Last time I saw Asia I had to drive to Arkansas. This time I just drove an hour from Athens. Found VP alright, was not too hard to find a parking spot. The place was packed. I started out sitting in back.
The band started out with "Only Time Will Tell" then went into "Wildest Dreams". They sounded as good or better than before. The audience was very appreciative and energized and I think the band fed off that, because they ripped into the rest of the songs with energy and emotion. I moved down near the stage about 1/3 of the way through the show and was able to watch these awesome musicians from about 50 feet away. It was extremely loud down there though! I thought in the first half of the show the keyboards were not loud enough in the mix but this seemed to have been fixed in the second half. Geoff of course sounded great. JW has not lost a step. None of the guys have. Steve seemed to be doing a lot of different, interesting things, throwing in riffs I had not heard before in their songs. He was amazing as always. Carl Palmer really drove the band's sound with his dynamic and powerful playing. Technically he showed off his brilliance. But he was also a great showman; his drum parts -- in which he was innovative as well as Steve -- produced great dramatic effects throughout the music. His drum solo was amazing, entertaining, stunning, humorous.
Steve's intense and unpredictable playing, Carl's powerful and dramatic drums, John's accurate and emotional delivery and Geoff's sounds, the loudness of a rock band going full blast inside a small playhouse, the lyrics of songs like "Holy War" -- all this combined for an intense and moving experience. In short, they rocked that place. And the crowd knew it and responded to it. Almost no one left until the end of the show, everyone was on their feet.
Thanks guys, for a great show, hope you enjoyed your visit to Georgia, and hope you'll come again soon.