Asia's current lineup is Geoff Downes on keys (Formerly of The Buggles, and then Yes), John Payne on bass and vocals, Chris Slade (who's played with Tom Jones, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Uriah Heep and AC/DC) on drums, and Guthrie Govan on guitar.

Asia opened with barnstorming versions of "Wildest Dreams" and "Here Comes the Feeling" from that classic 23 year old debut. Asia had the tightness and unity of purpose that BJH had lacked; this was clearly a band, not a bunch of random musos on stage. But all four of them nevertheless have amazing chops. Frontman John Payne is very much the visual focus now, and someone not knowing their history would assume that he, not Geoff Downes, was the founder member of the band. His voice is a little more gravelly than that of John Wetton, but he's nevertheless made the older songs his own. Guthrie Govan cuts a frail-looking figure on stage, but there's nothing frail about his guitar playing, some of which is just amazing. And Chris Slade drumming is just monstrous.

The set naturally drew heavily from that first album, with I think six of the eight on it songs being played. Quite a bit came from their most recent effort, "Silent Nation", which I have yet to hear. John said that they've given up on album titles beginning and ending with the letter 'A' (Asia, Alpha, Astra, Aqua etc.) because they've run out of usable words; "Angina" or "Asthma" would not have worked! In the middle of the show they played an acoustic set, with some incredible duelling flamenco licks from John and Guthrie. And Chris Slade even managed to play a drum solo which wasn't boring! The only weak spot was the semi-instrumental version of The Buggles' big hit, "Video Killed the Radio Star" in Geoff's keyboard solo. That didn't really work; if they are to include it in the set at all, perhaps they should rework it as a rock number and get John Payne to sing it.

The finished as they began, with "Only Time Will Tell", and the encore "Heat of the Moment".

Overall, Asia put on a great show, clearly well-rehearsed and professional, although still very much enjoying themselves. The fact that they only have one original member left is only an incidental detail; the current lineup has very much gelled as a band, and were firing on all cylinders. But when it comes to Barclay James Harvest, I'm afraid I can't really say the same thing. To describe them as one has-been backed by anonymous sidesmen sounds cruel, but it's pretty close to the truth. A genuine tribute band would probably have put on a better show.

Official Asia web site www.asiaworld.org
Official Barclay James Harvest site www.barclayjamesharvest.co.uk