Frontiers Music [Release date : 13.03.26]
Set in the heart of the East Sussex countryside, at night the Trading Boundaries Café transforms into an award winning live music venue, hosting concerts from world class artists in an intimate setting.
Not exactly the O2 Arena, but certainly, Asia is one of those “world class artists”.
Over three nights they wowed a lucky audience, performing their first three best selling albums. Beginning with iconic 1982 debut album, Asia, in full, along with a selection of their greatest hits.
The band’s music had been erected on a solid Progrock foundation. Geoff Downes (Yes/Buggles), John Wetton (King Crimson), Steve Howe (Yes) and Carl Palmer (ELP) collaborated on a batch of dramatic songs that had their roots in Prog, but owed as much to the user friendly sounds emanating from US FM radio frequencies of the time.
Apocraphyl you might think, but the story is that the band needed another song to complete the album.
Geoff Downes had the verse, John Wetton had the chorus, and together they wrote a middle eight. A day later, ‘Heat Of The Moment’ was down on tape.
And producer Mike (Journey/Queen/Foreigner) Stone did what he does best, building up a declamatory verse on the dramatic, sinuous chorus.
An immortal rock song was born.
The 2026 version of Asia still has Geoff Downes at the helm. He’s joined by John Mitchell (Arena/It Bites) on guitar; Virgil Donatti (too many to mention) on drums, and relative unknown, Harry Whitley on bass and vocals.
The emergence of the new band’s Prog/AOR style, so majestic, so fully formed musically, in the image of Asia’ past glories, shouldn’t have been a surprise.
The subtlety and the strength of material like the elegant ‘Only Time Will Tell’ and ‘Here Comes The Feeling’ allow vocalist Whitley to fit right in, getting close to Wetton’s booming baritone at times.
And while on the surface these songs and others may seem like an upbeat collection of commercialised Prog, others like ‘Sole Survivor’ and ‘Time Again’ remind us that this is a more complex collection of songs than we’d maybe first remembered. ***
Review by Brian McGowan
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,
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Power Plays w/c 2 March 2026
DODGY – It’s Not The End (Flip Flop Records)
THE SKBs – Hour Glass (indie)
LAKE – Boy On A Mission (indie)
KING FALCON Holding Out (indie)
HOKKA Heart Said No (Nuclear Blast Records)
STARBENDERS The Beast Goes On (Sumerian Records)
EDDIE AND THE WOLVES See Me Fall (indie)
Featured Albums w/c 2 March 2026
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)
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