maybe that's fate and if I had have done it
wouldn't have been as good ? I'm now in you hands , I need a copy :o) thanks
in advance said he beggingly .

As I lay in bed suddenly the Sun started to appear , it was Sunday , part 2 .
I'd promised Yvonne a little shopping , by us the shops all open on Sundays
at 10 am , in London it's 12 noon . As 12 approached I got very fidgety I
did'nt want to miss a single thing , but I'd agreed on a 1.30 pm meet up .
She needed her retail therapy as much as I needed my Heep fix ! I scoured the
record shops, as you do , and every CD shop I visited had Heep fans in :o) It
was great Im sure Heep sales were up on London too . The Japanese Heep fans
coming down the escallator in Virgin records seemed so pleased to see me and
me them , it was only when I got to the Heep section that I realised I
need'nt have bothered :o) all the good stuff had gone . Yvonne was late ,
when she did arrive she was swiftly frog marched back to the car and driven
at speed back to the future, sorry Corrib Rest ( though we were going fast ,
it wasn't THAT fast!) hang on though, the night before I'd seemed to have
gone back in time……….

Lunch at the Corrib was good and soon we were back in the familiar
surroundings upstairs . Graham and John had been working overtime rearranging
the schedule for the Jam and things had to change , I hope the dissapointed
weren't to upset but time was flying by. I remember some notable performances
from some people . Kev , I need tranquiisers , Jones so nervous , but after
elated that Shady had gone so well .I hope we don't all suffer from passive
smoking after that ! Richard Kenna who gave his all , so much effort . Alan ,
a bag of nerves , but a massive cheer from the crowd. Egil and the american
girl , Egil trying to cope with the delay on the synth as the piano sound
just wouldn't stay, very very difficult and Janine trying to follow the synth
singing , she deserved a medal. In fact well done all , having the bottle to
have a go .

Ken and John's workshop was a real success , they were open and frank and
told it like it was and is . Again a valuable insight into the band as it was
and Kens thoughts for the future too , I wondered, has he got the bug again ,
I know so now .

The Stay on Top band were top notch , excellent covers and very well done
too. I met most of them for the first time and what a great bunch they are .
I hope we can merge someday , the magazines they produce look stunning and
maybe I should learn a little more German.

Gunhill finished the night with a bang , Everything done in the Gunhill style
which as always was 100% . The keyboards really add to the sound and john
just seems to sing so much better with them there . I think John was
determined to get Ken up on stage and he did , did he really forget the words
and need Kens help ? Ive never seen him forget lyrics before and I'm a
Gunhill veteran ! But up got Ken and he really made me laugh singing
"Firefly" and " Its raining outside" before grabbing the mike Elvis syle and
launching into Lady in Black . Priceless moments from a priceless weekend.

The raffle went well , I remember Dave White winning the jacket ! I wanted
that :o) Never mind , I'll have to tap up Lee , his might fit me :o) and
Louis Ramp winning one of the other jackets . I said to Meg after " Louis
won't be buying you any new clothes for a while not now you've got a new
coat" :o) And all the musty T-shirts were sold !! Apologies to everyone who
brought them they were smelly , but they are rare.

It all went so quick ! I knew it would but there it was gone ! Taking down
the memorabilia after was soul distroying , I wanted more . I said to John
after that it has to happen again , it was so good . Once a week at least :o)
But ever the Pro he said "But if it did it wouldn't be special" . He's right
but I have my dreams and memories.

I packed the car said my goodbyes and pulled out from the side road only to
see Ken standing outside the Corrib with Monica . The taxi hadn't turned up
so I gave them a ride back to the hotel . We chatted about the whole thing
and as always I wish Id taped it but I remember Ken saying it was one of the
best times of his life and he'd never forget it , and I thought , that coming
from a man who has experienced so much was special. And a new band, a tour
and who knows what might happen. Ken is back into his music and we'll be the
ones who benefit . WOW !

Arriving back at the hotel , 20 or so fans on the pavement having a drink !
It had to be. I knew it would happen, such a good time that you don't want it
to end. If it hadn't have been for the Police turning up (we werent noisy
honestly officer) I think we'd have seen the sunrise. I met up with lannis
and Bobbie on the Tueday morning they flew from the states even though Lannis
had been advised not to , that's madness or Heep dedication , he didn't look
well but boy had he enjoyed himself , he wouldn't have missed it for the
world. Once again thanks to you all , you made my weekend one I'll never ever
forget and one final quote from the weekend " If everyone one in the world
was a Heep fan , what a great friendly place it would be".

Dave Owen at work , dreaming .
Apologies for any errors , not spell checked yet!

Cheers  Dave.