The Heat Of The Moment Tour Featuring Rock Legends Asia, Focus, Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash, Curved Air and MC’d by Artist Roger Dean - Summer 2024

Asia is absolutely delighted to announce The Heat of The Moment Tour, headlined by Asia and also featuring Focus, Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash and Curved Air and MC’d by artist Roger Dean.

The tour will commence on 3rd July 2024 and will incorporate 21 dates across the USA and Canada.

The tour has been masterminded by rock music keyboard legend and original Asia member, Geoff Downes (Buggles, Asia, Yes).

Asia was the biggest selling album of 1982, number 1 on Billboard for 9 weeks and pioneers of the MTV era! Downes’ brand new iteration of Asia first began to evolve last Summer, at the concert held in memory of late lead singer, songwriter and bassist, John Wetton (King Crimson, Roxy Music, Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, UK, Asia, John Wetton Band, Icon). Downes invited old friend John Mitchell (It Bites, Frost*, Lonely Robot, Kino, John Wetton Band, Icon) and new-comer Harry Whitley to join him on stage to celebrate Wetton’s life by performing some of the classic Asia hits. Such was the uproarious reception to their set, that Downes wondered if something magical was beginning to take shape.

“And so it was that the John Wetton tribute last August really reminded me how much Asia’s music belongs on the stage. The response to it all was literally…spine-tingling.”

Downes’ new-look Asia will once again feature Mitchell on guitars and Whitley on lead vocal and bass. The quartet will be made complete by the addition of Virgil Donati (UK, Southern Sons, Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth) on drums.

Downes continues, “With the addition of Virgil Donati & John Mitchell, two of the finest musicians in the world in their respective classes, this is almost going full circle bearing in mind their previous close collaborations with John W. Completing this circle is also the amazing Harry Whitley who absolutely floored the audience with his incredible vocal interpretation of the Asia songs that John W and I so lovingly wrote over the years.”

The tour will also feature sets from other classic acts, Focus, Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash and Curved Air. All three support acts boast their founder bandleaders and have deservedly attained the status of legend.

Focus will be releasing a brand new studio album later in 2024. Led by the indomitable Sir Thijs van Leer, featuring original 1970’s drummer Pierre Van Der Linden, plus the virtuoso talents of Menno Gootjes on guitar and Udo Pannekeet on bass.

Martin Turner was lead vocalist, bassist, founding member and creative force behind 70’s rock music behemoth Wishbone Ash, best known for such classic albums as Argus and Pilgrimage.

Formed in 1970, Curved Air are one of the founders of progressive rock and a retrospective collection of their most influential and ground-breaking material is currently in the planning stages. Sonja Kristina (vocals) and Kirby Gregory (guitar) will treat audiences to an acoustic set featuring some of the band’s most memorable musical moments. They will be joined by violinist Grzegorz Gadziomski.

Each performance on the tour will be MC’d by legendary artist Roger Dean. For so many, Dean’s artwork is synonymous with the music of the time and stands to represent the very best of British rock music.

The final word goes to Geoff Downes, “I am convinced that John (Wetton’s) spirit is with us as we set out on this new adventure. After all, it is the Year of the Dragon - just as it was in 1982, when we released our first Asia album. It’s as though it was meant to be. Looking forward to seeing you there, my friends – bring it on!”

Heat Of The Moment 2024 Tour Dates:

Wednesday, July 3: Ridgefield Playhouse, Ridgefield, CT
Thursday, July 4: Fallsview Casino, Niagara Falls, ON
Saturday, July 6: Chevalier Theatre, Medford, MA
Sunday, July 7: The Paramount, Huntingdon, NY
Tuesday, July 9: Bergen Performing Arts Center, Englewood, NJ
Wednesday, July 10: Count Basie Center, Red Bank, NJ
Friday, July 12: Tropicana Showroom, Atlantic City, NJ
Saturday, July 13: Wind Creek Event Center, Bethlehem, PA
Sunday, July 14: American Music Theatre, Lancaster, PA
Tuesday, July 16: Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, Spartanburg, SC
Wednesday, July 17: Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
Thursday, July 18: Columbia County Performing Arts Center, Evans, GA
Saturday, July 20: Hard Rock Live, Orlando, FL
Sunday, July 21: Pompano Beach Amphitheater, Pompano Beach, FL
Monday, July 22: Seminole Hard Rock, Tampa, FL
Wednesday, July 24: North Charleston PAC, North Charleston, SC
Thursday, July 25: Macon City Auditorium, Macon, GA
Friday, July 26: Saenger Theatre, Mobile, AL
Sunday, July 28: VBC Mark Smith Concert Hall, Huntsville, AL
Tuesday, July 30: The Arcada Theatre, St Charles, IL
Wednesday, July 31: The Pabst Theater, Milwaukee, WI

ASIA
Geoffrey Downes - Keyboards, Vocals
John Mitchell - Guitars, Vocals
Harry Whitley - Bass Guitar, Lead Vocal
Virgil Donati - Drums

FOCUS
Thijs van Leer - Hammond Organ, Flute, Vocals
Menno Gootjes - Guitars
Udo Pannekeet - Bass Guitar
Pierre van der Linden - Drums

MARTIN TURNER ex Wishbone Ash
Martin Turner - Bass guitar,Vocals
Danny Willson - Guitars, Vocals
Misha Nikolic - Guitars, Vocals
Sonny Flint - Drums

CURVED AIR
Sonja Kristina - Vocals
Kirby Gregory - Guitars
Grzegorz Gadziomski - Violin

For more information, please contact:
Sarah Ewing at TASK Agency, for QEDG Music Management
sarah@taskagency.co.uk

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158 (USA), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

Haight Street Art Center to Open “The Secret Path: The Art of Roger and Freyja Dean”

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: The Haight Street Art Center will open The Secret Path: The Art of Roger and Freyja Dean, an exhibition of original art works by famed UK artists Roger Dean and his daughter Freyja Dean. The Secret Path will immerse visitors in an extraordinary world where life and landscape invoke the splendors of nature through the visionary imagination of the Deans. The exhibition opens August 25 and will close October 30, 2022, before touring to other venues.

The presenting sponsors of The Secret Path: The Art of Roger and Freyja Dean are Blue Planet Alliance and Chambers Obscura.  

“To see the art of Roger and Freyja together in this unique, groundbreaking exhibition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for visitors to experience the magical environments created by this father-daughter duo,” said Kelly Harris, executive director of the Haight Street Art Center. “Both artists have universal appeal, and we are proud to be able to offer our patrons a chance to be a part of this stunning and psychedelic fantasy.”

Known for his groundbreaking work with Yes and other rock bands, Roger Dean’s six-decade career includes a dazzling range of media and formats. His daughter Freyja has followed in her father’s footsteps, earning international acclaim for her paintings, sculpture, and fabric art. With paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other media, this exhibition connects all facets of the Deans’ wide-ranging and restless imagination.  

Visitors to the Art Center will recognize famous paintings that became the artwork for some of Roger’s legendary album covers, as well as studies of his extraordinary design work including his iconic Yes logo. Curated by Roger in consultation with Freyja, the exhibition includes more than 50 works that will furnish patrons with an imaginative and immersive environment that speaks to the challenges of the present while embracing the promise of the future.   

“I am honored to help support The Secret Path coming to San Francisco and the work of the Haight Street Art Center in sharing these fantastical worlds through this remarkable exhibition,” said Brian Chambers, co-founder of Chambers Obscura. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with Roger for many years, and through him I have come to appreciate his daughter Freyja’s work as well. She has her own distinctive voice, but not only does she demonstrate how deep the creative genes are in the Dean family, her work complements his in powerful and unexpected ways.”  

“I’ve worked with Roger for 35 years and could not be more honored to support The Secret Path at the Haight Street Art Center,” said Blue Planet Alliance Founder Henk Rogers. “In all my years in publishing, I’ve never met an artist as talented and easy to work with as Roger. We’ve worked together on dozens of projects, starting with the cover and logo for the game Super Black Onyx to the Tetris logo, our biggest and most widely known collaboration, for a game that has sold 500 million copies. Roger’s art has enriched us in so many ways.”

Known as the “only member of Yes who doesn’t play an instrument,” Roger Dean is revered as an award-winning album cover artist, yet his talents go far beyond one medium: his work spans fine art to graphic design, architecture to stage sets, from small-scale drawings to stadium-sized vistas. Freyja Dean’s paintings, sculpture, and fabric art chart the relationships between landscapes and life. Her art reveals the narratives of those geographies and beings, illuminating the lessons they can teach us. Together, the art of the Deans guides viewers through a journey filled with stories. Those stories are about magic: the magic in nature, in natural phenomena and formations, in the seasons and the flow of time.

“This exhibition invites viewers to become participants,” Roger Dean notes. “We are all fellow travelers on the secret path of life. The signposts along the way are our art works, but the destination—the future—belongs to everyone.” For the Deans, this exhibition is an important step in that journey. “We must believe in a future worth striving for,” Freyja Dean explains. “For all of us, there is a secret or hidden path whose entirety we cannot see while we live it.”

The Haight Street Art Center serves San Francisco’s thriving poster art and artist communities with education and cultural development programs, and exhibitions. Drawing upon music, art, social and political counterculture history, we provide a space that bridges communities through social activism and artistic expression.

The nonprofit Haight Street Art Center is located at 215 Haight Street, at the corner of Laguna Street. The Center is open weekly on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 12-6 pm. Its outdoor Garden Gallery is open daily (7 am – 9 pm).  Admission is always free. For more information about the Haight Street Art Center, its exhibitions, events, and programs, please visit www.haightstreetart.org  

For more information:
Erin Cook, Jensen Communications
626/585-9575 (p); erin@jensencom.com  

Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com