{"id":185661,"date":"2026-04-04T20:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T20:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/185661\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T20:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T20:15:10","slug":"rick-wakeman-live-at-bergenpac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/185661\/","title":{"rendered":"Rick Wakeman LIVE! at bergenPAC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t \ufeff\ufeffBy Spotlight Central, Photos by Love Imagery <\/a>
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originally published: 04\/04\/2026<\/p>\n

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Fans of progressive rock are prepared to experience a glimpse of heaven this Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at Englewood, NJ\u2019s bergenPAC as they ready themselves for a\u00a0Wakeman and Son\u00a0concert by the legendary keyboardist and composer Rick Wakeman.<\/p>\n

Rick Wakeman was born and raised in West London. Intending to be a concert pianist, he left England\u2019s Royal College of Music in 1969 to become a full-time session musician. Wakeman\u2019s early work included playing on recordings by Cat Stevens and David Bowie. In 1970, he became a member of Strawbs, but joined Yes a year later, accompanying lead singer Jon Anderson on some of the group\u2019s most celebrated LPs including\u00a0Fragile,\u00a0Close to the Edge, and\u00a0Yessongs. Wakeman began a solo career in 1973 and his discography currently includes over 100 solo albums including his latest project, 2025\u2019s\u00a0Melancholia. In 2017, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

The lights dim and the crowd cheers as Rick Wakeman, 76, enters the stage. Taking a seat at the Steinway grand, Wakeman opens tonight\u2019s show with \u201cThe Dance of a Thousand Lights\u201d where, accompanied by a prerecorded orchestral track, he plays trills and runs up and down the keyboard as the music swells and flows on this triumphant symphonic rock piece.<\/p>\n

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The crowd cheers and Wakeman announces, \u201cBack in 1972, I was on tour with Yes in America when, on February 26th, I got a message to say that my wife had given birth to a 10-pound, 11-ounce baby boy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Here, Wakeman introduces his 54-year-old son, Oliver, who tells the audience about a song he wrote for his wife \u201cwho doesn\u2019t really like music,\u201d explaining that he created it by playing \u201cbits of music\u201d around the house which she said she liked and he included them in the piece. Rapid twinkling arpeggios on the grand piano introduce \u201cLJW,\u201d a lovely new age composition which features rolling melodic runs, rich harmonies, and eloquent expression.<\/p>\n

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Rick and Oliver talk about how they both worked with Yes before performing a medley of Yes songs entitled \u201cThe Yes Suite.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Opening with the shimmering \u201cAwaken,\u201d Rick plays keyboard before moving on to a synthesized piano version of the Yes folk-rock ballad, \u201cAnd You and I.\u201d Oliver plays grand piano on the mystical progressive rocker, \u201cThe Gift of Love,\u201d and Rick\u2019s rapid synthesizer work is featured on the symphonic \u201cWonderous Stories.\u201d To conclude the suite, Oliver renders an arpeggiated acoustic piano version of \u201cWords on a Page\u201d before father and son jam together on piano and synth on a rhythmic rendering of the 1972 Yes pop hit, \u201cRoundabout.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans hoot and holler and Rick talks about writing his extended work,\u00a0The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table,\u00a0when Oliver was three years old. Here, the pair performs a medley of two tracks from the 1975 album. Starting with \u201cThe Last Battle,\u201d Rick and Oliver play twin keyboards with emotion on this dramatic symphonic rock piece before segueing into \u201cMerlin the Magician\u201d where they perform with abandon on this rhythmically complex rocker to enthusiastic whistles, cheers, and applause.<\/p>\n

Oliver tells the story about writing \u201cA November Wedding\u201d for a friend before performing this rapid-fire solo piano composition on the Steinway.<\/p>\n

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Afterwards, Rick dedicates the pair\u2019s next medley to two people \u2014 Dave Cousins from The Strawbs and his father, Cyril Frank Wakeman, \u201ca fantastic piano player,\u201d with whom he would play duets when he was a youngster. Rick plays keys while Oliver is at the piano on the gentle Strawbs folk-rocker, \u201cA Glimpse of Heaven,\u201d and Oliver plays keys while Rick is on piano on a raucous father and son keyboard arrangement of the jazz standard, \u201cSweet Georgia Brown.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concertgoers whistle and cheer and Rick follows up with a highlight of tonight\u2019s program \u2014 a selection of excerpts from his 1973 composition,\u00a0The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Starting off with a marimba-like grand opening on the keyboard, a trilling piano sound gives way to a minor arpeggiated segment, a quick dancelike movement, and a minor-key piano\/church organ piece.<\/p>\n

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Segueing from a flowery piano sonata into a fast-moving jig, Wakeman introduces a ragtime section which leads to a royal march before descending into a rhythmic rocker. To conclude the piece, he executes minor chords which are followed by an arpeggiated waltz prior to playing an organ toccata which leads to the performance\u2019s ultimate dramatic conclusion.<\/p>\n

Concertgoers stand and cheer and father and son conclude tonight\u2019s program with excerpts from\u00a0Journey to the Centre of the Earth\u00a0where Rick and Oliver perform selections together from this 1974 orchestral rock piece.<\/p>\n

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Starting out with a gentle tune, the pair segues into a lovely folk-rock melody, and after inserting a snippet of Edvard Greig\u2019s\u00a0In the Hall of the Mountain King, they conclude with a majestic melody that inspires animated whistles, cheers, and applause as Wakeman and son exit the stage.<\/p>\n

The crowd continues to hoot and holler and Rick returns to perform a solo piano version of \u201cLife on Mars?\u201d where the melody calls out on a strong arrangement of this cinematic 1973 David Bowie classic.<\/p>\n

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Segueing into \u201cThe Jig,\u201d Rick and Oliver conclude tonight\u2019s performance on twin keyboards playing this ebullient piece which leaps and bounds as it dances along before The Wakemans bow, wave, and exit the stage together to avid cheers and applause.<\/p>\n

As concertgoers make their way out of the auditorium, several share their thoughts on tonight\u2019s performance. Comments Regina from Santa Fe, NM, \u201cI thought it was a great show! I wasn\u2019t sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed the arrangements; it\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve seen a concert like this where it was just keyboards. Rick and Oliver did a great job \u2014 they\u2019re incredibly talented \u2014 and I loved the way they sounded together. Their stories were great, too, and I enjoyed myself immensely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris from Montvale exclaims, \u201cRick and his son were incredible! I\u2019ve always loved Rick Wakeman, as well as the band, Yes. I\u2019ve seen Yes a bunch of times with Rick and I\u2019ve also seen Rick Wakeman on his own. He\u2019s an amazing musician and his son, Oliver, is incredible, as well. It\u2019s amazing how he can play his father\u2019s parts so accurately.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Insists Michael from Dumont, \u201cIt was classic! Rick is a classic performer and I have a history of seeing him when I was a kid; I go back to the \u201970s so I\u2019ve been a fan for a long time. He can\u2019t do anything wrong in my eyes, and Oliver was fantastic, too \u2014 I was looking at him and thinking about his father in his youth. It was a beautiful thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harry from Ridgefield agrees, adding, \u201cRick is a virtuoso pianist and a virtuoso performer. If you think about his early solo albums, there were no other keyboardists doing what he was doing at the time. I\u2019ve seen him solo and with Yes throughout the years and he still doesn\u2019t miss a beat; he\u2019s amazingly talented.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lastly, Lloyd from Wycoff recalls, \u201cI\u2019ve seen Rick with Yes many times and I\u2019ve seen him perform solo many times, but it was really nice having his son, Oliver, here with him tonight \u2014 it added a little spark to the show and gave Rick someone to bounce off of,\u201d prior to concluding, \u201cIt was the perfect show because, for me, everything Rick Wakeman does is perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

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To learn more about Rick Wakeman, please go to\u00a0rwcc.com<\/a>. For information on upcoming shows at bergenPAC \u2014 including Melissa Etheridge on April 10 and Audra McDonald on May 3 \u2014 please go to\u00a0bergenpac.org.<\/a><\/p>\n

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