Ken & 5x Morten - Oslo Norway 2002

In March 2002 Ken Hensley had a concert in Oslo, Norway. 
We were 12 guys from Hamar, a town in eastern Norway. And we are real Heepsters. 
And a Hensley concert was something to look forward to. 
One of the main points in this history was that five of us is named Morten. 
(Morten is a very common name in Norway.) 
We met in Oslo, and went to a pub to take some beer before the concert, and during 
this beer drinkin' time two of the guys went looking for the hotel Hensley was staying. 
After a while they went back to find us, and the tour went to a hotel near by. 
We asked in the hotel reception, and they tried to get Hensley in his room, but no one 
answered. We decided to take a beer or two in the hotel bar, and after a hour or so 
Ken Hensley and Sonia came in to the reception. 
The biggest Heepster I know, Mr. Terje Larsen, and I went to meet them and say hallo. 
And Ken and Sonia were very nice to us, we shaked hands and asked if we could have 
a short meeting in the hotel bar before the concert?? 
Mr. Hensley said that he wanted a little time in his room first, and would to come down 
for a little while afterwords. Ken came, and we had a great time. We took several 
pictures and he was signing CD's, LP's from earlier concerts. He said that this wasn't 
for free, so we had to buy him some beers, and we had a real great time. He spent 
one and a half hour with us in the hotel bar. After a while the rest of the band came 
down to see what Ken was doing, and Sonia came along to. 
The concert was the best on this tour Ken said in his diary the day after, and it really 
was. During the concert he played a very rocked version of Lady in Black. It is one 
of the best versions I ever heard. At the end he dedicated a song for all the Morten's. 
It was a splendid evening. 
You must sorry my english, I am just a Norwegian. But it was fun ...

Morten Solbakken

Click here to see photos by Morten Solbakken from this event

 
Ales & Friends

Over the years, our friend Ales Muzika from Czech city Teplice, have had quite 
a few encounters with the band. The pictures in this gallery are from hes own 
collection and surely gives him some flashback of memorable moments.
Ales contacted us and offered to show the pictures here on Echoes site, 
and off course we took his offer with gratitude.
Here you are - thanx for your donation. 

Click here to see pictures from Ales Muzika's private archive

 
Bright Nights in Holland - Tilburg & Helmond

Amazing set of photos from two concerts in Holland :
013 Tilburg - 8. May 2001 & Poppodium Plato, Helmond - 24. May 2002.

Click here to see dutch collection of pictures by Peter de Leeuw

 
Italian Conquest - Udine 1980

A few pictures from concert in Udine, Italy - 30. June 1980.
Probably the last perfomance with Ken Hensley on the stage.

Click here to see photos of our good friend Adriano Stori

 
California Encounters - Summer 2001

Click here to see Alan Edlund's pics from the Greek Theatre - 12. August 2001

 
Uriah Heep & Deep Purple - Oslo Norway 2003

Hello all you Heepsters out there, finally, the time is now!
We bought out tickets for the Uriah Heep / Deep Purple event back in August. Concert 
here was at the 25. November 2003. It’s a long wait, but after the concert we agreed 
it was worth the wait. Travel to Oslo was by train, and after a nice little Kebab meal, 
we walked to the place of the event: Oslo Spektrum. 
Well arrived we tried to find places to buy T-Shirts etc. It turned out, that there was 
a nice selection of Purple items, but unfortunately no decent Heep shop there. We 
were able to find a T-Shirt and a handful of beer and went for our seats. Oslo Spektrum 
is a big arena which can have 9000 spectators. For this event there were 8000 apx.
and a very cool atmosphere. 

Uriah Heep entered stage at 20:00, and Spektrum arena cheered the Heroes with a loud 
roooooar. A lot of good tracks were played there: Stealin’, Wise Man, The Wizard, Gypsy, 
Sunrise, July Morning, Look At Yourself, and not least Lady In Black.
The audience was singing on all the tunes, and especially Lady in Black was a success, 
as usual, u might say. As audience sang, the roof almost went of Spektrum. As it could 
seem, Heep was "special guest" at this event; time for their set was only 65 mins.
I had a wish for a very special Heep event, and I sure wasn’t disappointed with what I got.
Unfortunately Oslo Spektrum hasn’t the best sound, so it seemed vocal didn’t get to the 
peek level, and lights wasn’t the best either. One could assume that a little less lights 
and sound was equipped for the "guests" so they’re not to overrule the main attraction.
Well, Mick Box had a few very positive words at the end of the concert: "See you next year!"

Deep Purple entered the stage at apx. 21:00, and it was very clear, that most of the crowd 
came to see Purple. Deep Purple was, and still is a very good live band. This night in Spektrum 
wasn’t any exception. Lots of good classics such as: Highway Star, Lazy, Smoke On The Water, 
and indeed a very good version of Hush, all ending up with Black Night.
Audience was in sheer ecstasy. 1 hour and 45 minutes we got of Deep Purple amazing, but 
unfortunately time goes all too fast, when you’re having a good time. But they’ll be other 
concerts after this, so lets look forward for the next year. 

Morten Solbakken
 
Click here to see a few Morten's photos from Uriah Heep / Deep Purple concert