Rick Wakeman – devizine.com

Yes! Wakemans’ Journey To The Centre of Devizes!

by Andy Fawthrop

Rumours are swirling round that D-Town is about to launch a bid to be named the UK Town of Culture, and you have to think that we have to be in with a chance. Let’s face it – any competition that doesn’t use the state of the local roads as one of its yardsticks has to be worth entering….

And, as if by magic, up pops an event that, once again, proves that we’re punching above our weight. We’ve already highlighted here in Devizine some of the amazing stuff that’s coming up over the coming months that will put us in with a shout, but last night at the Corn Exchange just went to prove what we can do here in our little town if we put our mind to it.

Despite relatively little advertising of the event, over 400 people snapped up tickets to see the return of rock legend Rick Wakeman to the stage last night, in a one-off “warm-up” gig for his forthcoming US tour, this time accompanied by son Oliver. I guess it was a case of “If You Knew, You Knew”, and the event was a complete sell-out from weeks ago. The room was so packed that the sound guys had to set up shop in the hall’s kitchen area and to work their magic through the hatch. It was a bit tight in there, but we were all friends, so that didn’t matter one little bit.

The Wakemans are no strangers to this particular stage. Rick appeared here a couple of years back with his outfit KGB (another cracking night that was), and his other son Adam has twice appeared with his band Jazz Sabbath (also highly recommended). Looks like Longcroft Productions have got the inside track with the Wakeman family.

Rickman senior breezed onto the stage, belying his 76 years, and proceeded to wow the room with his first piece on the grand piano. He was shortly followed by elder son Oliver, and the two keyboard wizards then proceeded to deliver a two-hour plus show of absolutely stunning musicianship. Moving easily between the five different keyboards on stage, the two men played a wide range of pieces including both relatively recent compositions, as well a goodly smattering of block-busters from the huge back catalogue. And Rick told us that as a “warm-up” it was chance for them to experiment a little. “You’re getting more here than the Americans are going to get. You deserve it more than they do!” Cue rapturous applause.

It wasn’t just the music though. Father and son are both born raconteurs, and interspersed the items on the set list with some wonderful anecdotes. We had stories of rescue dogs, marriages and weddings, of the Wakeman parents, of encounters with unwilling pub landlords, and even of previous encounters with our local Moonrakers. Some of which might help explain why “How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?” and “Sweet Georgia Brown” made short, yet unsurprising appearances in the set-list. There was a lovely running gag about the exact date of Oliver’s birth, and how old he was at various times in the stories. And it was great to see the obvious warmth and respect between the two men.

And of course there was plenty of time across the two hours (interrupted only by what Rick referred to as “the Bladder Break”) to explore themes from their musical pasts. Both men have featured at various times in the different line-ups of Prog superstars Yes, from the 1970s onwards. So there was a mash-up arrangement named “The Yes Suite”, followed by several of Rick’s solo ventures – “The Six Wives of Henry VIII”, “Myths & Legends of King Arthur”, and the stunning “Journey To The Centre Of The Earth”. We also journeyed round some older stuff from The Strawbs and David Bowie’s “Life On Mars”.

Musically it was an absolute master-class. To say that these guys know their way around a keyboard is to massively understate just how good they were. As a night’s entertainment it was engrossing. Of course there was plenty of whooping and cheering, and a standing ovation. And of course there was a two-hander encore. Can I give it more than ten out of ten? I would if I could.

And before the Wakemans finally disappear into the night, swirling cloaks and hair about their persons, just a word about the back-room boys. You don’t get fabulous nights out like this without an enormous amount of background work and logistics. So hats off to Paul Chandler of Longcroft Productions for even daring to bring this one off show to D-Town. And here’s also to the piano suppliers, to the piano-tuner, to the sound and light guys, to Wadworth for sponsoring, to the Corn Exchange staff and to the small army of volunteers. A true team effort to bring together a really amazingly good night. Bravo to all concerned.