"A tale of Mick"

Heepsters, From deep within the vast recesses of the Heepstorian's recall comes this sordid tale of Mick Box and one of his infrequent lapses into bad behavior.

We were performing a very theatrical version of the "Demons and Wizards" tour in Germany. The German leg was produced by Mama Concerts (the infamous Marcel and Marek) who, despite their devious and deceitful manner of doing business, none the less produced quite a number of good concerts, though many in were marginal to sub-marginal venues such as the Lubeck venue I talked about in the story of the Rock 'n Roll Medley previously posted.

The tour began with a number of selected dates featuring some truly talented circus performers and illusionists as the opening act for Heep, the solo and star attraction. The man who layed on freshly broken glass, balancing acts, pole sitter acts, acrobats, trained bears, the fire-eater... these were some of the people sharing the stage and back stage areas of those venues with us, and it was a wonderful display of cultural and vocational diversity at work to the benefit of entertainment.

It was the first week of May, 1972 as we neared the end of the German leg. We were all feeling great and enjoying the adoration and special treatment afforded us by fans and concert promoters alike. But we were also feeling very tired and in need of rest after the long and arduous travel and performing schedule. This mix of emotions helped Mick to imbibe in too much Bourbon prior to that night's set, with the result being a very poor performance on his part. Missing lines, embarrassing vocals, breaking the neck of his guitar, and stumbling about on stage left all in attendance perhaps clenching their teeth and grimacing at one drunken move after another... sheer anguish until the merciful finale!

Mind you, Mick Box at his worse is still a great show, and there were probably many fans in the audience who never even noticed. But the other band members did! Del Roll an I were packing up after the performance when Mel Baister, our troll-like road manager came from the dressing room pronouncing to Del and I in a very subdued and confidential tone "The band is really having a go at Mick! They MIGHT sack him!" Mel always had a melodramatic flair, so Del and I simply chalked this up to another exaggeration. But when we got back to the hotel later that night, it was clear that there was still some heavy exchange of words being conducted. Even the normally congenial Lee was being outspoken in the dressing down that Mick was enduring. Since we had our own problems, Del and I by-passed the conflagration and retired to our room.

The next evening's performance was in a really nice theater that may have been part of a college campus. What a pleasant suprise THIS was. I guess Marcel and Marek were unable to book the local stable! The broad and well lit stage complete with footlights and two spot lights made Del happy, since he conducted stage lighting. High above the stage was a grid, that is, a catwalk, used to access the lighting rail, scenery batons, and so on.

As the band arrived, the mood in the dressing room was grim. None of the expected happy chatter and joking between members of the band. Instead, a somber silence. Maybe an indicator of imminent breakup. Mick was still hung over from the night before and carried a very apparent burden of shame as he skulked about.

I had a plan. This "funk" had to be broken, and the circus acts were not present this evening. I had a bottle of Scotch given to me earlier in the tour which was unopened and in my luggage in the truck, since Del and I were going to truck overnight to the next venue. I dug out the bottle and took it to my work station onstage, this being maybe 30 minutes before the performance was to start.

I cut out some cardboard "wings, a "tail", and a "head" with beak which I taped to the bottle of Scotch with duct tape. I had a can of silver spray paint and painted the tail, wings, and head. Though the paint was still wet I took a felt marker and drew a silly "duck face", and streaked the "wings" and "tail" to give the illusion of feathers. I now attached one end of a 50 foot long cord to the "bird" so that it would be suspended in a "flying" position. I quickly drew up a little sign on white paper with the felt marker that read "Cheer Up, Mick!" I taped this greeting to the "beak". With three minutes to spare, I hid the "bird" behind the stage curtain and took my position at center stage for the opening of the act as usual.

The first song of the performance was uninspired, to say the least. Mick remained somber and perhaps brooding; very uncharacteristic for this stage charmer. There appeared to be less interaction between Mick and Lee, again, very unusual. I was usually kept busy as always during the first half of the set attending to Ken and preparing some of the special effects used in "Gypsy".

I have to guess that Mick had a longish solo during "Sweet Lorraine" (I may be mistaken about the particular song). This was early in the set so now was the time for my plan. I climbed up a ladder to the gridwork maybe 30 feet over the stage with "the bird". As the song began, I lowered "the bird" directly over Mick's head and stopped it maybe two feet over him. I was unseen by the audience but could hear the giggles and laughs. Not seeing this object directly over his head, Mick appeared a little nervous from my vantage point and once checked to see if his pants were zipped or torn. The laughter got louder and Mick happened to look up. At this point I lowered "the bird" directly in front of him and "quacked" loudly. Mick swing at "the bird" with his guitar, but I swung it out of harm's way.

He continued on and I would swing the critter in front of him and behind him, "quacking" loudly. Mick was great in his focus on playing but it was clear he was getting a kick out of this most unexpected intrusion by a faux fowl! The audience was howling with laughter at the end of the song.

From that moment on, the demeanor of the band picked up noticeably, and there appeared to be a great easing of the emotional burden that Mick had been carrying. All said and done, I presented the "faux fowl" to Mick after the set. He gave me a big and sincer hug, and I don't believe either of us had to say any more, so expressive was his gesture.

In the end all was well and Mick DIDN'T get sacked! But you knew that, didn't you?