Caped Crusader

Simply got out of bed the wrong way. Up early and decorating. Feeling irritable. A couple of days ago Lorraine opened a small box in the study, which was something to do with the phone and wifi. Since then the wifi patchy. Agreed a small freelance job for Mes Amis in Paris to start tomorrow. 

In the evening, Lorraine and I went to Seaford Station where we met Adele and Patrick, having found out over the weekend that they were going to see Rick Wakeman too.  A quick chip based snack in Brighton, and then onto the Dome. 

A funny show, Wakeman his usual jokey self. Turns out Patrick knows him too. The first half of the show, called The Return of The Caped Crusader, featured versions of Yes songs. A singer called Molly Marriot sang Jon Anderson's parts and there were a trio of supporting singers who sang backup but also a few arranged parts rather well. There was a second keyboardist, Adam Wakeman who is Rick's son, and a very accomplished keyboards player. A bit disconcerting, the songs were done well, but made me long to get back into a time Machine and see the real Yes play them in seventies as I watched the backing singers do little dances to the music. 

The second half was an unexpurgated version of Journey To The Centre of the Earth, one of his classic albums from the 70s that has not troubled my notional turntables since that decade. There was a prerecorded narration, and every time something dramatic happened there would be a big and to my current tastes tiresome synthesiser frenzy. A long encore of Heart of the Sunrise by Yes, and I thought as I left that would probably be the last time I hear a Yessong by anyone actually on the record. The bassist Lee Pomeroy very good at playing Chris Squire bits though.