ASIA, one of the greatest and best-loved supergroups to emerge during the 1980s, will embark on an extensive U.S. tour in March 2023 to promote the 40th anniversary of its multi-platinum debut album and the new “Asia In Asia” box set. The tour, which had originally been set for August 2022 as a co-bill with THE ALAN PARSONS LIVE PROJECT, has been rescheduled for early 2023 to accommodate a medical procedure needed by Parsons. Dates will be announced shortly.
Featuring founding members Carl Palmer (drums, percussion),Geoff Downes (keyboards, backing vocals),along with Billy Sherwood (bass, backing vocals) and newest member, guitarist and lead vocalist Marc Bonilla, this will be the ASIA‘s first tour since 2019.
“We were hoping to be out this August. However, moving the tour to early next year so we can remain on a co-bill with THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT will be well worth it,” said Palmer. “I am so thrilled that ASIA has finally been able to return to performing after three years off the road due to the pandemic. We have much to celebrate.”
Added Downes: “ASIA has been through a lot during these last four decades, but the music has always endured. The fans have never left us, nor we them. This tour will be historic.”
In addition to its 40th anniversary, ASIA will be promoting the release of “Asia In Asia – Live At The Budokan, Tokyo, 1983”, a deluxe box set containing 2LP, 2xCD, 40-page 12″ book, Blu-ray video, memorabilia and more, out now on BMG. Also available are a 2LP gatefold, 1CD and digital format.
In December, the multi-platinum-selling English supergroup released its most ambitious collection to date: a 10-CD boxset “The Official Live Bootlegs Volume 1”. Issued through BMG on December 3, the expansive set chronicles five complete performances of the original lineup captured between 1982 and 2010. The collection celebrates the huge appeal of the concert tours that followed ASIA‘s first two albums in 1982 and 1983. The success continued following ASIA‘s 25th-anniversary reunion in 2006 and three more highly acclaimed albums. The slipcase boxset features 5 x 2CD concerts from 1982 (Buffalo, NY, USA),1983 (Worcester, MA, USA),2007 (São Paulo, Brazil),2008 (Tokyo, Japan) and 2010 (London, UK). The bootleg collection follows a previous 5 CD box set of studio recordings released in April, 2021.
Downes, Steve Howe (YES, guitars),Palmer and John Wetton (KING CRIMSON, UK, bass/vocals),took the world by storm with ASIA‘s eponymous debut album, globally the biggest-selling album of 1982, and the single “Heat Of The Moment”. ASIA was a true “supergroup”, pooling the talents of its four members who had already amassed tens of millions of record sales with their collective bands of the 1970s. Leaving behind their progressive roots, ASIA embraced the commercial FM rock sound that dominated U.S. airwaves and took that, and the new MTV video channel, by storm. The single “Heat Of The Moment” was a worldwide monster smash and their eponymous 1982 debut album spent an incredible nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard chart as ASIA became the biggest-selling album of the year and world tour dates sold out.
A second album, “Alpha”, was released in 1983, followed by “Astra” in 1985. The four original members reconvened in 2006 for a world tour, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of that incredible success, and the album “Phoenix” followed. While the members were still heavily involved in other projects, they came together again to record “Omega” in 2010 and “XXX” in 2012, both albums were acclaimed by their faithful fans and supported by more world tours. Howe stepped back from ASIA to concentrate on his work with YES and was absent for 2014’s “Gravitas”. Following this tour came the news of Wetton‘s treatment for cancer, a fight he sadly lost in 2017. ASIA was special guest of JOURNEY for an extensive U.S. tour in 2017, and in 2019 the band hit the road with YES for the “Royal Affair” tour.
Source: www.blabbermouth.net
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