BURGETTSTOWN — The early 1970s got referenced a lot Sunday night at Pepsi-Cola Roadhouse, and not just because the restrooms there still have those good old-fashioned pay phones bolstered to the walls.
Ah, it felt good watching someone rocking the too-long-silent roadhouse concert stage, which soon might become more active, but more on that later.
First, here's a hip, hip hooray to Uriah Heep, the influential British hard-rock band that gave a rousing performance for hundreds of fervent fans inside the Burgettstown venue.
It was a throwback to the days when organ players were as important as guitarists to keeping a heaviness to the sound, and keyboardist Phil Lanzon relished the task on Uriah Heep oldies like the show-starting "Gypsy."
Peering from tinted sunglasses framed by his long silvery hair, guitarist Mick Box, the band's lone original member, couldn't stop smiling as he took in the sight of fans going wild for songs like Uriah Heep's 1973's classic-rock staple "Stealin'," set to a western motif where as reckoning day approaches, an outlaw laments the fighting, killing, wine and women that put him on the verge of an early grave. Box had an entertaining stage tic, where he'd lift his left hand from his guitar and wave it in a gesture that was part orchestra maestro, part priest administering sacramental rights. He was feeling the music, tossing aside restraint seven songs in for a long and dexterous solo during "The Magician's Birthday."
Wearing a white shirt with the top buttons opened, and a holster on his hip to stuff his microphone like a gunslinger, singer Bernie Shaw confidently worked the stage. He held a note so long at the end of "Sunrise" that many in the crowd rose to their feet in his honor. The band's vocalist since 1986, Shaw expertly kept the pace brisk, injecting just enough appropriate banter, like poking gentle fun at his age (shaving 14 years off his birth date to say he's "47 for the second time"), and reminding everyone what an important year 1972 was for rock 'n' roll, with the emergence of bands like Genesis, Yes and Uriah Heep.
Named for a Charles Dickens character, Uriah Heep touched on its place in rock history as a seminal prog-metal band by playing "The Wizard" from 1972.
"Who writes songs like that anymore?" Shaw asked, setting up the punchline "Uriah Heep does," as the band then ripped into "One Minute" from 2014.
The oldie "July Morning" brought more heavy organ and progressive-rock grandeur, which the band followed with the abrupt stylistic change of "Lady in Black," which Box accurately described as a "happy hippie song."
The encore song, "Easy Livin'," wasn't a tough choice, as drummer Russell Gilbrook and southpaw bassist Davey Rimmer, with his cobalt-blue lighted instrument, gave a turbo charge to Uriah Heep's popular radio hit. By that point, most of the crowd had risen from its dinner table chairs to shake and groove.
The night began, a half hour earlier than advertised, with opening act Sawyer, a highly-skilled Rush tribute band. Sawyer's singer reminded the crowd that the real Rush played its first U.S. show in 1974 in Pittsburgh, opening for Uriah Heep.
From "Fly By Night" to "Free Will" and "Working Man" to their partial namesake "Tom Sawyer," Sawyer sounded a lot like Rush, and even had a singer who looked the part of that band's Geddy Lee. If you're a huge Rush, I'd recommend the drive to Peter B's Bar in Butler County this Saturday to see Sawyer.
And here's hoping more drives to Washington County are on the horizon for shows at the Pepsi Roadhouse. My March 11 column mentioning the Uriah Heep show and scarcity of roadhouse shows caught the eye of longtime Pittsburgh concert promoter Jon Rinaldo, who promptly contacted the roadhouse's management to inquire about bringing more national acts there. As of now, the only scheduled concert is the previously announced Nov. 10 show by The Outlaws.