Uriah Heep Refuse to Back Down (2016)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik

Location: Vienna / Szene / Austria
Concert date: 24.03.2016
Attendance: 550
Ticket price: 48,00€

Uriah Heep, the famous British rock pioneers, will be rounding out a full 47 years of activity this December. But they show no signs of aging. Their still-current new studio album »Outsider« (2014) took them out on yet another of their many spring tours of Europe. So they landed in Vienna once again, where they’ve played countless times, most recently in November 2014. Where they used to play the Gasometer hall years ago, concert-going habits are changing fast, and this time the promoter chose to book them at the club venue Szene, which in these new times serves as a kind of »replacement« for the late, lamented Vienna club Planet Music, where we saw a heap of brilliant, unforgettable shows right up until 2007.

Before this reunion with the band in Vienna, we’d last seen Uriah Heep three times in a row at »open-air« festival venues. Those were Rock Batuje 2014, See Rock festival 2014 and a standalone show at the end of July in the middle of the Arena Alpe Adria in the Italian seaside resort of Lignano Sabbiadoro. They didn’t fully win us over at any of them, and it felt like the tooth of time had actually started slowly gnawing at the band. But it obviously still holds true that Uriah Heep are best seen in German-speaking countries, because that’s where they deliver their live maximum. And one more condition has to be met: the venue has to be a club, meaning an enclosed space. But more on all that a bit later.

At 8 p.m. The Weight took the stage. German rock revivalists. The four-piece, in which the singer hopped over to keyboards/vocals when needed, showed they’re following the trend of general revivalism that has recently swept through Scandinavia, Germany and also Great Britain. The band cultivates a classic retro, old-school rock sound, where you can feel the guitar phrases dabbling especially with Led Zeppelin (above all visually, judging by the singer’s stage moves and delivery), and also Black Sabbath, with a veil of psychedelia, while two songs, mostly in the intro thanks to the Hammond keyboard sound and its interplay with the guitar line, even drifted toward vintage Uriah Heep. Nothing special, but solid all around, credible and confident. The guys made the most of the opportunity, and it was especially nice to see that Uriah Heep treated the opening act with respect, giving them a 45-minute set, excellent sound conditions and proper stage lighting.

Szene was packed. To the last corner. You could barely breathe in the club. The temperature slowly crept up minute by minute. The crowd, of course, was mostly the older crowd, the generation that spent its teenage years in the seventies, when Uriah Heep were at their commercial peak and in the eyes of the entire rock’n’roll world. The clock struck half past nine! People come alive, a faint light first illuminates Phil Lanzon at the keyboards, soon turning into a strong beam of swirling blue light as the keyboardist draws out the opening notes of the Uriah Heep classic Gypsy. Hard riff, hard rock opener. Just what the fans wanted. A classic that can’t be missing from the set. Right from the start, as the band took the stage and spread out across it, it was clear this would be another great show from them. Everything clicked together. Bernie Shaw in superb vocal form on the day, and the vocal harmonies – the essential trademark of classic Uriah Heep compositions – brilliantly executed. In that respect, bassist Dave Rimmer, in his third year with the band, has finally taken over all of the late Trevor Bolder’s duties in full. Together with Phil Lanzon and Mick Box, the trio provided phenomenal backing for Bernie’s lead vocal. The recap of classic Uriah Heep sound elements, led by those vocal harmonies, worked phenomenally this time. I’m thinking especially of the blend between the chunky Hammond keyboard sound and Mick Box’s ruffled guitar phrases, while drummer Russell Gilbrook once again delivered a crazy drum performance.

That the paragraph above isn’t overdoing the praise is confirmed by the fact that Bernie nailed every single required vocal line. With full vocal power. He passed two tougher tests with flying colors. The first was waiting at the end of the prog-rock mini EP The Magician’s Birthday (alongside Shadow of Grief, the main spice in the live set), where he successfully nailed all of Hensley’s highest lines, and the second came at the close of the classic July Morning. Add to that the extraordinary feeling, the plasma of passion and emotion that came through especially in the gorgeous ballad Rain, which Shaw and Lanzon performed entirely on their own with just piano. The unforgettable The Wizard also found its place in the setlist, where Bernie properly introduced Mick Box for the first time, saying: »This is a song written by the man standing on my right, without whom there would be no Uriah Heep today, ladies and gentlemen, my best friend Mick Box!« After the closing of the super-epic and one of the concert’s peaks, The Magician’s Birthday, where Gilbrook, during his drum solo, didn’t use a kazoo the way the unforgettable Lee Kerslake did before him, Bernie remarked: »Who the hell could have written a song like that back in those days?«, hinting with gestures at the same time that it was, of course, under the influence of intoxicating substances. The answer is simple, Bernie: »Ken Hensley, that’s who.«

In recent years the band has once again updated (refreshed) how it uses the stage, boosting the dynamics of what’s happening on it, or the show’s theatrics. Dave Rimmer, who has totally relaxed and slotted into the band superbly, joins Mick Box in duels, with the two of them stepping up side by side between riffs, and the bassist often makes use of the riser where the drums and Lanzon’s Hammond stand, running around the stage actively the whole time.

Alongside the band’s excellent performance, the sound did its part too: you could clearly hear every building block of the sound (I stood in the far right corner by the front right monitors, which is a thankless spot for watching a concert if only because of the partly blocked view), the vocal harmonies were phenomenally executed, and the crowd was great as well, not holding back its emotions and joining in with the band with real, relived feeling. All in all. Apparently you need to go see Uriah Heep at indoor shows, and at the very least in Germany or Austria. The power isn’t fading. Even the great rock’n’roll guru and band leader Mick Box seems full of freshness, verve and drive. Sure, there’s some routine, with all that mileage it’s certainly there. But this time it was pushed into the background. The quintet worked as one tight unit, put a spell on the crowd and delivered a great stage show packed with the energy of a true rock spectacle. Experience, know-how, power and bulletproof confidence.

After the kind of performance and devilish rock’n’roll medicine this legendary lineup dished out in Vienna this time, there’s no fear of the band thinking about retirement. Let’s hope material is piling up for a new studio album, which, hand on heart, Uriah Heep don’t even need, but it’s the kind of move that keeps you young after almost 50 years in the game. The setlist was excellent. Apart from the songs off »Outsider« (2014), the next-youngest song in the set was born in 1973. In an hour and 40 minutes of playing, the encore could probably have thrown in at least Bird of Prey as well, but never mind. So the legends aren’t giving up, and they’ve already got a new wave of summer festival appearances confirmed, where we’ll catch them again. This time at this year’s edition of the cult Bang Your Head!!! festival in Germany!