Rick Wakeman - Farewell Gig, Melbourne

I guess nothing good lasts forever. We synth players were all saddened by the death of Robert Moog recently and now Rick is leaving the stage.

His farewell concert in the Melbourne Concert Hall on August 27 was a real treat. My wife and I attended (a flying visit from Adelaide but we weren't going to miss it for anything) and we had front row seats - very front row. Any closer and we would have been on the stage.

A smile crept across my face as we entered the auditorium - the background music was Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" (original recording - not the 2003 5.1 version which I think is great by the way). The stage seemed somewhat spartan with only the Steinway grand centre stage and two synth keyboards a short walk away downstage left. Almost cramped into upstage right was a drum kit and bass rig clearly belonging to the support act.

"David Jones and friends" were most entertaining, especially the bass player (who's name unfortunately escapes me) who brilliantly covered bass and harmonies thanks to some very well-executed Frippery. Jones is a very eclectic drummer/percussionist who often played the kit with his hands along with a variety of sticks, mallets, etc.

After interval, it was the main man. Having since watched the Rick Wakeman, In Concert 2000 DVD, I see that the Melbourne gig was based very much on that show (including a couple of the same stories!). He walked on to a pre-recorded Canon in D (Pachelbel) over which he improvised during the last few repeats. The only other "karaoke" style performance that night was the delightful Dance Of A Thousand Lights from Return To The Centre Of The Earth which I think was a highlight for most of the audience.

Ashley Holt provided the now-familiar raw sounding vocals for many of the night's pieces, including some excerpts from No Earthly Connection which (for me) almost worked better with just synths and voice. There was occasionally a sense that Holt wasn't completely sure just how many solo sections Rick was going to draw out, as he appeared to miss a couple of cues. (Holt's worst mistake for the night was stuffing up the lyrics to Arthur). The truncated Journey To The Centre Of The Earth was remeniscent of the Nottingham video minus bass and drums but no less enjoyable. The YES songs were also enjoyable (if a little "boppier" for want of a better word, in places) and translated well to a solo keyboard arrangement (and there were enough of us there who knew the words anyway!)

It was a great pity that the venue managers didn't see fit to extend the "curfew" as there was a bit of light-hearted banter when Ashely had to come on stage and let Rick know that time was almost up. We therefore missed out on hearing Jane Seymour (which I was looking forward to!). Rick also seemed a bit surprised: "I didn't know you had a time limit on the place."

However, I'm sure that to most of the audience there, this meant nothing. Wakeman proved that whether it's with YES, or the ERE or on his own with a couple of keyboards or even just a piano, he is a consumate performer/entertainer.

The highlight of the evening was yet to come for my wife and I as we had the opportunity to informally meet with him afterwards.  Being unable to afford the official Meet and Greet on the Sunday evening (the fact that we had to be back in Adelaide on Sunday afternoon didn't help either), we wandered round to the stage door ... just in case. Our persistence paid off even after a 50 minute wait as he did come out to the small crowd that remained and happily chatted and signed autographs. He also remebered me by name from some of the e-mails I had previously sent him which was more than just a bit of a boost to my frail ego . I was glad to have given some thought as to what I would like him to sign "just in case." Before leaving Adelaide, I removed a top-C key from one of my favourite synths. I am now the proud owner of a "Rick Wakeman Signature Edition" of a Sequential Prophet VS synthesiser - possibly the only one of it's kind.

We regretably said our farewells but floated back to our hotel, very happy to have made the most of an all too brief 24 hours.

I know of course that Wakeman is not everyone's favourite and to each their own. But for me, the music and playing of Rick Wakeman has had a hell of a lot to do with my own writing and performing life. To have finally met and talked with the man was a milestone occasion for me - I'm only a few years off 40 but I sure felt young again meeting the star!

MPA