In 1982, Asia spent the early part of their maiden tour in Western New York garnering a reputation as one of the best live rock bands around. While the prog rock purists may have lamented the fact that the group did not perform 20 minute plus epochs, Asia was able to capture some of the nuances of progressive rock without all the grizzle.
In 2014 Asia has managed to do the impossible, they have recaptured that magic, playing with a conviction and a finesse that cannot be feigned, as was demonstrated during their recent performance at Niagara Falls Rapids Theatre.
Like many of their prog rock contemporaries, Asia is not a flashy band that prances around the stage. Frontman John Wetton lets his singing voice carry a good portion of the show, and in many ways he is a better singer than he was back in 1982.
The writing partnership of Wetton and Geoff Downes is now on full display at Asia shows. With five albums of material from the original lineup that featured Steve Howe, and seven with Wetton, Downes and Carl Palmer, the current Asia show features the best of an impressive catalog of recorded music without having to delve into back catalogues of their respective former bands.
While their current set list features a healthy dose of the eponymous debut, the older material serves as solid bookends for great material from the more recent material. Those songs provided some of the evening’s best performances, the standouts being the title cut from their most recent album “Gravitas”, “Finger on the Trigger” from “Omega” and “An Extraordinary Life” from “Phoenix.”
On the classic material like “Time Again” and “Don’t Cry,” the band was on fire and the crowd at the Rapids was more than happy to provide the fuel to keep it burning.
Much of that excitement was generated by the playing of Carl Palmer, whose drum heads must be made of indestructible material because he was pounding the living daylights out of them all night long, only giving them a slight rest when Wetton sang the occasional ballad like “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes.”
If there is one thing that seems to have brought this band together it is the addition of Sam Coulson, a twenty-something year old guitarist born after the band’s rise and fall in the 1980’s.
Coulson’s perfect integration into a band of musicians more than twice his age is illogical, and yet his style that combines the technique of Paul Gilbert with the arena rock sensibility of Trevor Rabin is a perfect fit.
Coulson wisely avoided trying to mimic the inimitable Steve Howe, but unlike other Howe replacements, Mandy Meyer and Pat Thrall, Coulson is able to put his own stamp on the Howe guitar parts without making them unrecognizable.
Perhaps more importantly, Coulson seems to be having a great time playing the old songs and Wetton, Downes and Palmer not only seem to be enjoying themselves, they appear reinvigorated and playing with a sense of purpose, perhaps to show the young guitar slinger that that talent does not diminish with age.
Setlist:
Sole Survivor
Wildest Dreams
Face on the Bridge
Time Again
Valkyrie
Finger on the Trigger
I Know How You Feel
Voice of America
The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
An Extraordinary Life
Gravitas
Keyboard Solo (by Geoff Downes)
Days Like These
Go
Don’t Cry
Drum Solo (by Carl Palmer)
Only Time Will Tell
Open Your Eyes
Heat of the Moment
Photos by Gus Griesinger. We would like to thank Bruce Pilato for the credentials to review the show.
