Uriah Heep at Skogsröjet
‘Appy days with Mick Box and Uriah Heep in the Swedish sticks.
Uriah Heep at the Skogsröjet festival, Rejmyre, Sweden on 2nd August 2025
As the closing headliner of the Skogsröjet festival, Uriah Heep walked on stage shortly before midnight and delivered the goods.
They may have recently slowed down the touring, but they still got it. At 78, founding guitarist Mick Box still leads the band. This evening, in the middle of nowhere in the Swedish countryside, he was all smiles. A man of few words, he let his beloved guitar do the talking.
I last saw Uriah Heep perform in Roppongi, Tokyo, in 2019, when they put on a hell of a show. Six years later, the same band line-up – Mick Box plus Bernie Shaw on vocals, Phil Lanzon on keyboards, Russell Gilbrook on drums and Davey Rimmer on bass – did it again in a Swedish forest.
Formed in London in 1969, in 2025 (56 years later!), the band is still going strong. Uriah Heep 2025 is a terrific version of the band. The trademark Heep sound – classic melodic hard rock with plenty of keyboards and vocal harmonies – is still alive and well.
One of the things that, once again, stood out was not the terrific old classics in the set, but how good the newer material is. From their most recent album, 2023’s “Chaos & Colour”, they played “Hurricane” and “Save Me Tonight”. From 2018’s “Living the Dream”, we got “Grazed by Heaven”. (Two of those newer songs were co-written by Jeff Scott Soto). The rest of the show consisted of songs from 1970-73, including favourites such as “Hurricane”, “The Wizard”, “The Magician’s Birthday”, “Stealin’”, “July Morning”, “Gypsy” and “Easy Livin’”. A triumphant night finished with “Sunrise” and “Lady in Black”. That was a flawless Heep show and a perfect way to close an excellent hard rock festival. ‘Appy days indeed.
