John Wetton – Live Via Satellite  
Primary Purpose
http://johnwetton.com/

Rating: B

John Wetton had his most commercial success as the lead vocalist and bassist for the band Asia.  He has also spent time in King Crimson, Uriah Heep, played on other artists releases like Bryan Ferry and Phil Manzanera, and co-founded UK. (If you don’t have the Night After Night disc by UK, stop reading now and log on to eBay...) John’s biggest payday by far, however, was Asia’s debut album in 1982, Billboards #1 album that year.

As a solo artist, John is always happy to do things differently.  This time around he traded his bass for an acoustic and gave two wonderful performances of his most loved songs.

Live Via Satellite is an interesting look at his solo career.  The first disc comes from a concert in Sweden from 1998.  The concert has never been released, as the tapes, until recently, thought lost to a fire. A duplicate of the master tapes was actually found by Wetton’s fans!

The second disc comes from Wetton’s acoustic solo concert for XM Radio.  It was originally for sale via his website, but this marks the first time the concert has received a commercial release.

Wetton comments on the double-disc release that has been released via his own record label, Primary Purpose.   'Both of these shows are from the same time period, but come from very different sources. The first, a Circus tent-like venue in a funfair in Stockholm: the second, a state-of-the-art facility in Washington DC, so the repertoire is similar, but venues could not be more different. Recording production is superb on both, it's a document of a slice of my life.'

This is a nice and peaceful evening of music—actually two evenings of music.  Asia fans will enjoy the acoustic versions of “Heat of the Moment,” “Sole Survivor” and “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes” but each song comes across with passion and emotion, two of Wetton’s trademarks.

Turn the lights down and the iPod up….

Track Listing:

DISC ONE
1.       THE CIRCLE OF ST. GILES
2.       HEAT OF THE MOMENT
3.       BOOK OF SATURDAY
4.       BATTLE LINES
5.       ARKANGEL
6.       THE SMILE HAS LEFT YOUR EYES
7.       EASY MONEY
8.       EMMA
9.       30 YEARS
10.     HOLD ME NOW
11.     RENDEZVOUS 6:02
12.     THE NIGHT WATCH
13.     YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY ONE
14.     STARLESS

DISC TWO
1.       INTRODUCTION
2.       THE CIRCLE OF ST GILES
3.       HEAT OF THE MOMENT
4.       MONDRAGO / BOOK OF SATURDAY
5.       THE SMILE HAS LEFT YOUR EYES
6.       30 YEARS
7.       HOLD ME NOW
8.       ARKANGEL
9.       EMMA
10.     SOLE SURVIVOR
11.     RENDEZVOUS 6:02
12.     THE WATER IS WIDE
13.     STARLESS
14.     BATTLE LINES
15.     THE CELTIC CROSS

Jeb  “Heat of the Moment” Wright