Another Flashback Friday - Rick Wakeman Final Tour Review

It’s another early morning (1AM) flashback Friday as I cannot sleep after attending last nights Rick Wakeman Final Tour at the Paramount Treater, Peekskill NY.  At my age, the flashbacks and insomnia are not pharmaceutically induced but rather naturally  induced by dopamine, cortisol, and endorphins from the virtuoso performance in the acoustically excellent theater, and memories from my youth the last time I saw Wakeman with Yes in June 1979 at the Nassau Coliseum. I will not comment on whether there were chemically induced states of the mind back then.  Gone is the mid-back length golden locks, the lanky posture now stiff, and the gait now an Ozzy Osbourne like shuffle; but the fingers, the fingers, oh how they still move will lightning speed and laser precision with ability to convey the raw emotion of the complex compositions the fuse elements of rock, jazz, and classical music and, at times include comic passages.  This ability to convey emotion remains through his music as one of his finest attributes.  His whit remain razor sharp as he interacted with the audience about his career and personal life, at one point drawing analogy to his many wives and those of Henry the Eighth - Henry got to cut their heads off while he had to buy them homes and share the wealth and he stated his doctor told him to loose weight so he cut those locks and dropped 20 lbs.  The set included pieces from The Six Wives of Henry the Eighth, a tribute to David Bowie playing songs he accompanied on, Yessonata, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, John Lennon and Paul McCartney numbers he accompanied on.  The set was minimalist with none of the projected psychedelic art of past Yes concerts.  A grad piano and a two keyboard synthesizer the only instruments.  If you do not know the Paramount, it is an intimate, art deco (1930) theater with excellent acoustics.  I tend to gravitate to theaters like this now, avoiding large venues.  I always reflect on the ability of home systems, including some multi million dollar systems I have heard, in how far they are from reproducing the way the dynamics and imaging develop in an acoustically superior venue like the Paramount.   I wish Mr. Wakeman well and thank him for his extensive prog-rock catalogue and concerts that have stimulated my mind, including getting lost in William Roger Dean album art.  It was the last tour date in the US.  I hope you caught one of the series.  If you fell like, I would love to hear flashbacks you have of Wakeman and the Yes.