"Two Sides of the Moon!" Very nice. Those first three Asia albums with Payne have some really good songs on them. Bought Arena in the import section of Tower Records IIRC. Saw Payne and Downed probably in 2003/2004 perform this song when they did a tour of very small venues in the US.
I saw them in Norfolk on the AQUA tour, and I don’t think I’ve written about it since I reviewed the show, but it was…something. Definitely the lowest attended show I’d ever been to at the Boathouse, which made the handful of rabid Asia fans in attendance seem all the more ridiculous. I mean, we’re talking maybe a few dozen people, and yet a couple of them actually had signs they were holding up that said things like, “Norfolk Welcomes Asia.” And Steve Howe was there, but he was billed as a “special guest,” so he only came out at a certain point in the show, and he only stayed for a few songs. I presume he probably came back on for the encore, but I honestly don’t remember. As someone who legit loves Asia, I hate that I remember the ridiculousness of the situation rather than the actual music, but what can you do? But for what it’s worth, I also saw them at a show at the oceanfront before that, and it was a good show, although in the Virginia Beach humidity, Payne looked a bit ridiculous with his trademark top hat…
The early 90s were a strange time for 80s bands — they really couldn’t get arrested! The nostalgia for that time period hadn’t kicked in yet so lots of bands like Asia seemed to cobble together club tours at very small venues and promo would be hit or miss. Regardless, awesome that you saw them! Really good stuff on Aqua. That’s by far my favorite of the Payne-era albums.
Nice Colin Meloy cover! We're minutes away from hopping a bus downtown to see the Decemberists for the first time, so that was a nice coincidence to see in my inbox.
Awesome! They put on a good show. I’ve never actually interviewed him, but he shared my Robyn Hitchcock interview for the AV Club once upon a time, so at least I know he’s aware of my work.
Very cool! They put on a terrific show here, their first time in Halifax. He joked that doing songs about mining and whaling in Nova Scotia was "maybe a little too on-the-nose."
"Two Sides of the Moon!" Very nice. Those first three Asia albums with Payne have some really good songs on them. Bought Arena in the import section of Tower Records IIRC. Saw Payne and Downed probably in 2003/2004 perform this song when they did a tour of very small venues in the US.
I saw them in Norfolk on the AQUA tour, and I don’t think I’ve written about it since I reviewed the show, but it was…something. Definitely the lowest attended show I’d ever been to at the Boathouse, which made the handful of rabid Asia fans in attendance seem all the more ridiculous. I mean, we’re talking maybe a few dozen people, and yet a couple of them actually had signs they were holding up that said things like, “Norfolk Welcomes Asia.” And Steve Howe was there, but he was billed as a “special guest,” so he only came out at a certain point in the show, and he only stayed for a few songs. I presume he probably came back on for the encore, but I honestly don’t remember. As someone who legit loves Asia, I hate that I remember the ridiculousness of the situation rather than the actual music, but what can you do? But for what it’s worth, I also saw them at a show at the oceanfront before that, and it was a good show, although in the Virginia Beach humidity, Payne looked a bit ridiculous with his trademark top hat…
The early 90s were a strange time for 80s bands — they really couldn’t get arrested! The nostalgia for that time period hadn’t kicked in yet so lots of bands like Asia seemed to cobble together club tours at very small venues and promo would be hit or miss. Regardless, awesome that you saw them! Really good stuff on Aqua. That’s by far my favorite of the Payne-era albums.
Nice Colin Meloy cover! We're minutes away from hopping a bus downtown to see the Decemberists for the first time, so that was a nice coincidence to see in my inbox.
Awesome! They put on a good show. I’ve never actually interviewed him, but he shared my Robyn Hitchcock interview for the AV Club once upon a time, so at least I know he’s aware of my work.
Very cool! They put on a terrific show here, their first time in Halifax. He joked that doing songs about mining and whaling in Nova Scotia was "maybe a little too on-the-nose."