Concert Review: Asia

Originally written 6/23/7

OK, I wasn’t going to do this. I mean, I just saw Asia a few months ago, and reviewed it on the message board. Truth be told, this show was largely the same. But then I was talking to a friend, and they wanted me to write something. And I thought this would be an interesting challenge for my blooming writing skills. So, here goes.

My night stared off waiting for my friend, Famous Phil, to meet me outside the venue with our tickets. I got there a bit early, and as the more time passed by, the more I felt like a puppy dog in the window. “Where is Phil, and where are our Goddamned tickets?” never fails that there is always loser looking guys like this outside just about any show. To make things worse, there is always a guy there I went to high school with that I try to avoid. So now I have to move my waiting ass a few yards down, so our awesome combined loser rays won’t blind anyone.

A bit of history for those kids out there that don’t know who Asia is or their legacy. Asia was the first ‘supergroup’. i.e. made up of famous names from previous bands. You have Steve Howe from Yes on lead guitar. You have Carl Palmer from Emerson Lake and Palmer on drums. You have John Wetton from King Crimson on bass and vocals. And on keys you have Geoff Downes from the Buggles. Wha..wait? The Buggles? OK, so it’s a bit of a stretch to say Downes came from an established band. Of course the Buggles biggest (and only) claim to fame is the foreshadowing “Video Killed the Radio Star”. OK, so in the grand scheme of things, that’s no Brain Salad Surgery. And he also had a cup of coffee in a touring line up with Yes. Maybe he had to drive the bus in the early days. But to be fair, Downes had a hand in writing just about every song on Asia, including the big hits Heat of the Moment and Only Time Will Tell. His keyboard work is all over the first 2 albums.

So with that pedigree, Asia attracts a lot of the 70’s prog rock fan base. Here’s where I stand out. I don’t like any of that. In fact I hate just about all of it. I’m there to see Asia do Asia songs. Old men with mullets, or worse yet, skillets. It’s becoming clear, that even at my age, I’m still gonna be one of the youngest people in the place. I see one guy who is the stereotypical happy hippy. In fact, I saw him walk by the theater twice, so I am quite sure he was high. Long, think grey hair. Bitchin’ headband that screams “HIPPIE”. Long scraggly beard. Tie dye shirt, and just a bit of a stagger as he walked by.

One of the things I conditioned myself to do at shows was to see what shirts were being worn. It helps me get a read on the fanbase. And I saw a lot of new Asia shirts being worn. I think they played here last September of so. The shirts visually weren’t stunning or anything, but me being poor now and all, I wonder where else do these people wear an Asia T? Casual day at work? Out for beers on a Saturday night? At a family picnic? Not that there’s anything wrong with wearing an Asia T or anything, but sometimes I just wonder…

Famous Phil shows up, and we’re off to our seats. And I have to give credit to Asia for being pros, and giving the fans what they want. No opener. Really, who would want to open up for a tour like this? They go on pretty much at 8:10 or so. They play for about 2 hours. No intermissions. A modest stage show. Three video screens behind them. Sometimes they would add in these, cheesy, trippy visual effects. I am sure the stoners appreciated that. It was like watching a 70s video. Open up with Sole Survivor. As the song winds down, they are greeted by a half standing O. Fans raising and lowering their arms in praise. Our friend the happy hippie is beaming in his glory. Musically, they’re tight. Phil said it sounded like there was reverb in a speaker, but I couldn’t hear that through my earplugs. Wetton says they’ll be playing Asia songs, as well as songs from their pasts. Some yahoo is already shouting for Court of the Crimson King. I am sure there is one in every crowd.

They do songs from their first 2 discs. Personally, I think the second one, Alpha is better than the acclaimed Asia, but that’s just me. Alpha is firmly in my all time top ten. They also get into their catalog. OK, I admit, this is bathroom time for me. First up is Yes’ “Roundabout”. All the Yes fans roar their approval. A few songs later is ELP’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”. It’s an OK song and all, but I gotta go drain it. All the gearheads are creaming their faded jeans at this point, so it shouldn’t be a problem. There is a small line for the men’s room. The guy waiting in front of me is rocking his air guitar. Then he turns to me and asks “What song is this?” “Uh, Fanfare” “O yea, right, right. (Slight pause) Who does this again?” “ELP” Really, sometimes you have to wonder.

Later on is Court of the Crimson King. Phil points out to me that Wetton wasn’t in the bad at the time they did this song. While I’m not a fan of their previous bands, I think it’s cool they still play those songs. It’s not like Velvet Revolver. If you went to VR hoping for some GnR songs or STP songs, you would have been pissed. At least Asia gave the fans a taste of their heritage, even if it was the bloody obvious songs, but I guess that’s what a lot of people came to see. And it’s not like ELP, Crimson or Yes are touring entities anymore, so it’s the only place to get a live fix.

A bit later of, Downes dons a kick ass silver jacket for his “Hey, guys, what about me?” Buggles song. Asia closes out by not playing Don’t Cry and Heat of the Moment. So, yea, we know what the encore is going to be. They come out, do those 2, and it’s goodnight. Almost. The guys will come out after the show to sign stuff. This is kinda a rare thing. They did this the first time I saw them, and I was utterly unprepared. Sure, there is the CD cover and T-shirt thing, but I got something better I’d want signed. Back when our Marlton office was closing, and we were going to be working from our homes, there were tons of gold and platinum records and awards on the walls. After raiding them for themselves, management made the announcement that you could take one record with you. I had my eye on an Asia one, so I took that. How cool would it be to get that signed? It’s technically an award for gold, but the LP is platinum colored, so for the sake of making it sound cooler, I will say platinum record. I missed out the last time, but not this time.
As they were playing Heat, I left, went out to my car, and got the record. I went right back into the theater with no problem, and hopped in line with Phil. Ahead of use were 2 true hardcore fans. As me and Phil were debating when the first Asia album came out, the guy ahead of us said ’82, and had the t-shirt to prove it. No really. The shirt was from 82. He had another one from 83. These suckers were thread worn and paper thin. But this is what he was going to get signed. I can appreciate that, since those shirts must have had some meaning to him if he held onto them all this time. He asked me what I had, and I showed him the framed record. It was like I was holding a child. All of a sudden, his nerdly 25 year old stinky t-shirts paled in comparison to my plaque. I looked to see the line behind us, and I want to say it appeared a quarter to a third of the crowd had stayed to meet the band.

Of course there were rules for meeting them. No pictures. Only 2 things signed, and it had to be Asia merch. CDs, DVDs, hats, t’s posters, etc. No blank pieces of paper. I guess that’s a pretty fair thing. You couldn’t shake their hands due to their (and this was a great line) “musicianship”. Whatever, the band doesn’t have to do this, and the rules seem pretty reasonable. After waiting a while, we make our way up to the table. I slide the record to Carl. And he’s a bit taken aback. (After signing cruddy t-shirts and hats, this is now good shit) He asks me where I got this. There’s no real quick way to sum it up, so I just say I used to work for your distributor, and when the office closed, we could take one record, and I chose this. Their road manager was pretty impressed by it. Carl looked genuinely psyched to sign it. He grabbed a silver marker, and signed it. It even merited a 2007 after his sig.

OK, that was a good reaction, I’m now anxious to see how it goes with the rest of the band. Geoff just kinda looks at it, scribbles and is done. Up next is Wetton. Same thing. Same thing with Howe. And it’s done. I have nothing to bitch about, and another cool piece for my own rock and roll museum. Granted, you can’t tell whose signature is whose for the most part. But that’s fine, since these guys are signing thousands of things. And let’s face it, their no spring chickens. A quick, if unreliable, internet search tells me Howe is 60, Wetton 58, Palmer 56 and Downes 55.
These guys are no spring chickens. Don’t go to an Asia show expecting to see David Lee Roth type moves, or Poison like synchronized moves. Wetton just kinda stands there, but he did get a bit animated towards the end. Howe is kinda freaky. His head seems too big for his frail body. He dresses like your grandfather. But goddamn, can he still play a guitar. Carl has the most energy, and was animated, even for being behind the drumkit. And that leads me to Downes. O Geoffrey, Geoffrey, Geoffrey. How do I best explain this? Let’s just say he reminds a lot of some people who used to work for WEA. Downes had at least 5, if not 6 keyboards, and one computer. And he was sure active, one hand on one keyboard, the other hand on another one. He moves around a lot. He sure looks busy. But, damn, I’m just not sure what he does all night.

I’ve seen hundreds of shows. And only at Asia do I see so many keyboards set up. 3 in his front, at least 2 off to his back right. And he’s got this thing on the far left of the lowest central keyboard that he would occasionally wave his hand over. Really, what the fuck can that thing do? You look at him, and he looks like he’s surfing. One hand playing, the other hand back above his head. WTF? He even had 2 mics in front of him. Why? I mean, there are guys at NASA that work in front of less hardware. But there’s Geoff, playing Twister. Watch as his hands magically tinkle the keys, then jump to another keyboard to keep playing. It really struck me as a show. Like he doesn’t do much, so to cover to up, he hides behind 50 keyboards, all while he’s probably Googling those naked Amanda Beard pictures. Even when he was “singing”, he looked like it was brain (salad) surgery. I know Asia suddenly has like 10 live DVDs out. If any of them offers me an isolated shot of Geoff for an entire show, I would buy it right away. At times it got quite distracting, as I was watching the Geoff-looking-busy-show and not the Asia show.

In the end, it was worth the $65 I spent. I got to see a bunch of Asia songs, even if the show was largely unchanged from the last one I saw. The other songs are OK, but I know it helps draw people. And I finally got the record signed. If you like Asia, and didn’t see them the first time around, go see them this time. Thumbs up.