Attendance low, but true fans turned out

By Cathy Spaulding
Phoenix Staff Writer

July 17, 2009 12:47 am

— Tulsa resident Rack Brown already was wearing “Yes” T-shirt when he showed up for the Yes/Asia concert Thursday night at Muskogee Civic Center — still, he had to get a brand new one.
“This one’s from 1984,” he said as he scanned a sales booth before the concert. “They’re just first-rate. They’re just incredible, incredible musicianship, song writing and structure. It’s just the ultimate form of music.”
Brown, who ended up buying a new blue “Yes” shirt, was one of a small number of fans who came to enjoy the two bands, who dominated the 1970s and early 1980s progressive rock scene. The concert, which benefited the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, did not draw enough fans to fill half the seats at the arena or the arena floor. Yet, Hall of Fame promoters remained undaunted.
“Turn-out was slow,” board member and rock fan Max Boydstun said Thursday night. “But we did find out that they played Fort Worth last night and drew only 3,000 people. So, apparently the economy is tough on concert tours.”
Boydstun said Thursday’s concert, like the Doobie Brother’s benefit concert in June, helped the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame by exposing it to more people. Thursday’s concert included a drawing for a guitar signed by members of Yes and Asia.
Fans came from as far away as Lake Keystone and Fort Smith, Ark., to see the two groups. What they lacked in numbers, the audience made up with loud cheers and broad, waving applause when Asia led off with their earliest and latest hits.
First came two hits from Asia’s 1982 debut album “Wildest Dreams” and “Only Time Will Tell” with its signature rapid-fire eight-note keyboard opening. They followed with “Extraordinary Life,” a song from their latest album, “Phoenix.”
Asia members also paid tributes to bands they were in before they got together: The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star,” featuring keyboardist Geoff Downes and King Crimson’s “The Crimson King,” featuring lead singer, John Wetton.
Christy Sellers and her husband Lee Sellers of the Mannford area said they have a few of Asia’s albums, but admitted they really came to see “Yes.”
“I loved them for a long time,” Christy Sellers said, citing “Roundabout” as a favorite. “I love it, it’s such a happy song, a good song.”
Brown also cited “Roundabout” as a favorite.
“It’s just a real classic,” he said.
Justin Hurlburt of Muskogee brought his daughter to the concert. He said he was probably on his way to a soccer game or a skating rink when he heard his first “Yes” song in the 1970s.
“I think it was just that era of music,” he said.
He said his daughter previewed the music on his I-pod before coming to the concert.
Mattie Hurlburt, 8, said, “I more like Sugarland.”
Reach Cathy Spaulding at 684-2928 or cspaulding@muskogeephoenix.com

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