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Location: Phoenix AZ | Thursday night was a Prog/Rock fans wet dream at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix. Maybe it's now called the Fiat Theater, not sure. Anyway this was a double bill I had been waiting for. I paid a buck twenty to sit in the middle of the 4th row. I can't remember a show where the warmup band and the headliner had the same guitarist. One could argue who was the headliner and who was the warmup, as the warmup band was all 4 original members, and the headliner not quite. Anyway ...
ASIA came out and did about a 1 hour set and just blew everyone away with their musicianship. They haven't skipped a beat. The lineup: Steve Howe (guitar), John Wetton (Bass/Vocal), Geoff Downes (keyboards) and Carl Palmer (drums). They opened with "Wildest Dreams" and did most of their "hits". Also threw in "Court Of The Crimson King", "Video Killed The Radio Star", and "Fanfare For The Common Man" paying homage to the roots of Crimson, Buggles and ELP. Obviously no need to cover any YES tunes and no standalone Steve Howe solo, although one could argue that just about every ASIA tune is a Howe tour-de-force. Palmer left no doubt at all why he is, and has always been, the most talented drummer in the business. Overall an extremely well done performance. Set list ...
Wildest Dreams
Only Time will Tell
An Extraordinary Life
Video killed the Radio Star (Buggles)
In the Court of the Crimson King (King Crimson)
The Smile has left your Eyes
Fanfare for the Common Man (Emerson, Lake and Palmer)
Soul Survivor
Heat of the Moment
YES came on after about a 20 minute set change. As usual they entered to "Firebird Suite" but I was surprised they didn't break into their usual opening tune of "Siberian Khatru". They had been playing that on most stops to date, but instead they launched into "Parallels". Wow, I hadn't heard that one live since 1977. I was blown away. The line up was Steve Howe (guitar), Benoit David (vocals), Chris Squire (bass), Alan White (Drums) and Oliver Wakeman (keyboards). There's no better musicianship in the business than these guys. David just shocks people how he sounds (better) than Jon Anderson ever did. The guy is amazing. He played acoustic guitar on Time And A Word, and it was kinda weak. But other than that he was great. Geoff Downes joined on vocoder and keys for "Tempus Fugit". Steve Howe's guitar work was impeccable as usual, including his solo acoustic number "Clap". Due to the length of the Asia segment, the YES setlist is a bit shortened from what they did last fall and most notably they leave out "Close To The Edge", but it was still well over 2 hours. The whole band was spot on musically and extremely high energy. Howe, White and Squire are obviously not young but you'd never know it watching and listening to them play. Encore was a nice medley of "Sunrise" and "Trooper" with some mighty fine back and forth solos by Howe and Oliver. Man he looks just like his dad did when I first saw these guys in '73. Overall a night to remember. Set list ...
Firebird Suite
Parallels
I’ve Seen All Good People
Tempus Fugit
Time And A Word
And You and I
Steve Solo/Clap
Owner of a Lonely Heart
Machine Messiah
Roundabout
Heart of the Sunrise / Starship Trooper |
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Location: Nashville TN. | Sounds like a great show. |
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Location: Sydney, Australia | So Oliver is Rick's little boy? That sounds like a great show. I've got some DVDs of Yes and Jon Anderson's voice was lacking in the newer ones. |
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Location: Brisbane Australia | Sounds like a fantastic night and experience Dave
Thanks for sharing
AJ |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I certainly woulda loved to have been there.
[Betcha there was a bunch of bald-headed ol' acid freaks there!] |
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Location: Vernon CT | Just to hear Steve Howe play guiar whould have been worth it,BUT, what you got,WOW!! |
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Location: south east Michigan | Sounds great Dave.
Sometimes it's well worth it to pay for some good seats. Maybe not $650 for Neal Diamond "golden circle" seats but you know what I mean.
I saw Yes back in the day. It was an icy Michigan day in Febuary. It was the show where that had those huge moving plastic flowers all over the stage. It looked like a Yes album cover. Anyway, the semi with all the stage props got stuck on I-94 coming in from Chicago. The show started over an hour late.
Always thought Chris Squire was great.
In '73 I had a "Humanities" class at the community college where we were introduced to "the arts". During the Brahms / Motzart portions I argued that YES should be concidered the modern day version of classical music. I didn't get very far with that. |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Dave: thanks for the in depth Concert report...I would have loved to have been there and reading your overview complete w/set lists, I almost feel I was...very cool! |
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Location: Cincinnati | Thanks, Dave. YES has always been one of my favorite bands because of how so many great musicians blend into one. Adding Asia would have been the icing on the cake. |
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Location: Rocky River, Ohio | Dave, thanks for this review. |
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Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | You - lucky - DAWWWG! |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Vince, where in Michigan are you? They play in Detroit on July 20th.
http://www.yesworld.com/ywtour.html |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | I was on the fence - but I might have to fight the crowds at Great Adventure to go see them. Great review Dave - thanks! |
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Location: Wichita, KS | Thanks for the report Dave. Dang! I'd love to see that show. Unfortunately, I'll be in Los Angeles on the day they play Kansas City. |
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Location: WNC-God's Country | That would be my dream show !! Thanks for sharing..
ka |
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Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | I'm up in the northwest section of the lower peninsula. I'd LOVE to go to something like that, but there's no way I can get away from the area at this time of the year. I'm up to my ears both at home and at work. I'll just have to share your enjoyment through your comments for now. |
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Location: London, UK | Wow, that takes me back!
I'll have to go to the attic and dust off all those old YES LP's.
At least to look at - I don't have a turntable. |
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May 2008
Posts: 194
Location: Las Vegas, NV | I was able to score free tickets to YES/ASIA here in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. I took my wife, and her aunt and uncle. I'm only 40, and the three of them are younger. Needless to say, I think I'm the only one who really enjoyed the concert, as my three guests don't even play instruments, so they didn't even appreciate the skill and artistry being displayed. I should have taken some of my guitar-playin' buddies... |
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Location: NW of Philadelphia | Sounds like a great show. I didn't know ASIA was back to their originsl cast. |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | Nicky and I drove out to Long Island on friday to catch the show at the old Westbury Music Fair. This is a great venue for a concert - small and intimate - all good seats. I bought my tickets less than a week ago and they were still great. Slightly different setlist than what Dave listed, but pretty close. My favorite part of the Asia set was the covers, particularly "In The Court of the Crimson King" and "Video Killed the Radio Star". I was never a huge Asia fan, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
The YES portion of the show was just amazing. I thought Benoit nailed it. I don't think he was any better than Jon Anderson, but he definitely captured the spirit of the songs. Oliver Wakeman was also great - not as flamboyant as his Dad, but again, kept to the spirit of the songs. "And You and I" was my favorite song of the evening. The only song I really missed hearing was "Mood For a Day". I did pick up the Steve Howe Trio CD - "The Haunted Melody" and it has a very cool Jazzy version of the song on it. Steve Howe was great, but he definitely seemed like he lost 1/2 a step... still better than most.
To me, Chris Squire is the heart and soul of the band and he was excellent - his voice and his bass playing are top notch. IMHO, you can replace any other member of the band (as they have done over the years) except for Chris... without him, it just wouldn't be the same.
The VAST majority of the crowd was middle aged folk... like me, with a few youngsters sprinkled in. Nicky enjoyed it, but kept commenting on how LONG all of the songs were. If you get a chance, I definitely recommend seeing them.
ASIA:
1) Only Time Will Tell
2) An Extraordinary Life
3) Video Killed the Radio Star
4) In the Court of the Crimson King (with Ian McDonald, the writer, on flute)
5) Don’t Cry
6) The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
7) Fanfare for the Common Man
8) Sole Survivor
9) The Heat of the Moment
YES:
Firebird Suite
1) Siberian Khatru
2) I've Seen All Good People
3) Tempus Fugit
4) Astral Traveler
5) And You and I
6) Steve Howe solo acoustic: Georgia’s Theme, Country Mix
7) Owner of a Lonely Heart
8) Machine Messiah
9) Heart of the Sunrise
10) Roundabout
11) (encore) Wurm |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by CrimsonLake:
IMHO, you can replace any other member of the band (as they have done over the years) except for Chris... without him, it just wouldn't be the same. Slightly disagree. I thought ABW&H with Tony Levin on bass was pretty damn amazing in concert. |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Great report Mike! "... how LONG...', now that prompts an ol' fart chuckle. |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | They are so used to 2 - 3 minutes and then they don't even listen to the whole songs. |
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ASIA & YES Concert Last Night in Phoenix
