Saw him Friday night. This was the 2nd time I've seen him play solo piano, and while it's a nice evening out, it's nothing special. He's been playing the same pop hits piano songs and same jokes for 20 years. Granted I knew that going in... so I wasn't disappointed, but it's such easy effortless money for him. The best Wakeman show I saw was in 1985 when he came to some Irish Pub in Chicago with a full band, including Rick Fenn (10CC) on guitar, and Tony Fernandez on drums, and they played all his classic 70's stuff. Journey, Authur, 6 Wives... Rick had about 20 keyboards on stage set up in two configurations than he ran back and forth in between. The stage was too small for all the keyboards though, so Fenn had to play off stage behind the amps. He would occasionally run out front to do a solo, then retreat back behind the amps. To top it off, Rick invited everyone at the show to buy a pass after the show for $5, to see them rehearse the following night in the club. We did that, and watched them play the whole show again in a low-key fun atmosphere with only about 30 people in the audience. Great times. The only other time I saw him with his own band was the Wakeman & Wakeman show in the early 90's (the tour with his son Adam). But that was instrumental, and not quite the same as the '85 show I saw.
Not really sure why he doesn't come to the states with a band. He sold out the Arcada Theater with just a piano.... so what's the deal???
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