Prog Rock Royalty Returns: Yes, Asia, The Moody Blues, ELP Invade America

Andy Clark – Yes
in Atlanta. Jon Davison, Billy Sherwood, Alan White, Jay Schellen (additional drummer), Geoff Downes and Steve Howe lead this summer’s “The Royal Affair” U.S. tour along with Moody Blues and ELP.

It’s been more than a half-century since the birth of ’60s British art/prog-rock swinging London, featuring groups like Yes, The Moody Blues and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, which, in the words of Yes/Asia manager Martin Darvill, quoting his late ex-client, Asia/King Crimson’s John Wetton, “took the ’50s blues influences from the American Deep South and fused it to the classical music of the European composers.”

That well-chronicled second British Invasion “influenced virtually every modern American rock band to follow,” says Darvill, and has returned to stateside sheds and amphitheaters as “The Royal Affair” tour featuring Yes, Asia, The Moody Blues’ John Lodge and Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy.

The tour’s name was the brainchild of Geoffrey Gordon, regional president of Live Nation Philadelphia, which is presenting the 28-city North American slate that began on June 12 in Bethlehem, Pa., – on what would’ve been Wetton’s 70th birthday – and ends July 28 at Mountain Winery in Saratoga, Calif.

Booked by Peter Pappalardo of Dennis Arfa’s Artist Group International, the “Royal Affair Tour” features members of two bands – Yes and Moody Blues – who were inducted into the previously anti-prog Rock and Roll Hall of Fame over the past three years. Tickets are priced as low as $20 (as part of Live Nation’s recent National Concert Week promotion), with VIP packages set at $125 for some venues, mostly in the 2,500- to 5,000-seat range.

“We wanted to make sure it was affordable to take the entire family,” says Live Nation’s Gordon.

Just last year, Yes marked its 50th anniversary with a world tour, so AGI’s Pappalardo looked for a way “to give fans a reason to see them again by doing something new… Since Steve Howe has been a member of both Yes and Asia, we wanted to put together a great touring package, and the rest of the pieces just fell into place.”

Indeed, The Royal Affair takes advantage of the groups’ rotating lineups to create a “greatest hits affair” along the lines of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, in which the individual members also sing their most well-known songs, like Yes/Asia’s Geoff Downes singing the Buggles’ MTV theme, “Video Killed the Radio Star;” UK rock veteran Arthur Brown (of The Crazy World Of fame) provides the vocals to Carl Palmer’s ELP tribute, singing his novelty smash, “Fire;” and Yes drummer Alan White, pays homage to his Plastic Ono Band roots by performing John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

“It’s a bit difficult to explain what this tour is all about until people start to see it and begin to post and share their videos on social media,” says Pappalardo. “We expect the word-of-mouth to really capture people’s attention.”

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Proving that brands can outlast bands, the current lineup of Yes includes not a single original member, with Steve Howe (1970) and Alan White (1972) the most senior members who were there during the band’s heyday. Since the death of Chris Squire, the group has added Asia’s Billy Sherwood on bass to a lineup that includes youngest member, 48-year-old Jon Davison, taking the place of Jon Anderson, while Downes, also in the current Asia lineup (with Sherwood, Palmer and former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal), is the keyboardist filling the large footsteps of Rick Wakeman and Tony Kaye (who actually joined the band during its 50th anniversary tour). Howe will play with both Yes and Asia, while Palmer will see double duty with Asia and his own band.

“I never envisioned returning to Yes or Asia, but that’s one of the things that’s so lovely about this tour,” said Steve Howe, on the phone with Pollstar from London. “It demonstrates all the connections between Yes, Asia, ELP and King Crimson.” [Greg Lake and Wetton were both in Crimson].

Indeed, “The Royal Affair” is like one of those rock family trees illustrated by UK pop historian Pete Frame come to life, with all the interconnections between the bands going back 50 years.

The tour will also double as an elegy for members who have passed away over the past few years, including Chris Squire in 2015, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake in 2016, Asia co-founder Wetton in 2017 (who will be the subject of a King Crimson/UK tribute by the band) and The Moody Blues’ Ray Thomas in January 2018.

“It’s a very small world, with plenty of respect among everybody,” says veteran manager Darvill. “And while there were rivalries, they were all mostly creative, just trying to top one another, set the bar and push the envelope. There was nothing creatively out of bounds.”

And while this all might seem like ancient history to today’s millennials and beyond, ticket sales are proving brisk among younger and female fans alike. Flush from a pair of 40,000-seat sellouts by Billy Joel and The Who on consecutive weekend nights at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, Live Nation’s Gordon waxes nostalgic.

“This tour offers a really nice evening of great hits played by wonderful musicians at a very high level of skill,” he says. “It offers a terrific journey through my record collection growing up. It’s an honor to be involved and I’m so excited to bring my 16-year-old to hear what his dad used to listen to. It’s a great way to expose a younger generation to this music.”

Darvill and Howe both understand that “The Royal Affair” tour is geared particularly to the Stateside market, mainly because the much smaller UK doesn’t have what Darvill calls “the summer barbeque circuit” of sheds and amphitheaters.

“Without multiple hit singles, we managed to infiltrate the minds of the American rock fans,” says Howe. “The thing that’s very special about your country is the scale. People recognize me all the time over there; while in the UK they tend to leave rock stars alone. I’m not a celebrity, but rather known for what I do, which gives me immense pride.”

Just don’t call this latest North American tour a victory lap. “We’ve already got plans for future years,” says Howe. “The younger guys in the band give us a fresh balance, but I’ve certainly got the energy. I still love to play guitar and I’m still playing well. Fingers crossed, we’ll be doing this for another few years because I don’t believe in farewell tours.