Current Asia Line-up

Geoff Downes - Keyboards

John Payne - Bass and vocals (and occasional acoustic guitar)

Guthrie Govan - Guitars (and occasional bass)

Chris Slade - Drums

I saw them in Salamanca (Spain) a month ago. They were OK: nothing to be remembered forever, but OK. Actually, out of the four members of the band the one I enjoyed the least was Mr. Downes: he was showing up, surrounded with lots of different keyboards (and doing very little with them, IMO), when we know that he could do exactly the same with a couple of them. And he also did a stupid keyboard solo, based mainly on the "Video killed the radio star" melody... But maybe I still hate this guy from the Drama shock...

John Payne is OK singing and playng lod bass lines, Guthrie Govan is a young and promising guitarist, not showing up at any moment with the classical "look how fast I can play", but just playing every note needed. And Chris Slade, well, I was expecting something more "basical" from an ex-AC/DC drummer, but he sure can play prog (OMG, did I say that Asia is prog?).

Anyway, enjoy the concert!

Actually, out of the four members of the band the one I enjoyed the least was Mr. Downes: he was showing up, surrounded with lots of different keyboards (and doing very little with them, IMO)

Yep, sounds like Geoff...

And he also did a stupid keyboard solo, based mainly on the "Video killed the radio star" melody...

I can't believe he still fashions a "solo" around that stupid tune. Geoff has been in a rut ever since he joined Asia, except for a few minutes on his Light Program work (only the first one). Geoff plays it far too safe. This is a guy who once played with Gary Boyle in Isotope!!!!!!!!

But maybe I still hate this guy from the Drama shock...

Drama's the last thing he did that I give a sh*t about. Killer album! Sorry to hear that you don't like it. Maybe one of these days it'll suddenly click for ya...

dropForge wrote: Asia just did a week of shows in Italy with Carl Palmer on drums.  Unfortunately for you tho, he just did it as a favor for the Italian shows... but if I was going to see an Asia show... I would of wanted to see one of those.... Asia's just Asia, no matter who plays drums. If you get my drift...

Hardly!!  Maybe with studio output, but live... its not the same when you watch Carl play!

The two Uriah Heep albums Wetton is on are Return To Fantasy and High & Mighty. David Byron is still Heep's singer, but Wetton gets some leads in, like on the classic "One Way Or Another" which opens H&M. I'd get that one first. Both are remastered with bonus tracks.

Btw, the 'Now' side of Then and Now is pretty rank!

Sweetnighter wrote: dropForge wrote: LOL!!!!!! That's what you get for going to see a band that should have stopped after Astra. Pretty much... of the original lineup, Downes was the least known member and rather secondary to Asia's success... seems to me like he's just riding out an old name to make a living. I hold the same opinion towards Banks and Rutherford for "Calling All Stations".

I agree with you in that Downes was the least known member of Asia, but he wasn`t secondary to their success, because he was the co-composer (with Wetton) of almost all the songs in their 3 studio albums with Wetton and in the compilation "Then and Now". He has songwriting credits in the first album in : "Heat of the Moment", "Only Time Will Tell, "Sole Survivor"(these 3 songs were hit singles!), and "Wildest Dreams"  (all composed by Wetton/Downes), "Time Again" (Downes/Howe/Palmer/Wetton), and "Cutting it Fine" (Wetton/Downes/Howe).In "Alpha", all the songs were composed by Wetton/Downes except "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" (by Wetton only). In "Astra", apart of being the co-producer of the album, all the songs were composed by Wetton/Downes and 2 by Wetton/Downes/Palmer. In "Then & Now" there are two new songs by Wetton/Downes.

I also think that, like in the Travelling Wilburys Band  in the case of Tom Petty (with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne),  he was very lucky to be in a band with  superstars Howe, Palmer and Wetton. Downes is a good musician, but at that time he wasn`t very known apart from being in The Buggles and the "Drama" album line-up of YES. I also  think that  he uses the name "Asia" to earn money to live. In the beginning, "Asia" was more John Wetton`s idea. He met former YES manager Brian Lane in early 1981. They talked about forming a new band. Howe was introduced to Wetton by Brian Lane. Palmer was the next to join the band, invited by Wetton. Downes was the last to join the band, maybe invited by Howe. As someone metioned before, even Downes wasn`t in some line-ups of the band.

In the case of "Calling All Stations", I think that Banks and Rutherford really had the right to call themselves Genesis, because they always have been composers in the band and they were the only  original members of the band until the end. Maybe they tried to prove to themselves that they could carry on without Collins, but IMO, Collins was more than the drummer and singer in the band, and was more important for the band and for the fans of the band. Maybe they tried to diminish Collins`influence in the band. But  Rutherford and Banks did a mistake recruiting a singer like Ray Wilson, because his voice wasn`t right for the sound of the band, IMO.