Lucky enough to catch some of Uriah Heep on the Prog Stage, before running back to the main stage to catch Thin Lizzy. Heep may not have been on the tip of everyone’s tongue travelling to Ramblin’ Man, but I remember the guys playing the Prog Stage at High Voltage a number of years ago and playing a monster set! Speaking of High Voltage, the guys are playing on the same purple Wizard Hat stage that was in use at that festival, which is pretty cool. The band are fronted by the excellent Bernie Shaw and have been for some thirty years, add in the excellent guitar work of original founding member Mick Box and you’ve already got a formidable pairing, this band has been on the go for almost 50 years, an amazing achievement in itself, but to have maintained the high standards they have and continuing to strive to make something original, well you really have to take your had off to them. The guys absolutely go for it from the first bars of “Gypsy”, the power radiating from the stage is a joy to behold, yes Uriah Heep have a very progressive element but they are a pretty heavy band, the set today is a good mix of tracks from their illustrious history, with Shaw being perfectly at ease with the early material as well as the newer work. Every member of this band works as one, and even better with a smile on their face, was gutted I had to run without catching the full set, but they were terrific. Even early on you get the impression the large crowd at the Wizard Hat stage would love these guys to be playing all night, a band that really knows what their audience wants.
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