ASIA, FOCUS, MARTIN TURNER & CURVED AIR tour?

[rickawakeman]

I wasn't either - just came across this from 21 (!) years ago.

John Wetton - Bass
John Mitchell - Guitar
Martin Orford - Keyboard
Steve Christey - Drums

This is the same great line-up that appears on the two live releases from the late '90s (the acoustic Sub Rosa live in Milan '98, and Nomansland Live in Poland '99) with Kilminster instead of Mitchell.

(I recently saw Mitchell for the first time live with Arena in Montreal; would like to see him again but not that big of an Asia fan so will pass on this show despite desire to see Focus...)

John signed my copy of Sub Rosa when we saw him perform a very unique solo show years ago in Springfield MA as part of a SF convention.

[Jimmy Giant]

Nomansland is one of my favorite live discs. Outstanding to say the least.

[rickawakeman]

^^^^^
Agreed. I already knew Martin and Steve Christey via IQ and Jadis (big neo fan) but their playing here is exceptional.

[SteveSly]

This is the same great line-up that appears on the two live releases from the late '90s (the acoustic Sub Rosa live in Milan '98, and Nomansland Live in Poland '99) with Kilminster instead of Mitchell.

(I recently saw Mitchell for the first time live with Arena in Montreal; would like to see him again but not that big of an Asia fan so will pass on this show despite desire to see Focus...)

n.

I just saw him for the first time on CTTE with his Lonely Robot project. I thought he was great. I would love to see this tour if it was coming closer to me.

[JJ88]

Maybe Howe just doesn’t want to do multiple bands at his age?

ISTR he cited that as the reason he left Asia about ten years ago or so. Which is fair enough really.

Often, if you have an artistically successful album, it will be the album after that that gets the chart peak, off the back of the popularity for the former album. Chart peaks need sales concentrated in the first few weeks. Thus, Wishbone Four charts better than Argus in the US

IMHO they blew it with Four. Had it been as good as or even better than Argus, well, I think they could have been in the big time for a good while. Instead Four was a fairly ordinary, run-of-the-mill affair. Still, Argus remains a classic, of course.

[Mstove]

I just saw him for the first time on CTTE with his Lonely Robot project. I thought he was great. I would love to see this tour if it was coming closer to me.

Lonely Robot was fantastic. Glad we can catch this tour in Milwaukee. He's also touring with David Cross this fall, but they are in the area while we are out of town so I have to miss that one which is too bad. That is going to be a fantastic show.

[rapidfirerob]

Just bought four tickets for The Pabst Theater in Milwaukee. Pricey but worth it. Hoping for excellent sound. Sonja says she will meet up before the show with us.
Two other Patreon folks live in the area. $150 per ticket. $767 for four tickets after all fees. 8th row. I could have saved $50 per ticket if I went for the next section back. I read somewhere that
you only live once (except James Bond). Service fee, facility fee and taxes. We live in the Bay Area, so have to spring for airline tickets and hotel. At least
my friend will pick us up at the airport.

[rickawakeman]

Lonely Robot was fantastic. Glad we can catch this tour in Milwaukee. He's also touring with David Cross this fall, but they are in the area while we are out of town so I have to miss that one which is too bad. That is going to be a fantastic show.

Thanks for the reminder that we hope to see John with The David Cross band here in town at the newly-reopened Iron Horse Music hall on 10/26 if we're home from our northward trek to the BEAT show in Montreal. Looks like the Montreal DCB date is no longer listed...any word on this? I see Quebec City...

[Rajaz]

Going back to the turn of the century in 2000, I was lucky enough to catch the Asia tour in Houston TX that year that had Govan Guthrie (excellent guitarist) and Chris Slade (on drums), the singer was the other John (Payne). Very pleasing show, I'm sure the fantastic John Mitchell will do a great job.

Yes, I agree that package is a good deal for the fans having four vintage bands, I would have gone just to see Curved Air, Focus and Martin Turner that I've only seen Focus before. And true, it is nice that they all still perform even decades after their halcyon years. But patiently waiting to see YES the following month in Montreal.

[SteveSly]

Lonely Robot was fantastic. Glad we can catch this tour in Milwaukee. He's also touring with David Cross this fall, but they are in the area while we are out of town so I have to miss that one which is too bad. That is going to be a fantastic show.

Cross is coming to Grand Rapids about 45 minutes from me, but not sure that we are going to be in town. I am planning to go to ProgStock this year for the first time and they are also playing there, so will catch them at least once.

[SteveSly]

ISTR he c


IMHO they blew it with Four. Had it been as good as or even better than Argus, well, I think they could have been in the big time for a good while. Instead Four was a fairly ordinary, run-of-the-mill affair. Still, Argus remains a classic, of course.

Totally agree. Four was not a bad album, but compared to Argus it is almost like a different band. As you say, run of the mill, kind of bland rock. I have always wondered WTF were they thinking.

[Steve F.]

Often, if you have an artistically successful album, it will be the album after that that gets the chart peak, off the back of the popularity for the former album. Chart peaks need sales concentrated in the first few weeks. Thus, Wishbone Four charts better than Argus in the US, or Tales charts better than Close to the Edge in the UK.

That’s interesting; I never heard that expressed in that way, but it makes some sense!

[Mstove]

Cross is coming to Grand Rapids about 45 minutes from me, but not sure that we are going to be in town. I am planning to go to ProgStock this year for the first time and they are also playing there, so will catch them at least once.

I’m bummed I can’t catch this tour, but we are out of the country.

[Mascodagama]

IMHO they blew it with Four. Had it been as good as or even better than Argus, well, I think they could have been in the big time for a good while. Instead Four was a fairly ordinary, run-of-the-mill affair. Still, Argus remains a classic, of course.

I don’t know whether it’s true, but it’s always been my impression that Ash really failed to take further steps forward out of what could be thought of as an excess of caution. Four seemed like a conscious decision to get back to basics and just be a regular rock band rather than pursue the slightly more rarefied (dare one say progressive?) musical and lyrical direction of Argus. A real shame, because as a straight ahead rock band they were nothing exceptional, whereas much of Argus, and the more adventurous parts of the first two albums, had something genuinely individual and special. I feel like they had the ability to do more in that vein but instead pursued what seemed like a safer path.

[SteveSly]

I don’t know whether it’s true, but it’s always been my impression that Ash really failed to take further steps forward out of what could be thought of as an excess of caution. Four seemed like a conscious decision to get back to basics and just be a regular rock band rather than pursue the slightly more rarefied (dare one say progressive?) musical and lyrical direction of Argus. A real shame, because as a straight ahead rock band they were nothing exceptional, whereas much of Argus, and the more adventurous parts of the first two albums, had something genuinely individual and special. I feel like they had the ability to do more in that vein but instead pursued what seemed like a safer path.

Totally agree.

[Rarebird]

I read 'The heat of the money tour'.

Indeed. They are all old bands. This is what happens to old bands.

Asia first played a show with only one original member in 1993. Martin Turner is billed as a solo artist, and has been touring with his own band since 2005. (Wishbone Ash (without Turner) first played a show with only one original member in 1994.) Focus first played a show with only one original member in 1976. Curved Air first played a show with only one original member in 1972!

And there is no chance Jan Akkerman will ever join Focus again.

At least the guitarist is from their heyday: Kirby Gregory was with the band in early 70's (and now, he's in his early 70's )

Now if they would add Eddie Jobson, they could do an Air cut tribute.

[Polska]

After the departure of Steve Howe and death of John Wetton, Asia should have folded for good. But then, Downes assembled a group with "Bumblefoot" Thal & Billy Sherwood and now this one with John Mitchell and Harry Witley without Palmer who has his own ELP tribute tour.
The Asia name should have been retired long ago but the money grab keeps resurfacing multiple times. But it's a free world and everyone can choose to attend or pass.

Agreed. Nothing about this interests me, but it will likely be a successful tour for these guys and I can choose not to go. I've seen Donati live and have a bunch of Planet X music and he's amazing, but that isn't enough of a draw for me. Not like I think I'll miss out on some amazing interpretation of "Heat of the Moment".

[JJ88]

I don’t know whether it’s true, but it’s always been my impression that Ash really failed to take further steps forward out of what could be thought of as an excess of caution. Four seemed like a conscious decision to get back to basics and just be a regular rock band rather than pursue the slightly more rarefied (dare one say progressive?) musical and lyrical direction of Argus. A real shame, because as a straight ahead rock band they were nothing exceptional, whereas much of Argus, and the more adventurous parts of the first two albums, had something genuinely individual and special. I feel like they had the ability to do more in that vein but instead pursued what seemed like a safer path.

Yes I have a vague memory of Powell saying in a later interview that they worried about getting too pretentious. Definitely a wrong move. Now, Four has a few good songs but it's greatly inferior to the first three IMHO.

Their second album Pilgrimage is their most progressive-leaning effort overall, with 'Vas Dis' (a cover), 'The Pilgrim' (a long, fairly complex one), 'Lullaby' and 'Valediction' all looking in that direction IMHO. And Argus kind of distilled what they'd done up to that point into a very appealing brew.

Going back to the turn of the century in 2000, I was lucky enough to catch the Asia tour in Houston TX that year that had Govan Guthrie (excellent guitarist) and Chris Slade (on drums), the singer was the other John (Payne). Very pleasing show, I'm sure the fantastic John Mitchell will do a great job.

The AOR market was dead by the 90s anyway, so commercially it hardly mattered. But Payne/Downes don't seem to have had a consistent Asia line-up- that one- until the 2000s. That didn't exactly help in building momentum. It's overlong but there's some really good material on Aura, IMHO.

[Dan Roth]

Looks like Payne is touring as well - happy to see he seems to be embracing his era of Asia now.

[arturs]

^^^ Now I've seen everything. JP is touring the anniversary of an album from thirty years ago that never charted in the USA, and that AFAICT virtually no one remembers particularly fondly. Personally I enjoy a fair amount of Aqua and Aura. Decent albums both. But Aria was their "hair metal" album, about five years too late. Not a keeper.

But more power to him if this actually works out. And as Dan says, good to see he is celebrating his own era of the band.

[Aggie87]

Odd that he plays Monterrey Mexico on 5/25, comes all the way back to Wisconsin for a show a week later, and then returns to Monterrey Mexico a week after that. Doesn't seem like a cost effective way to travel.

[Mstove]

Odd that he plays Monterrey Mexico on 5/25, comes all the way back to Wisconsin for a show a week later, and then returns to Monterrey Mexico a week after that. Doesn't seem like a cost effective way to travel.

And then right back to Illinois. Wonder if there is simply a mistake in there with the second Monterrey and the WI dates flipped?

[Mstove]

Okay, I had to look it up (we have a cabin about 20 miles from the Lake of the Torches casino). That date in WI is a "Voices of Classic Rock" show with Fran Cosmo (Boston) and Steve Augeri (Journey). I wonder if Payne is just flying himself up for that show and there is a different band playing the music that date.

[Rick L.]

https://youtu.be/xH64KpRR6HU?si=Liz2KhXCc2D8vEuM

[Mister Triscuits]

Odd that he plays Monterrey Mexico on 5/25, comes all the way back to Wisconsin for a show a week later, and then returns to Monterrey Mexico a week after that. Doesn't seem like a cost effective way to travel.

TIL that there is such a place as Loleta, CA. I thought it must be a typo for Goleta, but it turns out that Loleta is a "census designated place" with a population of 828. But there's an Indian casino there, which undoubtedly is where the gig is.