Only a handful of people rise from their seats at Symphony Hall as Uriah Heep take the stage but Bernie Shaw is having none of it. Gesturing and imploring the audience throughout the opening number, ‘Grazed by Heaven’, the frontman had more or less the whole crowd on their feet by the end of song number two, ‘Save Me Tonight’. This tour is, of course, being billed as the last full scale trek from Mick Box & co, as they wind down extensive touring and concentrate on studio work and occasional live shows. However, the demand to see them remains solid and they have plenty of shows booked throughout the year, including first visits to Uruguay and Argentina, so you get a sense that they still have unfinished business before they are done.

As you might expect tonight was a career spanning set, including songs from Chaos & Colour, their 25th studio release and a terrific follow up to 2018’s Living the Dream. The combination of Mick’s heavy guitar riffs and the growling organ of Phil Lanzon provided a knockout punch for ‘Hurricane’ and ‘Hail the Sunrise’, along with the thunderous backbone of drummer Russell Gilbrook and bassist Dave Rimmer, all topped off by Bernie’s remarkable voice which remains in great form. Naturally, there was plenty of time for some choice cuts from the stellar back catalogue, with arguably the biggest cheer of the night coming when Mick switched to his acoustic guitar for a stunning rendition of ‘The Wizard’.

Perhaps because they were equally at home playing prog, metal and hard rock, Uriah Heep never seem to get the recognition and reverence that has been awarded to some of their peers from the late 60’s and early 70’s. But when they close the main set with the incredible trio of ‘The Magician’s Birthday’, ‘Gypsy’ and ‘July Morning’, there really is no argument that they should be regarded as national treasures. With the 11 o clock curfew rapidly approaching, there was just about time to squeeze in the encore of ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Easy Livin’, and with Heep still capable of delivering outstanding performances such as this you really do hope this turns out to be a very long goodbye.

Setlist:-

Grazed by Heaven
Save Me Tonight
Overload
Shadows of Grief
Stealin’
Rainbow Demon
Hurricane
The Wizard
Sweet Lorraine
Hail the Sunrise
Free ‘n’ Easy
The Magician’s Birthday
Gypsy
July Morning

Encore:-
Sunrise
Easy Livin’