An August 2023 night of music to pay tribute to a man who lived an “extraordinary life” has sparked a 2024 U.S. summer tour that lands in Evans July 18.
“We’d been talking about it for quite a few years, but this was the first time we actually got the opportunity to do it,” said Geoff Downes during a recent Zoom interview. Along with the late John Wetton, Downes was part of the group Asia in the early 1980s.
Wetton died in 2017 from cancer, and his biography “Extraordinary Life” was released last year. On Aug. 3, 2023, Downes gathered musicians to bring back songs he and Wetton had written and play them for a charity concert. Among the songs the duo collaborated on are “Heat of the Moment,” “Sole Survivor,” “Wildest Dreams” and “Only Time Will Tell.”
The night was magical.
“The response was so fantastic,” he said. “To see the looks on people’s faces as they heard those songs really spurred me on. We might be able to get more mileage out of this. People were pushing me to go to take this on the road.”
Downes was born with music coursing through his veins. His father was an organist and choir master in Stockport, England. Downes joined She’s French, his first band, while in college in Leeds in 1974.
Two years later, he met Trevor Horn and the two of them would make music history for a song they recorded as the Buggles. Their one-hit wonder “Video Killed The Radio Star” was the first music video played on MTV at 12:01 a.m., Aug. 1, 1981.
“It was actually something of an afterthought. The video had been out two years before,” Downes said. “It was picked up by MTV purely by chance. We didn’t do anything in particular.”
The Buggles had made it to the top 10 in several countries including Canada, Germany, New Zealand and South Africa with the song but only reached number 40 in the U.S.
Downes said the song might be on the set list for July 18.
After the Buggles, Downes joined with Wetton, Steve Howe and Carl Palmer to form the supergroup, Asia. In 1982, the band released the album “Heat of the Moment,” and its title song was the first release.
“That album was a backdrop of many people’s lives. It was a summer release. A lot of the college kids were into it. It was a significant part of people’s lives. That’s the reason I like to take the music out there again. There’s a lot of recognition there. People can remember what they were doing at the time,” he said.
And Asia holds a special place in Downes’ heart.
“Asia is part of me, part of my DNA. It was the first real band — proper group — and it’s always been dear to me. And I have the opportunity to take this out and play a lot of songs I wrote with the great John Wetton,” he said.
Downes, who has been the keyboardist for Yes for many years, believes the timing for the tour is significant for another reason. The year Asia launched was a Year of the Dragon – just like 2024.
Joining Downes to round out the new-look Asia will be John Mitchell on guitars, Harold Whitley on lead vocal and bass and Virgil Donati (UK, Southern Sons, Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth) on drums.
he tour will also feature sets from other classic acts, Focus, Martin Turner who was one of the founders of Wishbone Ash, as well as Curved Air.
“It’s really a nice bill. All the bands are from slightly different eras and genres,” he said.
The Heat Of The Moment Tour will be at 7 p.m. July 18 at the Columbia County Performing Arts Center. Tickets range from $39.50-$99.50 and are available at thecenterofcc.com.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years and is a Georgia Press Association award winner. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
