What’s the smarmiest character you can think of in literature? Think Dickens, think Uriah Heep.
In 2010 I went to a concert of Uriah Heep. It was loud, it was crowded, the music was smashing! Smart phones weren’t that good yet and to be honest, I felt so great I couldn’t be bothered.
The event was part of Ober-Ramstadt’s 700th anniversary festivities. O-Ramstadt is a town with about 18,000 inhabitants in the Darmstadt region.
The other memorable event of the night was that nobody had foreseen that many people had arrived with public transport and the last bus had left a while before the music ended. There was a fairly large group of people who stood around the bus stop and it was agreed to share taxis to get home. The taxi company told us they would send the first one in about two hours time, this was before Uber, naturally. I don’t know what most people did, possibly sleep in the streets (bars and pubs are closed after midnight in a respectable little town like that). A group of about 15 or so decided to walk home. The friend which whom I was there had left early because she felt poorly (not related to the music).
So there I was, with 15 people whom I had never met before, aged from about 16 to well over 60 – after all: Uriah Heep! – walking through the pitch black forest towards our various villages. We took turns using our phones to light the way. It was glorious! Up until the last 4kms or so because by that time everybody else had found their own village and had presumably found their own bed. My luck that I lived the furthest away. I arrived home about three hours after the concert had ended, with blisters on my feet and chafing on my upper thighs, still tingling and exhilarated.
pictures imperfect blog 