Tell your dads, ASIA is back together and they’re coming to the Granada Theater!
ASIA is definitely one of the original “supergroups”. Throughout most of ’82, Asia ruled the radio airwaves and MTV; sold out every date on its tour; and their self-titled LP, “Asia”, crushed all the competition at record stores around the world. Members of ASIA also played in Yes, Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, The Buggles, King Crimson, GTR, and Roxy Music. They were one of those powerhouse bands from the olden days of MTV, with band members that gained fame in the glory days of Prog-Rock, when musicians looked like wizards, and the guitar solo was the rock show’s aria. Oh, the synth arppegios… Oh, the four-part harmonies… “Cry havoc!” yells the singer in soaring falsetto. Songs were either about love, partying, or battling the gods with dark magic.
Over the next few weeks we’ll be sharing with you the legends and lore of the giant powerhouse that was ASIA, and talking about its legendary roster of musicians. So, from the top: Steve Howe.
Guitarist Steve Howe is a guitar brain surgeon, and is likely best known for his work as lead guitarist in Yes. Along with Yes and ASIA, he’s played in GTR and The Syndicats, and has released 17 solo albums. Howe plays with a special blend of classical and jazz styles, as well as pedal steel style playing. Howe joined Yes in 1970, Replacing Peter Banks, and helped form what became the essential part of the band’s early sound. The albums “Fragile” and “Close to the Edge” showed Howe’s progressive and experimental guitar playing and helped Yes take a position as the era’s leading prog-rock band. Howe was voted “Best Overall Guitarist” in Guitar Player magazine five years in a row (1977–1981) and was inducted into Guitar Player‘s ”Gallery of Greats” in 1981. The only other two guitarists to win the “Best Overall Guitarist” category for the “Gallery Of Greats” are Steve Morse and Eric Johnson. Rolling Stone Magazine has also named him one of the top 100 greatest guitarists of all time, and the Gibson guitar corperation has stated that Howe “elevated rock guitar into an art form” and “helped define a new style of music known as Art Rock”
MVP songs:
“Clap” from “The Yes Album”, a syncopated guitar solo in a Ragtime style
“Mood for a Day” from “Fragile”, a flamenco-classical guitar serenade
Steve Howe will join all of the original members of Asia live at The Granada Theater on November 16th.
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