Asia at the House of Blues Las Vegas

I made the “there and back again” trip out to Las Vegas to see Asia perform at the House of Blues. That concert was this past Thursday night and I just flew out there Thursday and back on Friday. I had vacillated about whether to make a dedicated trip for that show and now I am glad that I did because it was a really great show. I thought the band members looked pretty good for their age. Sure, John Wetton has chunked up some (but he still has his voice) and Steve Howe… well, we all know how Steve Howe looks, but, boy, he sure can still play the guitar! Perhaps most importantly, they all looked like they were having tremendous fun. Especially Geoff Downes. During the final number (“Heat of the Moment”), he got out front with the portable keyboard and he looked like a kid on Christmas morning with a new toy. Maybe it was just my imagination, but he seemed a lot more animated than he did when he was in Denver with the John Payne version of Asia. They all took turns talking to the audience. In terms of material, I think they performed every track from the first album. They did nothing from “Astra” and from “Alpha” they just did “The Heat Goes On” (one of my personal favorites) and reworked, pseudo-accoustic versions of “Don’t Cry” and “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes”. One thing that really convinced me that I had to go was when I heard that they were going to be doing tracks from their respective former bands. That was fabulous. As part of that component of the show, they did “Roundabout”, “Fanfare for the Common Man”, “In the Court of the Crimson King”, and “Video Killed the Radio Star”. Steve Howe also did an extended version of “The Clap” and Carl Palmer did an awesome drum solo as part of “The Heat Goes On”. I think the people in this group would really have loved “Fanfare for the Common Man” since the addition of Steve Howe’s guitar to that track was really amazing. The House of Blues was a good venue and I think they mentioned that they were taping the show so maybe that show might even come out on DVD.