Uriah Heep, "The Magician's Farewell", The King's Theatre, Glasgow. Sunday 23rd February, 2025

The King's Theatre is not the first venue that comes to mind when you think of hosting a triple-bill rock show in Glasgow. Yet, it was perfect. Sedate, civilised, and seated (for the oldies, which was the majority), the theatre provided excellent sightlines, a crystal-clear sound that was loud but not too loud, and a suitably large stage for the bands to make their presence felt. 

I get the sense that these bands never quite hit the heights they aspired to, lacking the breakout hits to propel them to universal stardom. But they kept going, creating wonderful music that not everyone heard.

Tonight, all the bands sounded great. I was not familiar with the two supports, but I enjoyed their performances. Technically skilled, great vocals and mostly unfamiliar songs to tap your foot to, if not quite sing-a-long to.

Uriah Heep has been around for fifty-five years and has released twenty-six albums. The lead singer claims attempts to pigeonhole them were futile—they play music. Everyone else can call it what they want. They played tracks from nine of those albums stretching the length of their back catalogue. It all sounded good. Yes, there was a guitar solo and a drum solo but nothing as bad as I remember from back in the day. 

Because of his playing stance and sunglasses, the guitarist reminded me of Noel Gallagher, albeit his grandad. The singer might be getting on a bit, too, but showed no sign of this on stage, with excellent clarity and vocal range. He even knew all the lyrics without needing stage prompts. His pleasure in performing was infectious.

A lovely night. 

  

What was weird was having three separate merch stalls, one for each band. Their locations—Tyketto at the entrance, Uriah Heep on the mezzanine, and April Wine upstairs at the entrance to the Grand Circle—meant that only those on the Grand Circle got to see them all, a missed opportunity for sales. 

Ticket Price £58.75

Tyketto Setlist

Reach

Wings

Seasons

Burning Down Inside

Strength in Numbers

Lay Your Body Down

Standing Alone

Forever Young

April Wine Setlist

I Like to Rock

All Over Town

Say Hello

Before the Dawn

Crash and Burn

Big City Girls

Just Between You and Me

Oowatanite

Sign of the Gypsy Queen (Lorence Hud cover)

Roller

Uriah Heep Setlist

Grazed by Heaven

Save Me Tonight

Overload

Shadows of Grief

Stealin'

Hurricane

The Wizard

Sweet Lorraine

Hail the Sunrise

Free 'n' Easy

The Magician's Birthday

Gypsy

July Morning

Encore:

Sunrise

Easy Livin'