This was a mostly older crowd as to be expected but I was happy to see some younger people here enjoying these classic jams. No one was standing. Everyone was making good use of their seats. This tour featured the special Roger Dean Fine Art Gallery. Curved Air was up first. A band I had never heard of and didn’t know what to expect. The band was made up of a male with a violin, a male with an acoustic guitar, and a female Singer. I personally was not a fan but some people seemed to enjoy it. It was very light musically. I noticed the rad blue pants one of the guys was wearing and I thought to myself that I’m missing something in life. They played 5 songs.
Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash was up next. It was basically Martin’s band playing Wishbone Ash songs which is fine because they put out some great music. Again, he was wearing rad pants that everyone noticed. What is it with the Brits and their colorful pants? I learned that the British love the ladies since that is what every song was about. The second to the last song was about war. The last song was about peace and the Focus singer, Thijs van Leer, came out and played the keyboards for this one. They played 7 songs.
Next, Focus took the stage and Thijs started by playing his flute. He played the flute and organ at the same time on some songs. If you are not familiar with this band, they are a Dutch progressive instrumental rock band that formed in 1969. You either love them or hate them. They were interesting to say the least. There were 2 young guys up front headbanging and shaking his fist during the set. They were either drunk or a real fan. Then they played their famous song, Hocus Pocus which has no words, just rambling noises that do not make sense. Then Thijs played only the flute up front by himself. He is 76 years old but still rocking and having fun. A young guy next to me was really into the music. They only played 4 songs but their songs are longer than normal.
Now Asia takes the stage and the crowd is super excited. They opened with Wildest Dreams and Here Comes The Feeling. The new singer, Harry Whitley, is only 29-years-old and is the youngest on the tour by far. He is a very talented singer and multi-instrumentalist from the UK who was discovered on YouTube. He is playing a 4-string bass (the actual bass that was owned by John Wetton and played on the album Astra) on this tour and slaying at it. I can see why Geoff Downes hired him. I love seeing the younger kids here that know the lyrics. There is still hope for the younger generation to carry this type of music on. One thing I have noticed for most of the older musicians is that they use corded guitars. It may restrict moving on stage some but there is also less of a chance for a connection failure.
Geoff spoke about the founding members of the band and then he sang, Don’t Cry, a song he wrote with John Wetton (the original lead singer). Three songs in there is no doubt that this is a very tight band. I am curious how many hours they have played and practiced together. My guess is not as many hours as the sound being produced leads one to think since they are all hired by Geoff as tour musicians. They are just that talented and John Mitchal on lead guitar is no exception. Hailing from Ireland, he has honed his skills in many different bands as well as producing and engineering albums. My friend, Glenn Alfonso, commented they sound better than Journey did the other night when we saw them in Atlanta, GA on 7/13/2024. As they played An Extraordinary Life, Voice Of America, Time Again, and Cutting It Fine it was obvious that Harry can hit the high notes. Geoff’s set-up consists of 4 keyboards and 3 laptops. Very impressive set up and even more impressive is the sound he creates with them. His following solo was amazing. Geoff co-wrote Video Killed The Radio Star, by The Buggles, which was the first song and video ever played on MTV. They played this song and for the first time everyone stood up. The crowd was really into this song and knew every word. Next they play The Smile Has Left Your Eyes as an acoustic song. Then as they were closing out the set with Only Time Will Tell, Go, and Sole Survivor Harry said “Please stand…you look like an insurance seminar.” I went to the front for the encore song, Heat Of Moment, and I found myself standing between a 28 year old and a 68 year old. This song was a lot of fun and it was good to see people standing up front and really getting into the song. One thing that really stood out to me is how great the drums sounded. With experienced Virgil Donati from Australia behind the drums, that is no surprise.
