Mick documents the mighty Heep still living the dream and playing concerts in Holland, Denmark, Finland and the UK throughout ‘Rocktober.’
Well October the 3rd it was time for the mighty Heep to congregate for another tour. This time through Holland, Denmark and Finland. A number of us were met by Vic in the van at a hotel in London at St Pancras. This included Phil, Jonny (Monitors) Josh (Front of house instead of Angus on a Sabbatical) and my good-self. We then drove to a services by the Dartford Tunnel to pick up Bernie and meet the rest of the crew along with Davey who had driven down from Manchester.
Russ was meeting us at Harwich, as we were taking the overnight ferry to Rotterdam Holland. I left my home at 15.15pm, and I was walking into my cabin on the ferry at midnight, so it was a long old day. I went straight to bed once I had adjusted my clocks to Holland time, and put my alarms on. The alarms however I did not need as we were woken by the boat tannoy with a very loud voice telling us at various intervals when the Duty Free was shutting, and when the Restaurant for breakfast would open and shut, along with our docking times and where to congregate to depart the boat. This annoying messages began about 6.30am, so no way to sleep in until docking time. Then it was madness trying to find the van again.
With everyone inside the convoy of the three vans, we drove to Hengelo in Holland, and that took a total of 3 hours. This gave the crew ample time to get everything ready for the gig, and as it was Josh’s first gig for the out front sound, we did a sound check.
It was the first gig of the tour and completely sold out, which was a good way to start. We were on stage at 21.30pm, so we had time to go back to our hotel, which was cool. I had just started watching a Netflix series called ‘Mindhunter’ which had me hooked from the first episode, so I watched that. It is based in 1977 and is about a frustrated FBI negotiator who finds a veteran agent who joins up with him, and they start studying a new class of murderer and getting into the psychology of their killing mind set by visiting them in jails across the USA. It was riveting and as one episode finished you are on to the next.
Well back at the ‘Metropool’ venue we could see that it was packed to the rafters and even the balcony was overflowing. The atmosphere was electric, and we could see a sea of familiar faces too. For the first show it was brilliant and what a fantastic reception we received. Holland never let’s us down, and we always have a good time there.
Jon our monitor engineer only did Holland as Ben our usual engineer flew into Denmark to be with us, as he could not do Holland to previous commitments.
However, after the show we had to wait for Vic our driver to help pack the van, and then we went back to the hotel to shower and get to bed. The next day was a long old shlep to Aarhus Denmark. It was over 7 hours driving, but luckily it was a day off. We arrived in time to put our bags in our rooms and go to dinner. Davey and the crew went to a Chinese and Phil, Bernie, Russ and myself found what we thought was an Italian. We had to laugh as it had Italian and Greek food on the menu and the waiter was a miserable Turkish guy, and we were in Denmark. What hope did we have? The waiter did not speak a word of English, and he would not even try to understand. To give you an example Phil, Bernie and Russ ordered a pasta dish each and each one was a different type of pasta meal, but he brought to the table three pasta dishes the same. I ordered grilled Salmon and a Greek Salad. The salad arrived with only green lettuce and one small piece of Feta Cheese, with a dollop of Tzatziki, which looked like a low flying pigeon could have dumped on it . A couple of the guys had wine which was even below the taste buds of airplane wine, so all in all it was a disaster. Still we all opted for an early night after that little culinary mistake and the three of them went to the van to pick up a bottle of wine each to take to the room and down their sorrows.
The next day we had a bit of a hang about day, and I went shopping in a mall by the hotel to get a few bits and bobs I had forgotten to pack. In all of the years I have been touring I still always manage to forget something. Unbelievable really.
We didn’t have a sound check this day and as it was a Sunday, we were on really early at the ‘Train’ venue at 20.00pm, and no support band, which was a bit strange. Well it was a smallish club gig, but well attended and we had a good time there. It was one of those where the audience were up uncomfortably close, but it was still fun, and by the sound of it they loved it.
We had a Golden Ticket guy to meet after the show and he bought his son with him. We had met him and his wife before in Austria, and we sat and had a drink with them and a really long chat which was cool. Then we signed CD covers and had pictures taken and then we said our goodbyes and we went back to the hotel.
The next day we had a 3 hour drive to Copenhagen Denmark which wasn’t too bad, and the band minus Bernie went to a local Mall to grab a bite to eat. We ended up in a ‘Tex Mex,’ which was just the ticket.
There was a support band at the ‘Amager Bio,’ so we were not on stage until 21.15pm. We went down a little earlier to a meet and greet ticket holder, which was cool. On arrival at the venue we could see it was rammed and the atmosphere super electric. There was a support band on called ‘Royal Hunt’ and they went down well. I think they are a local Danish band. We met the meet and greet guy which was cool, and we had a beer with him, and we signed his albums and CD’s before taking a picture, and then it was time to prepare for the stage.
When we walked on to the stage there was a huge roar and we knew it was going to be a good night as the venue was rockin’. Well Copenhagen did not let us down, and we had a great night. The sound on stage was good, and everything just fell into place from the first note. It was an amazing night and after that we met some friends of ours, and then it was back to the hotel.
The next morning we had the journey from hell to Tampere Finland. We left at 10am which was not too bad, but then we started a 7 hour journey to catch a ship in Stockholm Sweden. It was a rainy grey old day, and certainly no fun for our drivers. When we were at the docks we had to wait 2 hours before getting on the boat. When we eventually did that, and went to our cabins, we went off for some dinner. We found a restaurant that did a buffet type meal and we opted for that. Well the food to me was disgusting, and even the sorbet on offer at the end was no good, so all in all a big disappointment. However others tucked in and seemed to enjoy it, mainly because the beer, red wine and white wine were included in the price. I was not drinking so Phil who popped in to see us had my glass and continued to enjoy multiple Rosé wines for free.
Well Finland was an hour in front of Sweden, so we all adjusted our watches and phones. A few of the crew and Davey had some drinks left over from last nights rider in a cabin, and did not eat at all. They then went and investigated the cabaret in the ship nightclub. I went to bed as I knew it was an early get up, but even I was not prepared for a wake up call of someone opening my door at 6.15am to shout it was time to get ready to leave the ship, and to find your vehicle by 7.30am.
Once off the boat we drove the 3 hours to Tampere in Finland where the first of our Finnish concerts was, starting at a venue called ‘Pakkahuone.’ Now try saying that sober or drunk! I have been to Finland many times and I still cannot get my head around the language at all.
We stopped off to refuel on the way and the other vans drove straight through to the hotel. We could not officially check in until 12 midday, so it was our way of wasting some time rather than sitting in reception. When we arrived the crew had just come back from MacDonald’s, and there were a few casualties from the night on the boat. Luckily some of the rooms became ready, so we all gradually drifted off to our separate rooms to catch up on a little sleep.
While we were there Marco our promoter came to meet us with the two beautiful girls who were going to do our merchandising on this Finnish run of dates. Now my left hand fingertips have been very sore for some reason from playing guitar and this periodically happens, and I read on the internet that Apple Cider Vinegar was good for this as well as Super Glue. Well the article said Stevie Ray Vaughn used to use Super Glue, but I went for the softer option which was Mrs Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar. Marcos our promoter kindly brought me a bottle to try thanks to Scampi phoning him ahead of our arrival.
Knowing my luck with Super Glue my fingers would all get stuck together, and that would be the end of that. I have never tried it before, so I gave the vinegar a go. I must say on the first use I was left with a craving for Fish and Chips, but there you go! You have to suffer for your art, so I am reliably told!
Back in my room I went straight to bed, and when I woke up Russ and I went for a light late lunch in a coffee shop a few doors down from the hotel. Phil was out walking and Davey and Bernie were dead to the world. We had a pick up time of 8pm so we had plenty of time to recover.
Well it was decent size venue and well packed out, so a really good way to start the Finnish tour. On this run there was a DJ with us and a support band for the whole tour. We did our usual and arrived just on the hour before stage time to get ready and warm up. All day I had been soaking my fingers in the vinegar and it seemed to smooth them out, which was a bit of a worry. Still once on stage the adrenaline kicked in and everything rocked hard, including the audience. I was pleasantly surprised that the fingertip saga had not got any worse, and a minuscule bit better, so that was good news. Now all I had to do was to try and curb the craving for Fish and Chips. However, in the end I came to the conclusion that I would have to grin and bear it until the callouses decided to come back, which should only take a couple of shows. Anyway it was a good start to the Finnish tour and everyone was super happy.
Our next show was in Kouvola at a venue called ‘Kuusankoskitalo.’ Try saying that with a belly full of beer. Mind you with a belly full of beer you would have more chance. This was only a 2 1/2hr drive which was approximately 118 miles.
This was cool as we had more time at the hotel, but it was an unusually early show with us on stage at 19.00pm. It was a seated venue, but at least the stage was big, so that was good. The venue was rocking all the way through with plenty of people standing the whole show. In the end everyone was standing which was great, as it took the level of excitement up another level until the end. As usual with these type venues our dressing room was super small, but we managed to get through.
The following day it was a 3 hour drive to Turku where the hotel was. This was one hour away from the venue as by all accounts the venue was in the boondocks, and this was the only hotel for miles that would be suitable.
We arrived in time for a little lunch, but the crew had to drive to the ‘Lallintalo’ venue to start preparing the stage for the nights performance. We were doing this tour in three vans with the crew split between all three vans, and we had Rich and Josh in with us. This meant poor old Vic had some heavy driving in front of him. Apart from the 3 hours to get to the hotel he then had to drop off the crew and then come back for us to go to the gig, and then after the gig drive us back to the hotel, so he was driving a total of 7 hours. D’oh!
This was a strange old gig all round, and the crew did us proud to get part of the back drop up and all of the smoke machines working and in place. The audience just looked like they were well up for a rock show, which was cool. It was a smaller stage than of late, but everything managed to fit on and all in all it was a cool gig, but we were not on stage until 22.00pm, so it was a late one by comparison to the other shows.
After we had finished the concert and changed, we were driven straight back to the hotel and we were lucky to get into bed before 2am. Still we did not leave the next day until 10.30am and that did help, as it was only a 2 hour drive to Helsinki for the next show.
It was recovery time in the Helsinki hotel before we had a fan meet in the hotel foyer at 5pm. We had lots of pictures taken and signed all sorts of things, before going to the restaurant to have a little dinner. The venue in Helsinki was the ‘Kulttuurialto’ and we were on stage at 20.30pm.
It was a magical day for Davey as his wife Corine had given birth to a beautiful bouncing boy back in England, which was fantastic. His name is Luke and I announced this on stage to a big roar from the audience and it was a very special moment in the Heep family.
This show was brilliant and it was good to be back in Helsinki. It was half seated and half standing so this kind of took care of everyone. We prefer the audience to be standing as we can better interact with them and feel the buzz but as The Rolling Stones wrote so eloquently ‘You can’t always get what you want.’
Beside this it was rockin’ and a good time was had by all. After the show we met many friends that we have acquainted over the many years we have been playing in Helsinki. Some of the boys went out on the town to the Hard Rock Cafe afterwards, to see a Heep tribute band called ‘Innocent Victim.’ By all accounts they were very good and played more obscure Heep tracks very well. They all dressed in Hippie clothing and they had the authentic equipment, so they seemed to be doing it right. It turned out to be a bit of a late night for some and in the morning there were casualties and I was glad I went to my room early. Still when you get out of bed when the alarm goes off feeling rough, the only consolation is the fact that the day can only get better. Well that’s the way I look at it anyway!
The next day we had a drive to Lappaanranta where we were playing a venue called ‘Konserttitalo.’ It was only a 3 hour drive, so on arrival there was enough time to get some catch up sleep and to reenergize. The venue was only 5 minutes from the hotel, but it was an early show at 19.00pm. This was a pretty smallish show, but it was a loud and proud audience which made it all a lot of fun. They really went for it and all in all it was a rockin’ night.
The next day was a 2 1/2 hour drive to Hyvinkaa. Now this was a day off and unusually we would be staying in the same hotel Sveitsi for 4 nights. It was one of those health spa hotels and it must have been school holidays, as there were plenty of families milling around. There was an Olympic size swimming pool, a Sauna, Golf Course and even a ‘Go Ape’ in the surrounding forest.
The night off was pretty quiet as there was not a lot around, so we became hostage to the hotel restaurant as everything else was a drive away. Still the food was good and I relished the time to chill, as did most of the others. The vans were a still full of left over booze from the gigs, so there was no shortage of alcohol. Bottles of wine etc were being smuggled into various rooms at a rate of knots.
At breakfast it made me laugh, as they dispensed fruit juice and water through an iPad which seemed very strange, but there you go. The following day was a day off too and Bernie had been to see a doctor re his voice and was given some antibiotics and steroids. Vic kindly drove Bernie and I to the shopping mall to get his prescription, but this was not without incident. I thought I would keep Bernie company but the first Pharmacy did not stock his medicine, and the second one did not have the strengths of the prescription, so they had to phone the doctor and get confirmation all was okay, which took forever. It was a long old wait, but eventually it was done and dusted so to speak.
Now Bernie has Thai food constipation, as he can never pass a Thai restaurant, and we walked past a Thai come Sushi buffet, and he immediately wanted to eat, and as I was not hungry as it was still quite early and no where near our 1pm lunch time, so I sat in a coffee shop waiting for him and played Sudoku. I had planned to eat at the hotel later anyway and then Vic kindly picked us up to drive back to the hotel.
Once again it was a chilled evening and I really enjoyed that. I had my travel guitar with me, so I could write a few pieces of music that I recorded on to my iPhone, which was cool.
The next day I had an interview at 5pm with FHMF, a metal video show which was cool! The gig day in Hyvinkaa was a short drive to the venue which was called the ‘Hyvinkaa Sali’ and it was like a seated amphitheater, but the band were playing on the floor. To be honest it was more like a University lecture room. This was all very strange but somehow it all worked. We had a good gig and by the end of the show they were all out of their seats shouting for more, so it was all good.
Russ had received some good news as his son’s lady had just had a baby girl, which made him a grandad. After his solo piece that night in ‘Look at Yourself,’ Bernie said ‘and on drums Granpa Gilbrook’ which raised a smile or two. Now what with Davey’s Corine giving birth the Heep family is rapidly growing.
The following day we were playing at a show one hour away at the ‘Wanda Walimo’ venue in Lahti. We were still at the same ‘Sveitsi’ hotel, so it was a lot of driving back and forth for Vic again. We were on stage at 20.30pm, so we left at 18.15pm to make sure we arrived in time. Now Lahti would be the 93rd show we had played in Finland over our career, so we are getting ever closer to the 100 mark, which is amazing. Not many foreign bands can say that can they! A feather in the mighty Heep cap for sure!
This was another small venue, but there were a couple down the front of the stage that made my night. They were well into it and knew all of the words to both old and new songs, and it just created a good vibe. Everyone else was having fun and enjoying it, but those two down the front were brilliant and I am glad they came. The audience were all screaming for more at the end and in the finale couple of songs it was rockin’ big time. The dressing room was smaller than small and with an hours drive back to hotel in front of us, we did not hang around long.
Well we had to leave our hotel home and travel to Turku which took approximately 2 hours. We left at 11am and luckily on arrival our rooms were ready. We then went for some lunch and then chilled in our rooms before leaving for the gig. This venue was a called ‘The Logomo.’ Well it was a fantastic gig and the audience were well up for it. The stage was large, and we could fit all of our production on, and we had a great time as the sound was hard and heavy and exciting.
After the show they had not organized our usual Pizza’s and Salads, but decided to have them all delivered to the hotel which was a pain in the backside to be honest. We did leave the venue a bit sharpish as we had a 7am wake up call to travel 6 hours to Nivala and on a gig day. Stage-time was 22.30pm in Nivala, so we had enough of time to recuperate.
A lot of people came back from the gig and were in the hotel bar and then the band and crew had to wait for the food to arrive, but I decided a late night was not a good call with a 7am wake up, and neither was going to bed on a full stomach, so I gave it a miss. I would have liked to have met everyone after, but sometimes you have to make the decision for self preservation. I am so glad I did as there were a few casualties in the morning, and a long 6 hour drive that turned into 7 hours, with a stop the next day. The van was full of nodding dogs at one point!
Nivala at the Tuiskula venue was rocking and we could feel the tour coming to an end. It was a long drive and a gig, and the crew did us proud getting everything ready in time, so that we could put on a rockin’ show.
The last concert of the tour which amounted to our 96th Finnish concert over 49 years, was a 4 hour drive and lo and behold there was snow on the ground. Not a lot but still snow, which I hate.
Our final show in Joensuu was at the Carelia Sali, and it was another Amphitheater type lecture Hall again, but we were used to these by now and it was a good solid rockin’ show and a good one to go out on. I thanked all of the crew and organizers on stage, which I usually do at the end of a tour, and as each name was spoken, there was a huge roar which was cool. After a few celebratory drinks in the dressing room it was back to the hotel.
The following day we drove to Joensuu Airport to catch a flight to Helsinki and then Helsinki to London’s Heathrow at Terminal 3. The Northern Mafia had another long wait in London to get their connecting flight home which I am glad that it was not me, as I I met my driver and we cruised home just missing the traffic, and as I walked in the front door my dog Iggy went ballistic with happiness which was just great. My cat Biscuit barely lifted his head from his slumber in his warm basket, but it felt good to be home. Sheila was at work and Romeo was in University, so it was a quiet house there for a bit but so lovely to chill, unpack and not be moving for a couple of days.
I had 4 days at home and two of those days Sheila and I went to Leeds University to see our son Romeo. He has a cousin up there and it was her birthday and her parents were taking her out to dinner and they invited Romeo. So we decided to join them and surprise Romeo, which we did and he loved it. I got back on Thursday night and then Friday morning at 9am I had to do some filming for a book on StompBoxes that is coming out. Of course they wanted pictures of me and my Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Wah Wah, and this went well.
The next day I met Phil at Kings Cross station to take the train to Sheffield where we were headlining the HRH V111 Progressive Music festival. There were a total of 6 bands playing with us going on last, and it was a total sell out. It was a good venue, a great atmosphere, and we had a really rockin’ show. The following day the same festival was sold out at Shepherd Bush London, so that was super cool too. The same thing happened, and it was an amazing reception, and how the audience managed to keep up their energy levels was incredible. 6 bands is an awful lot of music to sit or stand through, but they did us proud at both venues, which we thank them for. Maybe both venues ran out and had to get in a re-stock of Red Bull, who knows! Ha!
After the show we met a multitude of people as playing in London everyone seems to come out of the woodwork. It was lovely to see them all but equally lovely to jump in a cab and climb into my own bed that night! Heaven! It was passing ships in the night for Sheila and I as she was off to France at 5am in the morning, as she was going on a short birthday present trip her sister Anne-Marie and her husband Bill had booked for her.
So it was just down to Iggy, Biscuit and Moi, but I must say I did relish the fact I was not moving on the next day, and I could finally unpack my suitcases, and chill and reflect on what fantastic concerts in Holland, Denmark, Finland and the UK there had been!
‘Appy days!
Mick