John Wetton memorial concert 3 Aug 2023 in Sussex

[bondegezou]

https://www.loudersound.com/news/sta...cert-announced

With Geoff Downes, Steve Hackett, Mel Collins, Chris Braide, Billy Sherwood, Rick Wakeman, Jay Schellen, Annie Haslam, David Cross, Roger Dean, Phil Manzanera and many more

[gearHed289]

I saw this on Lisa Wetton's Facebook page this morning. Great lineup of musicians, including the wonderful John Mitchell. Looking forward to streaming this.

[PotatoSolution]

Wow, Martin Orford, I wonder what he's been up to for the past decade and a half. Wetton sang a few songs on Orford's last solo album.

[Aquatarkus]

What a wonderful lineup. Lovely to see Martin Orford on board. I love Wetton's vocals on the Old Road album. A little surprising not to see Steve Howe participating. I love the work they did together on the Asia reunion albums. Howe was absent for the Alan White tribute in the States last year when Yes was on tour there. Maybe he just doesn't like memorial gigs. Wetton is certainly deserving. An extraordinary life indeed.

[Steve983]

Wow, Martin Orford, I wonder what he's been up to for the past decade and a half. Wetton sang a few songs on Orford's last solo album.

Driving stream trains and the occasional stint with Jadis.

[PCMusic]

Driving stream trains and the occasional stint with Jadis.

"Stream" or steam trains?

[Jaco]

What a wonderful lineup. Lovely to see Martin Orford on board. I love Wetton's vocals on the Old Road album. A little surprising not to see Steve Howe participating. I love the work they did together on the Asia reunion albums. Howe was absent for the Alan White tribute in the States last year when Yes was on tour there. Maybe he just doesn't like memorial gigs. Wetton is certainly deserving. An extraordinary life indeed.

Was wondering same re Carl Palmer , he didn’t attend the Keith Emerson tribute concert in Birmingham in 2016 . I guess for these guys some of these kind of evenings are not their things and or may just be difficult

[irongoalie]

https://www.loudersound.com/news/sta...cert-announced

With Geoff Downes, Steve Hackett, Mel Collins, Chris Braide, Billy Sherwood, Rick Wakeman, Jay Schellen, Annie Haslam, David Cross, Roger Dean, Phil Manzanera and many more

What about Fripp???

[bondegezou]

What about Fripp???

No Fripp. No Howe. Maybe that's just about dates and other commitments. Maybe they don't like appearing at these sorts of things.

[Rajaz]

No Fripp. No Howe. Maybe that's just about dates and other commitments. Maybe they don't like appearing at these sorts of things.

I understand that Bill bruford is retired and the same goes for Eddie Jobson (kind of) but this event could have been the exception like when Eddie played at the Emerson tribute in 2016.
A missed opportunity.

[bondegezou]

I understand that Bill bruford is retired and the same goes for Eddie Jobson (kind of) but this event could have been the exception like when Eddie played at the Emerson tribute in 2016.
A missed opportunity.

Wetton's estate recently sued Jobson over unpaid royalties. I don't think we'll see Jobson there.

[Rick L.]

Wetton's estate recently sued Jobson over unpaid royalties. I don't think we'll see Jobson there.

How DARE you step on a man's prawg dream!

[lazland]

The absence of Bruford is understandable as he retired from playing live, but Howe, Fripp, and Palmer not attending is sad, to say the least. All three of them clearly held Wetton in a great deal of affection, so it must simply be that they don't "do" this type of thing.

[abc123]

Long live John Wetton music! Songs he contributed to writing, performing, etc.!

[Steve983]

The absence of Bruford is understandable as he retired from playing live, but Howe, Fripp, and Palmer not attending is sad, to say the least. All three of them clearly held Wetton in a great deal of affection, so it must simply be that they don't "do" this type of thing.

We know that Wetton and Howe made up when Asia reformed but I'm not sure that they got along that well in the past. Wasn't it Wetton that demanded Howe leave (its him or me) after Alpha?

[MudShark22]

The fact that the thread is talking about Robert, Steve and Carl is exactly why they are not likely to appear - the focus on John would be lost.

[bondegezou]

The fact that the thread is talking about Robert, Steve and Carl is exactly why they are not likely to appear - the focus on John would be lost.

That doesn't make much sense to me. Downes and Wakeman are both big names and are going to be there. Why would Palmer's presence overshadow the focus on Wetton while Wakeman's wouldn't?

[lazland]

We know that Wetton and Howe made up when Asia reformed but I'm not sure that they got along that well in the past. Wasn't it Wetton that demanded Howe leave (its him or me) after Alpha?

Yes, and the label clearly backed Wetton as one of the two prime writers, but I always thought they had buried the hatchet, and not in the "I've got to get on with this no matter how I feel" manner in which Howe worked with Anderson until the final break.

Henry might know more?

[Rajaz]

Also both Richard Palmer-James and Phil Manzanera had creative collaborations and recordings with John Wetton but either opted not to participate or were not invited (?)

Did not know Jobson is being sued by the Wetton estate :-(

[Steve983]

Yes, and the label clearly backed Wetton as one of the two prime writers, but I always thought they had buried the hatchet, and not in the "I've got to get on with this no matter how I feel" manner in which Howe worked with Anderson until the final break.

Henry might know more?

Well according to Steve Howe's book they were having problems on the Alpha tour resulting in Wetton leaving the band. Then Greg Lake joined for the one show but wasn't going to work out and they heard Wetton wanted to rejoin. But then Wetton managed to get Geoff & Carl onside in demanding that Howe leave - that's all according to Howe of course. Having said all that I would imagine that Howe doesn't want to do it anyway because its not his bag. Wakeman on the other hand....

[bondegezou]

Also both Richard Palmer-James and Phil Manzanera had creative collaborations and recordings with John Wetton but either opted not to participate or were not invited (?)

Did not know Jobson is being sued by the Wetton estate :-(

Manzanera is attending.

I believe the Jobson/Wetton estate case has come to a conclusion, so "was" not "is".

[bondegezou]

Yes, and the label clearly backed Wetton as one of the two prime writers, but I always thought they had buried the hatchet, and not in the "I've got to get on with this no matter how I feel" manner in which Howe worked with Anderson until the final break.

Henry might know more?

They both wanted the other out of the band. They were on bad terms... until Wetton quit drinking and they made up. They were back to writing together in the Asia reunion, so, indeed, they appeared to be on good terms.

Lots of people didn't want to work with drunk Wetton. He appears to have burnt through a lot of relationships.

[Mr.Krautman]

For many (mostly unknow and highly speculative) reasons we can't have ALL John Wetton's past musical mates on stage the same day but the current panel is already amazing.
The possibility of last minute "surprise" guest stars shouldn't be ruled out either.
Martin Orford is not among the best know stars but he was John's closest collaborator for years during his late solo career, good to see him included here.
Since this will be a single event hopefully there will be some video shots for posterity (and/or a DVD !)

[ChrisXymphonia]

Since this will be a single event hopefully there will be some video shots for posterity (and/or a DVD !)

Could be because there will be cameras in the venue as it will be streamed online as well.

[Gerhard]

More info and "tickets" to stream the event live can be found here.

Streaming Tickets:

£20.00 from launch until midnight 9th July
£30.00 from 10th - 30th July
£40.00 thereafter