AMERICA: LIVE IN THE USA (DVD)

My version of this DVD is released by a company called VEO Star and is simply called Asia In Concert. It features the very same 14 tracks as listed above, albeit presented in a different running order and sports the same line up featuring Geoff Downes, John Payne, Guthrie Govan and Chris Slade, so I'm pretty sure it is the same concert.

I have mixed feelings about this product. On the down side, it has the cheapest looking packaging I have ever seen and there are annoying glitches between the songs! The front cover looks particularly cheap and features a black and white photograph of the original line up featuring Steve Howe, John Wetton and Carl Palmer! These three are, of course, nowhere to be found on this DVD. If you buy this with such expectations you will probably be very disappointed. This is obviously extremely misleading, especially since there is no information on the box at all about which line up is involved! I, on the other hand, knew what to expect. But for those not already into the band, this is just confusing. The DVD menu also looks rather home made.

On the up side, the set list is rather good, as is the performance and the sound quality is very good which is surprising given how bad everything else about the presentation is.

The band was captured here on the tour in support of Aura. This is an album I don't like at all, but the three tracks from that album played here are all improvements over their studio counterparts. This is especially true of Free. Most other Asia albums are represented in the set list with Only Time Will Tell, Sole Survivor (misspelled on the box as 'Soul Survivor'!), and Heat Of The Moment (of course!) from the debut, The Heat Goes On and Don't Cry from Alpha, Go from Astra, Military Man from Aria, and the title track from Arena. Everything is competently performed. Military Man and the new song Ready To Go Home are particularly passionate and features some footage on top of the concert film that does not distract too much.

The Fusion instrumental Bad Asteroid has an improvisational character and is quite excellent! Govan sure knows how to play the guitar! The band gets a standing ovation after this one.

I'm sure that with the master tapes from this show it would have been possible to make a much better final product. But this is what it is and I'm prepared to overlook the presentational mistakes and give this DVD three stars for the actual music which is performed with energy and passion.

The box promises a behind the scenes feature, but apparently they just mean the credits!

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