Asia and Yes Indio California

Asia opened the show to this very small Casino arena. The arena, which appeared to be sectioned in half to hold maybe a thousand or so, was only about 2/3rds full. The intimacy however to me was appealing being able to see some of my old prog rock heroes up close and personal.  I was about 13 rows back and centered and bought my tickets well after they had been on sale.  

 

I've never been that big of an Asia fan although I do love the line up with Wetton, Howe, Palmer, and Downes.  The Asia material had always been much less progressive than the line-up had potential for in my opinion. But I do certainly understand the concept of record sales too. Asia had started the set with 2 hits followed by one of the more recent compositions, but then went into the fun part of the set (going back into each person's career).  Downes was first with his Bugles hit "Video Killed the Radio Star".  It was fun to see it performed and I was surprised how Wetton held up on the vocals on this seeing that it was originally sung by Trevor Horn.  When the song began I had wondered how that was going to sound, but I was surprised that it sounded quite good.  Next ended up being the highlight of my evening;  Wetton's turn, and the band played King Crimson's "Court of the Crimson King". Downes keyboard was spot on with the mellotron string patch perfectly programmed.  It sounded just like the original, and I had never thought I'd see that song performed live. That one song was worth the price of admission for me. Carl Palmer's song was ELP's "Fanfare for the Common Man".  This song included a rousing solo duel between Downes and Howe, and an abridged drum solo from Carl Palmer. He did alot of his signature drum solo moves, (nothing but cymbals, duel gongs)  however he spared us from his other signature move of taking off his shirt while using the double bass this time around.  Howe did not get a showcase, but he was to be playing in YES next, so it seemed understandable.  The Asia set closed it's 1 hour set with "Heat of the Moment".  They left me completely satisfied with the performance and I continued to hum "Court of the Crimson King" for several days after the show.

 

OK..  now for the hard part:  YES.  I knew well coming into this that Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman will be absent.  I have been a hard core YES fan since the mid 1970’s and saw them for the first time during the Going For The One Tour in ’77.  I have seen nearly every tour since then, even the Drama tour with Anderson and Wakeman’s absence.   In replacement there was David Benoit on vocals (from a YES tribute band in Canada), and Rick Wakeman's son Oliver Wakeman on keyboards.  Before I go into my opinions about the replacements, let’s talk about the setlist.   The setlist for the most part was the hits (All Good People, Roundabout, And You and I, and Owner of a Lonely Heart) with two exceptions.  From the Time and a Word Album -  "Astral Traveler" and from the Drama album "Machine Messiah".  Unless you consider Astral Traveler or Machine Messiah an epic YES song, we really didn’t get an epic masterpiece as we usually do in a typical YES concert such as Awaken, or Close To the Edge, or Ritual, or Gates of Delirium. So I was a little disappointed in that.  Now for performance.  Being a keyboardist, the first thing I noticed is that the keyboard mix was WAY low.  What little comfortable fuzziness  that was involved with this being Rick’s offspring wore off quickly as I started noticing more and more that his solos were compromised to easier, less technical, versions of his dad’s. Furthermore his aggressiveness and passion in playing was severely lacking.  The attitude I was getting from Oliver that he was merely there because maybe his dad wanted him to.  Much the same look I get from my son when I ask him to mow the lawn.   There was no enthusiasm from him whatsoever during the entire performance. He completely blew a solo in “And You and I” and missed the all important Orchestra Hits section in “Owner of a Lonely Heart” during the bridge.  He did redeem himself somewhat during the encore of “Starship Trooper” with a very nice solo.  He also performed well with Machine Messiah. However, I just can’t consider Oliver as a YES caliber keyboardist.  I would have rather they brought back Igor Khoroshev.  David Benoit must be commended for his vocal abilities.  He certainly hit all the notes, and his pitch was better than what I had heard online on YouTube videos.  His voice is very close to Jon Anderson, and I think most  YES laymen fans wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.  However, to the YES fans that have followed the band for the past 4 decades like me, his appearance was a bit odd on stage.  During the second part of the set he wore a black sparkly shirt and with his mannerisms and dancing on stage I had thought to myself that if Jon Anderson, Disco Stu, and Donny Osmond were to have a child, this is what would result. Certainly he looks like he is having some fun up there, and who wouldn’t.  I’m sure he was a big fan of the band since he played in a tribute band, and now that fantasy has become a reality.  I will say he was being himself, and I certainly wouldn’t want him to try to emulate Jon’s attitude and demeanor on stage.  I’m not sure what the answer is for him, but what I did see just didn’t feel quite right.  Of course when I saw the Drama tour, Trevor Horn looked out of place for me too with his red suit and big sunglasses.  The rest of the band appeared a bit out of sync that night as well.  There were a few non-tight moments and I do understand that this was the first night of the tour, and maybe these timing issues will get tweaked up.  Steve Howe was in pretty good shape and I have to give him kudos for keeping his intensity up for playing in both bands.  Chris Squire mentioned that night that Steve was now the new “Hardest Working Person in Showbiz” since James Brown’s death.  There seemed to be alot of emphasis on the Drama tour (understandably) and what I didn’t get is why they didn’t bring out Geoff Downes for the Drama material. He was in the house!  How hard could that have been to pull that off?  I think that could have been a real nice touch for those that are Drama album fans, and there are quite of few of those people.  Nonetheless, I think YES fans that really enjoyed the Drama album might enjoy this concert more than I did.  Steve Howe fans will also enjoy the 2 and a half hours of his presence on stage.    Like I said, I’ve been to many a YES show, some better than others, but this was probably my biggest disappointment to date. I can’t say that I hated it, but certainly the magic wasn’t there as with so many other shows I’ve attended. 

 

Thanks for the review. I'm debating whether to see this show. I really only care about Asia,, but I understand they're playing less than an hour. 

I have no interest in seeing fake Yes, especially not for $65.

I quite disagree with this review in many aspects. I just went to the Yes/Asia show in San Francisco and I thought that both bands were absolutely amazing. Oddly enough, I was most impressed by Oliver and the new singer. I thought that he sounded exactly like Anderson only stronger and crisper... I'll admit that I was slightly disappointed by the setlist though. And the sound was mixed absolutely perfectly at the venue I went to (which is famous for that actually). It was truly the first show I've ever been to where you could hear every single instrument perfectly. It was mixed to studio quality... I don't know, perhaps I just saw them on a better day than you did? Bands definitely have bad days sometimes. 

Whether or not we agree with the sentiments, and I sympathise having loved Yes for many years (with Anderson), this is, nevertheless, a great live review. Thank you for sharing an intimate personal portrait of your night.