MICK BOX Explains Why URIAH HEEP Will No Longer Tour For Long Periods Of Time

Last September, British progressive rock legends URIAH HEEP announced their plans to embark on a farewell tour, dubbed “The Magician’s Farewell”, beginning with a seven-show U.K. run in February. Asked in a new interview with Indie Power TV what led to the decision to stop touring around the world, URIAH HEEP guitarist Mick Box said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I’d say it was part the fact that we’re not getting any younger. But the other big part was that it’s becoming impossible to put these tours together now, the long tours that we used to do. Especially over in Europe, with Brexit and after COVID and things like that, it’s got really, really hard, because previously we could travel freely through Europe, but now we can’t because of Brexit. So, we now have to have carnets [international customs and temporary export-import documents] for equipment to get through to every territory, which they’ve only gotta get held up in one territory, and you lose the show. Things like that.”Mick continued: “With the advent of the world as it is today, bus prices have tripled, truck prices have tripled, everything’s tripled. I mean, to give you an example as well with the airlines, apart from their cost going through the roof, we had 11 flights the other month and five of them were cancelled. So it’s getting more and more difficult. So every show you’ve gotta go in a day early just to compensate for anything that may happen. So it’s getting really difficult to put those long tours together. So it’s kind of all come to a head, if you like.”Box also spoke in more detail about the barriers British musicians face since Brexit when it comes to touring the EU. He explained: “Yeah, well, unfortunately, the government doesn’t recognize how important music is to the world. We’ve got all these restrictions on. There’s even a restriction that you can only stay out 90 days in 180 and things like that. All those things just knock you sideways when you try to put a whole run of tour dates together like we used to do for nine months of the year. It’s very difficult.”Mick went on to say that URIAH HEEP will never stop playing live shows altogether. “Yeah, we’ll always play festivals, we’ll always do things like that, because it’s in our blood to keep playing,” he said. “But this is a total winddown over two to three years. And when you consider that you and I play in 64 countries, we’ve got a lot of flying about to do. [Laughs] But we hope to get to everyone we can with this final hurrah, if you like. But it’s not that final, because, as we say, we’re gonna continue playing probably in pockets rather than these lengthy tours that are now impossible for many, many reasons I just discussed.”Asked if touring America has become increasingly difficult as well, Mick said: “Yeah, the visa side of it is very expensive, of course. And then if you’ve got a [team of people working for you], which we have with our crew, you’ve got the flights and everything else to consider before you even play a note. So, those things are difficult, but not insurmountable.”I think that in America, it’s geared a lot better, with the tour buses and everything else, to make it possible,” he added. “So, yeah, I don’t think it’s quite so bad because you don’t have, like we do in Europe, to go into each territory, you have a carnet, like I say, for all our equipment to be cleared, whereas in America you can just keep on going. [Laughs]”Last December, Box was asked by Planet Rock’s Paul Anthony what he is planning on doing with his time once URIAH HEEP has completed its farewell tour. Mick said: “I guess we’ll do [some] writing and go in the recording studio and do other aspects of the of the game, but as I say, we’re still gonna be touring, still gonna be playing. It’s just that we’re not doing the really long stuff. We’ll do it in sections rather than a whole long splurge.”As for the setlist for “The Magician’s Farewell”, Mick said: “I guess a setlist really writes itself to a degree, because there’s so many songs that people expect to hear — you know, the ‘Easy Livin” to ‘July Morning’ and stuff like that and ‘Stealin” and whatever — so we kind of use that as the template. Then we’ll add in some of the latest-album songs, and then build it from there. And maybe revisit something that we haven’t revisited for a while, or even something we haven’t played before. So we kind of just put it in the mixing pot, really. But it kind of works itself out because the popularity of the songs we’ve got, which is marvelous.”After Anthony noted that URIAH HEEP still records new music and is not known as “just a heritage act” which doesn’t perform its more recent songs live, Mick concurred. “Well, yeah,” he said. “I mean, when you look at it, we’ve got a lot of classic rock songs. And the new songs are soon to be classic, because it’s only time that gives them that title. [Laughs] So, yeah, we look at it like that. And they merge very well, because it’s the band doing what the band does, using the same template we had from day one, musically, and that’s the Hammond organ, the wah-wah guitar, five[-part vocal harmonies], all that sort of stuff. We just apply that to each song and it’s URIAH HEEP.”URIAH HEEP’s farewell tour will run for approximately two or three years and will include performances in all parts of the globe.In November 2023, Box was asked by Metallerium how he and his URIAH HEEP bandmates have managed to retain their trademark sound despite having gone through so many lineup changes over the years. He responded: “Well, I think, I think, basically, as long as I’m there, the band’s gonna sound like URIAH HEEP. Because we created a template on how we sounded back in 1970 with our first album, ‘…Very ‘Eavy …Very ‘Umble’. So, we’ve continued with that all the way along the line. And I think a lot of the credit must go to Jay Ruston, our producer, because he understood where we come from, what we’re all about, but he managed to make the album sound really fresh and today, and I think that’s a marvelous achievement. So really, as long as we keep playing and writing good songs and doing good performances, and we get someone like Jay Ruston recording it, I think it will always sound fresh and exciting.”Regarding what has kept URIAH HEEP going for so long, Mick said: “I think the only thing that drives us on, it’s only one word — it’s called passion. And if you’ve got passion for what you do, then eventually you’ll achieve it.”URIAH HEEP’s 25th studio album, “Chaos & Colour”, was released in January 2023 via Silver Lining Music. The LP was recorded during the summer of 2021 at Chapel Studios in London with the aforementioned Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, COREY TAYLOR, BLACK STAR RIDERS) at the helm.”Jay was completely on board with what we are trying to achieve in the studio,” Box previously said. “We’re a band that has a fantastic heritage and to carry on that tradition it was vitally important that the band recorded in the studio all playing at the same time. Jay understood that and he pulled out the best of us as a band, as well as individual players, while getting us some amazing sounds.”URIAH HEEP’s current lineup includes Box, frontman Bernie Shaw, bassist Dave Rimmer, drummer Russell Gilbrook and keyboardist Phil Lanzon.URIAH HEEP debuted in 1970 with the release of one of hard rock’s milestones, “Very ‘Eavy, Very ‘Umble”, and has since sold in excess of 40 million albums worldwide. They have constantly toured the world, playing up to 125 shows a year to more than 500,000 fans. The band’s live set features the classic tracks from the ’70s and is a musical journey from the band’s beginnings to the present day.[embedded content]