Originally comprised of former members of Yes (guitarist Steve Howe and keyboard player Geoffrey Downes), King Crimson (bassist/vocalist John Wetton) and ELP (drummer Carl Palmer), Asia’s aural slush puppy of soft rock and prog produced a self-titled debut that became America’s best seller of 1982.Forty-three years later, Downes – a last link with those days – and a new line-up play three nights in which they will be performing the first three Asia albums in full, one per night, at Trading Boundaries in Sussex.This line-up of Asia debuted at the John Wetton Tribute show in 2023.
It was a brilliant night, lots of great people including Rick Wakeman came along. Bill Bruford even stepped out of retirement to be a part of it all. It showed what a great impact John had on so many artists.
It was also a trigger for going out on the road in America last summer with Martin Turner, Focus and Curved Air.That first show as the ‘new’ Asia must have been an emotional and stressful experience for you.It was, yeah.
From my own standpoint it was great to carry on with the music that John and I wrote together all those years ago. I know that John would have been appreciative of that happening.John’s widow Lisa believes he would have “endorsed” the band’s continuation as he “wanted the music to live on”.
That’s correct. For me, the last thing I wanted was to put Asia music into a locker and say I’ll never do that again. And now we’ve got the opportunity to get back.
