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Heepvention 2008 The Adventure begins, Day 1

Bob Winward — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:00:00 -0700

Day 1, Sept. 18 2008

This is the full monty now, when it comes to Hv reports. I sent the blurbs
as HV happened, but now for the details for those inclined to read. I met up
with Esa, Ron and Mac at the airport in NY city and had an eventless flight.
After landing, Ron and Mac went one way, Esa and another. What is an Hv
without adventure? Esa and I had difficulty finding car rental office at
the airport, lost an hour there. (I was also later to find out, the only
arrivals video taped and you tubed to the list were the Granada airport.)
Then we ventured into Malaga to pick up 3 folk from Finland. About 1 mile
from the hotel the gps unit went dead. So we spent an hour stuck going
around a maze of one way narrow alleys. Finally we saw 3 people standing on
corner and I said uriah heep and they said yes. So offto hotel. Then got a
call from Mike Taylor and it seems he cannot locate Mac and Ron!!! He found
them hours later in Granada trying to convince the locals they were looking
for the Maria Jose hotel and not the Virgin Mary! Language was definitely a
barrier for many of us.

When Esa and I arrived at the hotel, we found a group of folks having lunch,
including Lee. Well I thought that was easy, there he is!! I exchanged
hellos and then was informed by Ed that the room we were to share only had a
twin bed in it and he was not crazy about spooning me!! I did try to
convince him if we spooned at night, I would not fork in the morning! But
to no avail. However, there was another fellow from the UK Phil Baker, who
just happened to have a room with 2 beds, so that problem was solved. And
what a great pleasant guy he was. He is the one that also ran and organized
the jam, did a tremendous job!

After relaxing in room, changing etc. I headed back over to the Maria Jose
hotel, which ended up being the hangout spot for the majority of attendees.
I bet we had 40 folk on patio slurping down cerveza (the one spanish word,
for beer, that we all picked up quickly) By 9 we all hopped into cars and a
bus to travel to the venue for a meet and greet. All the former members
were there, outside of Ken. It was great to see everyone again, and I bet
we meeted and greeted and drank lots of cerveza for about 3 hours! Then we
all made our way back to the Maria Jose and many stayed up til sunrise. I
myself called it a night at 2 am

Wow, I went to bed, tired, awestruck and in Spain!! For awhile I could not
sleep, so I put the TV on, only 10 channels. All in Spanish, but there was
one channel, where dialogue was not necessary. In the USA, we call it the
Spice Channel on cable, this however was on public tv, raw, unabashed,
uninhibited, uncensored porn!! And the guy on the screen sure looked happy
and I could swear he was humming the tune "Easy Livin

Heepvention 2008 The Adventure continues, Day 2

Bob Winward — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:00:00 -0700

What an awesome HV so far! By the time I got to bed it was near 9 am when I woke up. I found some Heepsters at the El Cruce downstairs and had a leisurely breakfast of long flat roll with jelly on it. That seemed to be what everyone was eating so I assumed that was the only item on the menu. It took me several minutes to order a coffee, and what I got was something like what we in the USA call expresso. I am one cranky s.o.b. in the mornings and need my caffeine fix so I accepted the beverage with full realization I was not at Starbucks! It seems that morning, just about every Heepster staying at that hotel was there, and it afforded me an opportunity to get plenty of pictures.

The next thing on my agenda after breakfast was to acquire some Euros. Word had spread that there was an ATM in town about a 10 minute walk. So I made the journey into town along with Pete Wharton and Janine (whom Pete affectionally calls the Anti Heep). Our quest was successful, and we walked back to the hotel pockets stuffed with Euros. Remember, this is important as there would be Heepvention Merchandise for sale! As we were walking back a vehicle honked its horn at us. I seriously doubted anyone knew Peter or I in Spain, so I assumed it must be local custom to honk at pedestrians. After all, Alan in his driving in Spain info mentioned that someone always honked as soon as the traffic light would turn green, without fail. I was to find out later it was Ken Hensley! I am sure he was honking at his most loyal fan Pete Wharton. What was really ironic, as soon as the vehicle passed, I saw some roadkill and next to the roadkill, blood on the highway!! (ok, just threw the blood part in to spoof on Pete). Anyway, later at the venue Ken told me he saw me walking. What I did not know was that Greg and Sherrie from California were with the Hensleys. You may want to see my other report entitled Trouble in HV Paradise! :-)

I arrived at the venue at 2:30 with Esa. Friday started out with Kickoff speeches. Although I was up at the merchandise table buying my hv t shirt, Ken Hensley mouse pads and a hat with no brim. Someone mentioned i looked like a rapper in it and I am sure there are photos at Esa's site. Mike Taylor said I would get mugged in London wearing the hat.

There was a heepsters Jam that was phenomenal. I saw Jyrki, Mac and Mike Taylor play bass and Madman and Staf took their turns on drums. At 6:30 we were supposed to have some flamenco dancers but due to scheduling issue they did not come. So Lawton, Hensley and Kerslake got on stage and did an accoustic set. Rain, July Morning, Wise Man and Close My Eyes (not in that order). The magic was in the air the place was rocking!!!!!

We had a band from the Faroe Islands called the Deiggi Band do a set of Heep covers followed by another Heepster Jam. I make it a policy not to critique fellow heepsters that jam, as I know I could not do any better. I would have to say overall, the participants in the jam played their heepster hearts out and everyone enjoyed it, and I know it is a huge thrill for the musos.

Around 10ish the Circle of Hands band came on. I originally had them confused with Easy Livin another Heep cover band whom I saw at HV2000. This was not them, this was the group that played with Ken and John in Germany circa 2001 and attempted to do Salisbury with a local orchestra. Well this time around, they did play Salisbury, without an orchecstra and did it as a rock number. I tell you I was mesmerized at how great they sounded and it brought down the house. They finished around 11:30 and then it was heepster hangout time as the festivities were over, but we had the venue til 1 am

I have mentioned previously about Esa Ahola, who by now everyone knows took an extraordinary amount of outstanding pictures. Throughout the evening, he was like poetry in motion, gliding around the venue capturing the joy of Heepvention. Yes Esa is the James Bond of Heepvention photography, as "nobody does it better"

So after more fun that an heepster could imagine coupled with gallons of cerveza (spanish beer) Esa and I hopped in the van and drove back to the hotel. As seemed to be the pattern each evening, mostly everyone gathered at the Maria Jose Hotel in a valiant attempt to drain the hotel's cerveza supply!! There the magical events of the evening were recapped and enjoyed over and over. I went to be around 3 am, happy knowing for the first time in many years, I was in paradise!

Bob Winward

Heepvention 2008 The Greatest Show on Earth, Day 3

Bob Winward — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:06:20 -0700

Day 3 has finally arrived, Saturday night, the Greatest Show on Earth. Yes
the HV that all other HV's write home about.

My day started in the cafe of the hotel, in which I attempted to order
breakfast. I could swear what I pointed out on the menu was Ham, Egg and
Cheese Sandwhich. But what I got was not exactly what I would call in the
USA an Egg McMuffin! It was a really hard stale roll with a lump of cheese,
not a slice. On top of the lump of cheese was a slice of ham, which looked
more to me like raw bacon. The egg was nowhere to be found. The sandwhich
was also served cold. I was hungry, so I attempted to eat what looked and
tasted like my 9 year old grandson's science project.

I choked it down just in time just as Mike and Denise arrived to pick me
up for our sightseeing trip to Cordoba. I managed to catch a nap in the
back seat while they sorted out the details of the drive there. It seems
each had their own opinion as to which way to head. I thought it best to
rest and keep my mouth shut. The old pie hole arleady got me in enough
trouble earlier in the weekend!! After awhile we found a parking space in
Cordoba and proceeded on to a historic cathederal that was built in 500 A.D.
(the AD by the way does not stand for Accountically Driven) As tired as I
was, the cathederal was a fascinating piece of history. As Mike put it, "we
got some culture" We had to go it alone though, as Mike informed me that
the tour guides only spoke English and Spanish, but not American! :-(

After the cathederal we did a bit of shopping in town, where I picked up the
obligatory souveniers. We also grabbed a bite to eat. Mike ordered a
cheeser burger, but when I saw that it was frozen and then microwaved, I
opted for some sort of pastry and expresso. After lunch and some ice cream,
which was the best tasting food I found in Spain, we made the return trip to
Mike and Denise's hotel. The majority of stayed at a couple of places
right next to each other in a small town. The Taylors stayed in a fancy
hotel almost near a mountain top. It had a pool, a gorgeous breathtaking
view and employees that actually spoke english (but not american).

Mike and I travelled straight to the venue, and the magic evening was ready
to begin. Saturday night was the most exciting of all and the night the ex
members would perform. However there were a couple of jams and the Flemenco
dancers. The dancers, although not heep related, were intended to give us a
flavor of Spanish culture. I must say they were quite good and highly
entertaining. And from what Esa tells me, their pictures are getting the
most hits on his heepvention website!

Then came the first really big highlight of the evening, and that was the Q
and A with the members. I reviewed that in a separate post, but can say the
members enjoyed answering the questions. I felt alittle bad for Jan Dumee,
as there were not many questions directed to him. I asked a question that
of the members as to which song they most enjoyed playing live. I also
asked Jan to tell us his favorite heep song. The reason I asked the
question, was I asked it of Lee the day before while hanging at the hotel,
and he was obviously very touched by it. During his Q & A answer he even
referred to the previous day and said he gave it alot of thought. I can say
overall the questions were quite good, and not as controversial as the
questions asked at Hv2000.

Another cool thing happened, between jams, John L was onstage singing the
song "My Way" by Frank Sinatra. Then Jose the venue manager joined him
onstage singing it. After the song, Jose said "now we do my song" Anyhow,
this was planned, except for John Lawton was not privy to the plans.
Therefore he was roped into singing a Ricky Martin song. It was hilarious
seeing John trying to keep up with it and dance like Ricky Martin. Towards
the end, John was dancing with someone from Finland (no it was not Tapio,
as Tap would have to be standing to dance, hee hee).

We had another jam, and then came the auction of Heep memorabalia, mostly
Lee's. There were several items like rare t-shirts, a couple of caricature
drawings of Lee, several really cool black shirts too. Did I mention a pair
of Lee's jockey shorts were auctioned as well. Lee was turning beet red
when John L held them up in the air. You know how I always say "All Heep is
good Heep" well I do not see Fruit of the Loom as heep related. Amazingly
enough the article in question fetched 5 Euros. God knows what the new
owner will do with them, but the auction went on. I do remember on one
shirt in particular there was a bidding war between folk from Bulgaria and
Greg and Sherry from California. So John says "who came the farthest?" He
decided that Bulgaria was further than Califormia much to the chagrin and
protests of Greg and Sherry. Hence the get an atlas comments Greg made in
his review.

Shortly afterward came the concert we were all waiting for. Ok here we go,
my review of the HLNK and Dumee show. First the set list,
Hanging Tree, Stealing, Sympathy, Wizard, Come Back to Me, Free Me, Still
Paying my Dues to the Blues, July Morning, Gypsy, Easy Living. Then they
did a special request from Pete Wharton, as the encore "Lady in Black" (Rich
W, I turned around and caught Pete nodding his head to the beat)

First let me say Jan Dumee did a phenomenal job as a "Heep" guitarist. I
can tell he was quite accomplished and handled lead guitar duty very well.
Paul Newton was really cool, and I think they should put his name next to
the word 'cool" in the dictionary as a definition. He pranced about the
stage, smoking a cigar, spoke between songs and you could tell he was really
enjoying himself. The first song he moved abit to, then starting coming
closer to the front and played like a guitarist/frontman, an outstanding
bass performance as well as highly entertaining. Hats off to El Bajista
Original!! ( that is how Paul was described on the spanish concert poster)
Ken played with immense passion on the keys and contributed vocals on Lady
in Black and July Morning. It was like a dream come to true seeing him
perform with the others. John Lawton was his usual fantastic self on the
vocals and did alot of audience participation in the songs. He is a legend,
and all I can say is the Leg
end continued last night!! He is super with fans!!! Lastly, I thoroughly
enjoyed Lee on the drums. He gave a powerful performance and beat the
bloody piss out of the skins. (That is what I told him after the show, hee
hee) Of course he is our Heep drummer hero and we all love him. He came to
play and to party and lived it all to the fullest!! His presence on stage
and at the HV altogether was worth the price of admission, airfare, hotel
etc for me. One thing I did feel bad about, I shook his hand after the show
and he winced. He gave it his all but it did take alot out of him. When
the concert ended, just over an hour in length, the whole crowd chanted for
about 15 minutes "we want more". We all thought there would be another
encore. However, I later found out that the issue was Jan only learned the
songs on the setlist. I managed to get a copy of the set list he used and
had him autograph it for me.

After the HLKND band performed, things started to wind down. There were a
couple of sad faces of those who were leaving that nigh or the next morning.
But for many, it was party on! And that we did back at the Maria Jose hotel
patio. It was a beautiful night weatherwise and the cerveza was flowing and
the heep magic was in the air! Around 2:30 am I thought I was heading to
bed and my night complete. However, Lee was sitting alone at the moment, so
I pulled up a seat and asked a few questions. It was sort of like the
Wizard song, "he told me tales, he drank his wine" I was thoroughly
fascinated for over 2 hours as he told me many stories of his time with Heep
and Ozzy. I was on the edge of my seat. And here I thought my evening was
over, but this was definitely the highlight of the whole HV for me. Lee is
a great guy, very open and lovable. He seemed to really enjoy chatting about
the past. Out of respect to him, it would not be proper for me to divulge.
I can say some things that are obvious. For example he isn't too fond of
Mr. Bron. I also asked Lee on what inspired the song Come Back to Me. I
believe this has been spoken of previously, but it is a very sad story of he
he came home form touring and the house was completey empty. The wife took
everything, even the dogs. Well I could go on and on about this most
enoyable part of HV2008 for me, but anyhow, I finally went to bed about 5
am.

There is so much to tell, so many feelings to try and describe to you, but
sometimes it is impossible. Not only were we blessed with having 4 former
members of Heep attend, it was great seeing all my old and new heepster
friends!! That is the most magic part of heepventions, the people. The
memories of which I will forever treasure.

Bob Winward

Trouble in HV Paradise

Bob Winward — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:11:34 -0700

As previously mentioned by a few folk already, Ken missed the meet and greet on day 1. The next afternoon on day 2 I ran into a list memeber and aksed him when he arrived. He said yseterday morning and I said how come you missed the meet and greet. He said "we did not know about it". I blurted out "that's what Ken Hensley said and people were upset". Not sure how I worded it but can you say Heepster Foot in Mouth disease? Anyhow I then asked him what hotel he was staying at. He said hotel Hensley. Turns out they are really close which I was not aware of. Shortly I went outside and was chatting with Ron Mann. Ken came charging out and said he needed to have a word with me. At that point I realized I got myself into a mess. I explained to him I did not know the heepster was staying with him and that I only echoed the sentiment many had expressed ( a fancy way to say I shot my mouth off). He then explained to me why he wasn't there the night before. I basically said I beleived him but it was the organizers he would need to convince and should be having the conversation with. I also told him I was happy he made day 2. So he said. "Are we cool now"? I said yes and he gave me a hug and went back in

The next evening Day 3 I went to the merchandise section and bought Ken's Blood on Highway book. I also had him autograph it. This was during the flamenco dancers show. While we were talking, I guess I was too loud John L came over and asked us sternly toi hold it down. I looked at Ken and blurted out "wow I have been yelled at by 2 ex Heep memebers in one weekend!!!". "How cool is that?"
On a side note I got on great with Lee and Paul

Q & A session review

Bob Winward — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:15:17 -0700

I cannot remember all the questions, so if anyone wants to chime in please
do so.

Favorite Heep song to play live
John said Firefly, the rest said July Morning. I had asked this question of
Lee earlier that day, and he said he gets goose bumps still when he plays
it.

Favorite Heep Story while in the band:
Paul told about the time he went to a bar and met a beautiful woman. He
later found out it was a transvestite bar! Yikes!
Lee, John and Ken also had stories, sadly I forgot already, anyone
remember????

Was anyone onstage Classically trained in music. The answer from all was no

Boris asked why Paul did not continue tn music, Paul said he did for a few
years but nothing developed so he went for a job

Boris also asked Ken about head machine and weed, but I cannot remember the
answer

Someone asked if they like Wake the sleeper
John really likes it, Paul has not heard it. Ken said it was well produced
and had a great sound and gave it thumbs up, however, he only listened to
the first 5 minutes.
Lee, surprisingly said he did not like the drumming. Shocking huh?!
Believe it or not, he said the same thing many of us did last spring when we
heard the live bootleg from Germany, that the drums sounded too busy and too
much cymbals..