Rick Wakeman’s current tour is very much a show of two halves, of two albums and, importantly, two capes.

Review and Photo By Oz Hardwick

Yes (pardon me), he’s dusted off the sequins again following last year’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth tour, to showcase the albums which bracketed that 1974 milestone release.

First off, then, it’s The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Released when Wakeman was 23 years old, it’s a suite that was designed to show off the keyboard whizz’s flash and dazzle, at a time when flash and dazzle was everything.

Riding the crest of Yes’s international breakthrough with Fragile and Close to the Edge, the intricate and demanding work is the sound of a young man with the world at his fingertips, showing off. The gentleman in the red and gold stage here is less Caped Crusader, and more Hogwarts music master, serious-faced, glasses perched on nose, and gold and scarlet cape hanging from his shoulders like a forgetful academic.

For all this, though, the salvos of notes are as fresh as they were when most of the packed Barbican were still at school. The triumphant Moog figure at the close of Catherine Parr is as follicle-tickling as it ever was, and the unlikely juxtaposition of romance and slapstick in Catherine Howard still sets the head spinning.

Aside from the sparkling sequins, there’s little to see, but a man intent on the complexities of the music. Consequently, it’s up to the latest iteration of the English Rock Ensemble to provide the visuals.

On one side of the stage, bassist Lee Pomeroy and drummer Adam Faulkner are in constant motion and clearly enjoying riding with the material’s challenges. Indeed, their interlocking precision is a marvel throughout.

On the other side of the stage, “The Progettes” dance and add percussion between vocal contributions which swing delightfully between church choir and the Andrews Sisters in their gorgeous arrangements. Guitarist Dave Colquhoun and Adam Wakeman on his own bank of keyboards have less of a visual presence, but their musical welly is very much in evidence.

The hard-livin’ rock’n’roll lifestyle has never been known for its health benefits, but then nor has being a perfectionist workaholic. Wakeman’s early career may be considered as an experiment to see the effects on the human body of combining the two. Consequently, the initial composition of The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table took place in his hospital bed, following a heart attack shortly after Journey entered the charts at Number 1.

King Arthur is more of a band album than a solo showcase, and the second half of the show is more of a rock gig than an electric conservatoire performance. The line-up’s joined by Jesse Smith on vocals, guitar, percussion, hair and cheekbones, whose presence is theatrical and whose voice is, I’d say, the strongest to have graced the English Rock Ensemble in their 50-year existence.

Wakeman’s now in a fetching purple number, which is part camp cardinal, part pro wrestler, and he’s smiling, interacting with the band more as everyone gets to show off together. The lyrics were never great, but Smith delivers them with drama, conviction, and a knowing wink, and Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight crackles with energy.

The Last Battle brings the set to a stirring finale, but those who know the albums – and I think it’s fair to say that pretty much everyone here tonight knows the albums – will have spotted an omission. “This is Merlin the Magician,” says Wakeman, introducing the encore, but it’s a bit different from the album version … there are more wrong notes, for one thing.”

It’s an extended work-out around the fan favourite, with everyone getting a solo, Adam Wakeman out in the audience with his keytar, much trading of twiddly licks and, finally, the three backing singers forming a frieze-like human keyboard stand!

There may not be hobby-horse jousting on ice these days, but prog rock is still quite preposterous, but also thrillingly imaginative and clever. Arguably, this show is a two-hour demonstration of why punk had to happen – but it’s equally a two-hour demonstration of why this kind of music can still fill halls, half a century after its death knell has been sounded.

Rick Wakeman played at York Barbican on Tuesday 14 October 2025.