Uriah Heep put on a free concert at Moody Coliseum on the SMU campus on 10/3/1975. To get tickets you had to mail a self addressed/stamped envelope to radio station KZEW(THE ZOO). You could get up to four tickets per envelope. The backup band was Point Blank. The reason for the free show was the band had to cancel a show the previous year in mid-show. The bass player Gary Thain received an electric shock and almost died on stage. He was suffering from undiagnosed Hepatitis and his system couldn't take the jolt. The singer David Byron told the audience the band would return ASAP and do a free show. The band kept their word and returned almost a year later. To the band's credit they opened up the free show to everyone: whether they attended the original show or not. It was a great show. Ken Hensley blew everyone's mind with his screaming organ( the one with keys, not the other one). Mick Box power riffed the rafters loose and David Byron's vocals were spot on.
The only thing missing was Gary Thain. I understand he retired from touring after the shock the previous year. The playlist was almost exactly what you hear on the live album(1973) with some additions from the "Sweet Freedom" album. I remember that "Stealin" was really powerful. Moody Coliseum was the building where the SMU basketball team played and had those fold-up bleachers that were so prevalent in high school gyms at that time. You could push them inwards until they became a wall to allow more room on the floor area. During the show some BOZO started trying to unfold them, which caused a small fracas until the Dallas boys in black(DPD) gave him a head whack. It took awhile for the dust to settle, but the band didn't miss a beat. Awesome Show.
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