Asia at Borders Books
By Revn Kevin
A friend of mine tipped me off to this show and I thought he was kidding. Pop rock giants Asia were going to be at Borders Books in Sherman Oaks so I had to get out and see for myself. Long time members Geoff Downes (keyboard) and John Payne (vocals/bass) have released a new album "Silent Nation" and arranged a small tour through the bookstore chain. I was kind of skeptical about an acoustic show like this but it turned out to be quite a great event.
With Payne singing and playing guitar and Downes banging the keys they put on a great show. Playing lots of the new material they interspersed the set with numerous classic Asia tunes. Downes did a great piano instrumental version of his old band the Buggles hit "Video Killed the Radio Star". New tunes included "Long Way from Home", "What About Love" and the title track "Silent Nation". Older hits played included "Heat of the Moment", "Only Time Will Tell", "Sole Survivor" and lots more.
The new CD is a great collection of tunes and the special edition includes a DVD of the making of the disc. Hopefully they'll come back on tour with a full band making a SoCal appearance. To find out more about tour plans and all things Asia related go check out their website at www.asiaworld.org. To check out all things Revn Kevin, then go to my site at www.revnkevin.com.
As seen in Rock City News