Keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman began his The Even Grumpier Old Rock Star 2021 Tour on Oct. 13. The keyboard wizard announced today (Oct. 20) new dates for the concerts that are being moved to 2022.
Tickets are available here. When the fall U.S. tour concludes, Wakeman will return to the U.K. for his The Not Quite as Grumpy as Last Xmas Tour. See the itinerary below.
The original tour announcement arrived ten days after Wakeman’s career in music was recognized by Queen Elizabeth II, who named him a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in her recent annual Birthday Honours.
From the original June 21 announcement: Having made his name creating prog rock extravaganzas, in his solo shows Wakeman returns to his roots with a program packed with virtuosic piano performances and hilarious anecdotes, inspired by his 50-plus-year career. Repertoire will range from his solo works and his stints with YES through to his early days as a session musician playing keyboards on such classics as David Bowie’s Life On Mars, plus surprises like his unique interpretations of Beatles’ hits and many more memorable tunes, adapted for the grand piano. The music is punctuated by riotous reflections on his life and the people he’s met along the way.
Related: Our review of Wakeman’s 2021 concert in Woodstock, NY
Wakeman’s career started as a much-in-demand session player, who performed on recordings by Bowie, Cat Stevens, Elton John, Lou Reed, Al Stewart and hundreds more artists. His big break came in 1971 when he joined YES, who went on to become the most successful prog rock band in the world, but Wakeman has also always gone his own way outside the framework of that group.
In the Seventies, he achieved chart-topping success with solo albums such as Journey to the Centre of the Earth and The Six Wives of Henry VIII, which cumulatively sold millions of copies in North America alone.
His wickedly irreverent acceptance speech when YES was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 has become legend.
Related: Our coverage of that induction, including Wakeman’s speech
That same year, he made British chart history when his Piano Portraits record became the first solo piano instrumental album to enter the U.K.’s Top 10 on release – a feat he then repeated with 2018’s Piano Odyssey.
Watch Wakeman perform in 2019
The Even Grumpier Old Rock Star 2021 Tour (Tickets are available here or via the individual venue)
Oct 13 – Natick, MA – Center For the Arts
Oct 14 – Derry, NH -Tupelo Music Hall
Oct 15 – Northampton, MA – Academy of Music
Oct 16 – New London, CT – Garde Arts Center
Oct 19 – Full River, MA – Narrows Center for the Arts
Oct 22 – Huntingdon, NY – The Paramount
Oct 24 – Alexandria, VA – The Birchmere
Oct 25 – New York, NY – City Winery
Oct 26 – Buffalo, NY – Asbury Hall
Oct 27 – Montclair, NJ – Wellmont Theatre
Oct 28 – Red Bank, NJ – The Vogel @ Count Basie Center for the Arts
Oct 29 – Collingswood, NJ – Scottish Rite Auditorium,
Oct 30 – Ridgefield, CT – Ridgefield Playhouse
Nov 01 – Woodstock, NY – Bearsville Theater
U.K. Not Quite as Grumpy as Last Xmas Tour
Nov 28 – Basingstoke – The Anvil
Dec 01 – Leicester – De Montfort Hall
Dec 03 – Bexhill – De La Warr Pavilion
Dec 04 – High Wycombe – Wycombe Swan
Dec 05 – Dorking – Dorking Halls
Dec 06 – Cambridge – Corn Exchange
Dec 09 – Birmingham – Town Hall
Dec 10 – London – Cadogan Hall
Dec 11 – Southampton – Central Hall
Dec 14 – Southend – Palace Theatre
Dec 15 – Manchester – The Bridgewater Hall
Dec 16 – Gateshead – The Sage
Dec 17 – Middlesbrough – Middlesbrough Town Hall
Dec 18 – Ediinburgh – Queen’s Hall
Dec 20 – Bradford – St. George’s Hall
Dec 21 – Hull – Hull City Hall
2022 Tour
Feb 22 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
Feb 24 – San Francisco, CA – Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
Feb 25 – Los Angeles, CA – The Theatre at Ace Hotel
Feb 26 – El Cajon, CA – Magnolia
Mar 02 – Phoenix, AZ – Celebrity Theatre
Mar 04 – Minneapolis, MN – Pantages Theatre
Mar 06 – St Louis, MO – The Sheldon
Mar 08 – Clearwater, FL – Nancy and David Bilheimer Capitol Theatre
Mar 09 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
Mar 11 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Broward Center for the Perf. Arts
Info TBA
Kent, OH – The Kent Stage
Chicago, IL – Copernicus Center Theater
Buffalo, NY
Albany, NY
Related: Links to 100s of current classic rock tours
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