Asia; Scottish Rite Auditorium Collingswood, NJ 4/10/08
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 4:32 amAnd Asia's 25th Anniversary reunion tour rolls on for its third year! In the meantime, they've recorded a new album, Phoenix, which was available at the show and will be hitting stores in a few days.
Not even John Wetton's being sidelined briefly last year to undergo triple bypass surgery could stop this reunion!
After enjoying their show last year, I realized it would be a shame if my close friend, Paul, were to miss out. He'd been a huge Asia fan from the time we met back in the mid-80s. And luckily, he was able to attend this year's show with me.
After buying our tickets at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, a good 45 minutes prior to the show, we headed off to a nearby watering hole for some brewskies. But later as we were about to enter the venue, Paul realized he was missing his cell phone. Since the band was due to hit the stage at any second, he decided we would just hit the bar again after the show to search for the phone. But I realized that our chances of finding it would be slimmer the longer we waited. What to do? I suddenly had an idea....We would race back to the car and use my cell phone(fortunately I'd brought it along) to ring his phone and have the bartender, or whoever answered, put the phone in a safe place for us. We dialed the phone and heard it ring! But where was it? Underneath my right rear tire! Had we gone back to search before or after it most certainly would've been run over! WHEW! Talk about luck.....
We hurried back to the venue's entranceway. "Come on people", the guy at the door exclaimed, "It's starting. No opening act"! The guy beckoning was Philly DJ Michael Tearson who'd played Asia many a time on station WMMR back in the day. We got in line with the crowd that suddenly formed and were led to our seats. Asia was already in the middle of Daylight, the opening number.
This year the group has added two songs from the new album to the set. I was particularly impressed with Extraordinary Life. Nice to hear Daylight(originally the b side to Don't Cry) as well since it's always been a favorite. Wetton also performs an acoustic version of Voice of America this year that he dedicates to Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. That one, from the third album(Astra), has also always been a fave of mine.
SET 1(7:30-8:37)
01 Intro
02 Daylight
03 Only Time Will Tell
04 Wildest Dreams
05 Never Again
06 Roundabout
07 Time Again
08 Cutting It Fine(outro only)
09 Steve Howe solo(including Clap)
10 Voice of America(acoustic)
11 The Smile Has Left Your Eyes(acoustic)
12 Ride Easy(acoustic)
13Open Your Eyes
Intermission
SET 2(8:55-9:58)
01 Fanfare For the Common Man
02 Without You
03 An Extraordinary Life
04 In The Court Of The Crimson King
05 Video Killed The Radio Star
06 The Heat Goes On (with Carl Palmer drum solo)
07 Heat Of The Moment
08 Don't Cry (full electric, not acoustic)
09 Sole Survivor
For more on the Asia reunion, read my last year's review here:
http://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/vie ... hp?t=26426
Not even John Wetton's being sidelined briefly last year to undergo triple bypass surgery could stop this reunion!
After enjoying their show last year, I realized it would be a shame if my close friend, Paul, were to miss out. He'd been a huge Asia fan from the time we met back in the mid-80s. And luckily, he was able to attend this year's show with me.
After buying our tickets at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, a good 45 minutes prior to the show, we headed off to a nearby watering hole for some brewskies. But later as we were about to enter the venue, Paul realized he was missing his cell phone. Since the band was due to hit the stage at any second, he decided we would just hit the bar again after the show to search for the phone. But I realized that our chances of finding it would be slimmer the longer we waited. What to do? I suddenly had an idea....We would race back to the car and use my cell phone(fortunately I'd brought it along) to ring his phone and have the bartender, or whoever answered, put the phone in a safe place for us. We dialed the phone and heard it ring! But where was it? Underneath my right rear tire! Had we gone back to search before or after it most certainly would've been run over! WHEW! Talk about luck.....
We hurried back to the venue's entranceway. "Come on people", the guy at the door exclaimed, "It's starting. No opening act"! The guy beckoning was Philly DJ Michael Tearson who'd played Asia many a time on station WMMR back in the day. We got in line with the crowd that suddenly formed and were led to our seats. Asia was already in the middle of Daylight, the opening number.
This year the group has added two songs from the new album to the set. I was particularly impressed with Extraordinary Life. Nice to hear Daylight(originally the b side to Don't Cry) as well since it's always been a favorite. Wetton also performs an acoustic version of Voice of America this year that he dedicates to Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. That one, from the third album(Astra), has also always been a fave of mine.
SET 1(7:30-8:37)
01 Intro
02 Daylight
03 Only Time Will Tell
04 Wildest Dreams
05 Never Again
06 Roundabout
07 Time Again
08 Cutting It Fine(outro only)
09 Steve Howe solo(including Clap)
10 Voice of America(acoustic)
11 The Smile Has Left Your Eyes(acoustic)
12 Ride Easy(acoustic)
13Open Your Eyes
Intermission
SET 2(8:55-9:58)
01 Fanfare For the Common Man
02 Without You
03 An Extraordinary Life
04 In The Court Of The Crimson King
05 Video Killed The Radio Star
06 The Heat Goes On (with Carl Palmer drum solo)
07 Heat Of The Moment
08 Don't Cry (full electric, not acoustic)
09 Sole Survivor
For more on the Asia reunion, read my last year's review here:
http://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/vie ... hp?t=26426