An evening with Rick Wakeman

James and I drove along a very cold and misty M8 on Saturday evening to see Rick Wakeman at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh. James booked it because he is a big fan of the prog rock group Yes, with whom Wakeman has played keyboards for many years, on and off. He is a classically trained pianist and has played with other groups as well as with David Bowie and Cat Stevens. So he is an extremely accomplished musician and it was an absolute pleasure to listen to him as he played the piano and the keyboards. He played a selection of his well known works and interspersed these with Christmas tunes, all from memory without written music. He is also very personable and chatted easily with the audience in between his pieces, reminiscing about his music career and telling tall tales and corny jokes about village life. The audience were all at least our age and some were considerably older; Rick received several standing ovations from these stalwart superfans and deservedly so in my opinion.

We hadn’t really known where we should have dinner beforehand, so booked a nearby restaurant called “Blonde” which was quite a find; delicious food and attentive service, we will definitely be back. 

After the concert it was time to head home through the freezing mist, which was thicker than ever at Harthill.