Rick Wakeman / Anderson+Wakeman UK dates

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   Went to the Colston Hall gig. 
Very much no frills with no backdrop (just a black curtain) and very little equipment. Rick uses 2 keyboards and Jon has 2 guitars. Thats it!
The warmth towards the pair of them is tangible from the audience.

The set seems to alternate between new stuff and reworkings of Yes classics. To be honest I found the new stuff pretty dull reminding me a little of Jon and Vangelis' doomed 4th album 'Page Of Life' which sunk without much trace. Just too syrupy and lacking any interesting ideas for me.

As far as the old songs I very much enjoyed Time and A Word and Sweet Dreams. Less convinced by And You And I , Starship Trooper, Turn of The Century which needs a band. I expected a bit more bombast from Rick but he kept it all very subtle and just a  bit too quiet for my liking. Do I really want semi-acoustic versions of massive symphonic prog tracks? Not really.

What I most enjoyed about the evening was the banter between Jon and Rick. The quips and teasing of Jon from Rick keep coming so much so that you have a classic straight man ,funny man combo. The Morecambe and Wise of prog.

btw I've got to plug the restaurant opposite The Colston Hall called 'The Katmandu'. If you ever visit Bristol make sure you check out this little beauty. They do Nepalese as well as Indian cuisine of the very highest order.

In summary 10/10 for the evening meal, 6/10 for the gig. 

Edited by richardh - November 02 2010 at 16:49