Stage addicts - Which prog artist(s) have played the most live concerts?

[r2daft2]

OK this is hardly going to be definitive because numbers will be very hard to come by but...

Of all the prog artists, and particularly those going way back to the beginning of the genre, who might have performed on stage the most?

I suspect that Steve Howe might the most prolific performer to have been in Yes for example - especially when you include solo performances, Asia and the other bands he's been in.

Steve Hackett has possibly performed more concerts than any other Genesis member - or could Phil Collins still hold that honour?

Surely Roger Waters must have performed more shows than any other member of Pink Floyd.

Any ideas? - Who would you think has been Prog's most prolific performer?

[Mister Triscuits]

Got to be Ian Anderson. Either with Tull or solo, he has seldom been off the road since 1968, and even before that the John Evan Band was a hard-gigging outfit around the UK.

[NogbadTheBad]

My guess would be Tony Levin, the man is everywhere.

[gallen1964]

Carl Palmer fairly prolific

[Supersonic Scientist]

My guess would be Tony Levin, the man is everywhere.

TL is not a bad guess. However, he didn't really come onto the scene until WAY AFTER the likes of Howe, Ian A. and some others.

I'm leaning towards Howe: Reason: heavy touring in YES, Asia (Asia were SO HUGE around the globe in their prime)

C. Palmer: I think he had LOTS of years of very little touring after Asia quieted down. all IMHO of course.

[JKL2000]

Since I consider The Grateful Dead to be prog...

[calyx]

I'm leaning towards Howe: Reason: heavy touring in YES, Asia (Asia were SO HUGE around the globe in their prime).

Yes, but only for a brief period. Asia were only on the road for 18 months in their original incarnation, and broke up before they'd even finished the "Alpha" tour. Then they did the Japanese shows with Greg Lake but didn't tour after Wetton rejoined, and Howe was out of the picture by then anyway.

[Dave (in MA)]

TL is not a bad guess. However, he didn't really come onto the scene until WAY AFTER the likes of Howe, Ian A. and some others.

I'm leaning towards Howe: Reason: heavy touring in YES, Asia (Asia were SO HUGE around the globe in their prime)

C. Palmer: I think he had LOTS of years of very little touring after Asia quieted down. all IMHO of course.

If you're going to count pop like Asia then certainly Levin is in the running; he goes back to the '60s in that case.

[bRETT]

Richard Thompson, if he counts.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Since I consider The Grateful Dead to be prog...

According to his own count, Dave Brock has performed somewhere between 5-6000 gigs since the start of his "professional" career with Hawkwind back in '69.

Tatsuya Yoshida is rumoured to have played a median of 70-120 gigs each year since he began playing in organized fashion in the early 80s. The number of bands/artists and projects he has been in goes way beyond 100.

The same goes for several musicians from the NY Downtown music scene, who took their "jazz-cultural" approach to performance with them into rock terrain.

And the Grateful Dead are 10 times the "prog" band that Asia ever will be, that's for sure.

[Supersonic Scientist]

Yes, but only for a brief period. Asia were only on the road for 18 months in their original incarnation, and broke up before they'd even finished the "Alpha" tour. Then they did the Japanese shows with Greg Lake but didn't tour after Wetton rejoined, and Howe was out of the picture by then anyway.

Good point

[flowerking]

I'd have guessed Yes or someone from Yes. Steve Howe seems like a good choice, between Yes, Asia, ABWH and his solo touring, he's done quite a bit. Grateful Dead did tour nearly continuously for many years but keep in mind they disbanded between 74 and 77 and of course broke up once Garcia died (1995?) There were very few years that Yes wasn't touring in one form or another.

I'd think to solve this question we need to look at bands who have been around since the late 60s or early 70s and took minimal breaks. I have to wonder about Moody Blues as a possibility. Another possibility is Rush. While they had several years of a hiatus, they toured pretty much non-stop from 1974 until the mid to late 90s. They were probably doing at least 100 shows a year for 20+ years.

The opposite question would also be interesting. What prog bands (say having been in existing for at least 10 years) have played the fewest gigs? Kate Bush would be on that list but I wonder who else.

[Ten Thumbs]

Andy Powell might be a contender. Lots of touring in the 70s and 80s, I didn't pay attention for the 90s, and for the last 8 or 9 years he's done 100+ shows per year.

[chalkpie]

Did any rock band tour more than the Dead?

[esa]

Lee Kerslake - gig #5000 in early 2013: http://youtu.be/XREo72WS08o

Mr. Kerslake has retired, but Uriah Heep founder Mick Box is still at it. I'm unable to find reliable statistics, but he has to be in the running for the grand prize: Non-stop touring with Uriah Heep since 1970, plus preceding years with The Spice / The Stalkers.

[Zeuhlmate]

If you go back in the 60'ties to bands like The Who etc. , many played gigs all year round several times a weeek, sometimes even more, sometimes in clubs afternoon and evening. The gigs were shorter in those days - but was it prog then .
Here is a complete list of Kraans concerts up to 2004 -
In 1973 they had 92 concerts and in 1974 93 concerts, 105 in 1975, (if my counting is accurate, I got a little numb).
http://www.danbbs.dk/~m-bohn/kraan/gigs_list/TATKGL.htm

[Matt Stevens]

I've done 40 UK prog dates this year

[Jeremy Bender]

During the 1970-1975 period, ELP toured a lot, the longest break they took from touring was May-December in 1973, after the Get Me The Ladder Tour ended > the start of the BSS tour (99 - 103 dates depending on the source). Yes toured constantly during the 70's as well.

A major reason the Dead toured so much is that their hippie "We're all a family maaaaaan, even the guy who lugs the amps around" philosophy came back to bite them in the butt. They paid their road crew salaries + benefits plus had a big merchandise operation and those people needed to be paid. Then there was things like the huge cash-drain that was the Wall of Sound PA system:

grateful-dead-wall-of-sound-2.jpg

There's stories of them in the 90's spending more time in business meetings than rehearsing or writing new material because they had basically become Grateful Dead Inc. An example: they're the only band I know that actually controlled the means of production i.e. a record pressing plant, sometime in the 70's. Their only ties to the corporate record business was they made the albums which the record company then made sure was available in stores. They sold that pressing plant pretty quickly, they realized that maybe, just maybe, the suits and bean counters at the record company had a purpose after all.

[tallliman]

Not prog but I'd assume Status Quo are well over 3,500 concerts

[Ripples]

I would say Rush, they certainly have stayed on top of the ability to sell out large venues while touring every year.