Friday, May 2, 2008

Concert review: Asia at House of Blues (April 27)

By Ron Dempesmeier

The reunited original members of the 80s supergroup Asia came to the House of Blues in Dallas to promote their recently released album, Phoenix. Consisting of veteran rockers John Wetton on bass & vocals (King Crimson), Steve Howe on guitar (Yes), Carl Palmer on drums (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) and Geoff Downes (Buggles, Yes), their self-titled debut album went on to sell nearly 7 million copies in 1982 and proved that a lot of Americans were glad to hear some melodic, progressive rock during the thick of the New Wave/Synth Pop era. This line-up recorded two more albums and steadily changed as members left to go solo or to return to their original bands. Although they were not averse to showing off their musical chops and could write some intricate melodies, Asia typically put enough pop punch in their music and kept the lengths of songs down to a manageable amount to get some serious radio play.

Kicking off with a soaring, rare B-side (the first of the evening) called “Daylight”, the group was determined to go deep into their collective catalog as well as feature some of the songs from their newest release. They then went into the first of their Top 20 hits, “Only Time Will Tell”. Also from the debut album, “Wildest Dreams” proved to be a most propulsive rocker with Carl Palmer’s barrage on his translucent blue, double bass drum kit nearly pushing the song over the edge.

Since reuniting in 2006 for their 25th anniversary, Asia has been performing songs from its members’ original groups. The first of the evening was a very capable rendition of Yes’ “Roundabout”. John Wetton cannot sing in the high key of Yes’ front man Jon Anderson, but he sang powerfully and his bass playing was equal to the complex rhythms of Yes’ Chris Squire. Guitarist Steve Howe reproduced his ringing, harmonics on a guitar mounted on a stand and then switched to his trusty Gibson hollow body for the faster parts. His appearance was also rather unique because he looks like a grandfatherly, college professor type who made some funny feints and faces as he played the riffs of this long classic.

Geoff Downes got to demonstrate his talents with a solo excerpt from “Cutting It Fine” with a “Bolero” section thrown in as well. He had the standard 3 towers of keyboards and synthesizers that all progressive rock keyboardists are required to have – but he did acquit himself quite well on all of them. Steve Howe came back out to do an acoustic guitar solo dedicated to his daughter Georgia, which demonstrated his fine finger-picking technique – some sections sounded a bit like Chet Atkins to me.

The group reconvened and ran through some tracks from their Astra and Alpha albums including a Top 40 ballad called “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes.” The second rare B-side song of the evening was the mellow “Ride Easy.”

When it came time to feature a song from Carl Palmer’s Emerson, Lake & Palmer past, Asia did an extended rendition of “Fanfare for the Common Man”. ELP liked to take classical pieces and arrange them into somewhat bombastic rock concertos. Downes did a great job of matching the blaring synthesizer lines that Keith Emerson first did in the 70s.

One of the new album’s better songs called “An Extraordinary Life” was also performed. Composer Wetton had recovered from some serious heart problems and had battled alcoholism in the past, so he wrote this song to remind him and his fans not to take life for granted.

Probably the most heart-in-throat moment of the show was when Asia performed the King Crimson classic “In the Court of the Crimson King”. This song was written in the late 60s and has a magnificent, billowing keyboard part that sounds like an orchestra. It used to be performed on an instrument called a Mellotron (The Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever” or The Moody Blues “Nights in White Satin” are two other pieces that feature this unique instrument), but Downes used some synthesizer that nailed the majestic sound and Wetton’s vocals scaled the heavens above the melody.

The “poppiest” moment of the night was when Asia performed the very first song ever played on MTV: “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles. Geoff Downes donned a silver jacket and sunglasses like he wore in the 1980 video and sang backing vocals through a phased microphone that made him sound like a disembodied, ethereal voice.

When the band performed “The Heat Goes On” from Alpha, Carl Palmer got the chance to perform a rather long, exciting drum solo. His kit was set up so that the cymbals were rather low so he was definitely easy to see from the audience. Palmer is definitely one of prog-rock’s most gifted drummers, so it was really a thrill to see him paradiddle, flam and press roll his way around the traps. In contrast to the other members of Asia, he looks almost as fit and young as he did 20 years ago!

When the group launched into “Heat of the Moment”, Downes switched over to one of those 80s relics – the portable keyboard and proceeded to bounce around the stage and stand back-to-back with Wetton and Howe. The audience participated in a sing-along and the strength of this song propelled them into a near frenzy.

The encore consisted of “Don’t Cry” from Alpha and “Sole Survivor” from Asia. It was a great show and the audience was very satisfied with the depth and breadth of the performance given!

This article was submitted by a member of the Pegasus News community.

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