Photos by Andy Argyrakis

The future will be full of composing, recording and collaborating for piano/keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman, but this marks the final American season of solo shows, making the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center the place to be, especially if that turns out to be true.

For 90 minutes, the 75-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer defied his age on the ivories while tapping into a vast experience pool, ranging from A-list sessions (David Bowie, Elton John, Cat Stevens), finding further footing in English folk rockers the Strawbs, and of course, becoming a pivotal player in Yes during such groundbreaking periods as “Fragile” and “Close To The Edge.”

No stranger to conceptual opuses on his own, the headliner began with “Jane Seymour” and “Catherine Howard” off the ambitious “The Six Wives Of Henry VIII,” displaying an instant burst of instrumental expertise.

He turned to rock and roll come a Bowie medley of “Space Oddity” and “Life On Mars?,” then pivoted towards a progressive stretch straight out of “The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table.”

“Yessonata” mirrored a new album of the same name, which is basically an individual take on several of the group’s most beloved experiments and singles in a symphony-styled suite, linked together by improvisational passages.

Wakeman continued with a merger of “Help!” and “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles, who like many others coming up in the British Invasion era, were surely a formative influence when it came to pop sensibility, though in this instance, each was drastically but delightfully reimagined through a classical lens.

An encore of “Journey To The Centre Of The Earth” excerpts may have lacked the grandeur of an entire orchestra, yet Wakeman nonetheless made up for its absence with his top notch chops building towards the exciting conclusion.

Although he was as serious as could be when flawlessly delivering all of the above, Wakeman tapped into an increasingly regarded comedic side in between selections and could easily do stand-up on the side.

Put them both together, and it’s a personality many will miss, but hopefully another project will bring him to America again, and even if it doesn’t, at least this was as exceptional of a finale as anyone could’ve imagined.

For additional information on Rick Wakeman, visit RWCC.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center include Some Enchanted Evening (Oct. 23); Piano Men (Oct. 25); Knightwind Ensemble (Oct. 27); “The Nutcracker” (Nov. 4); SistaStrings (Nov. 22); “The Flamenco Nutcracker” (Dec. 7); Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Dec. 18) and “Twas’ A Girls Night Before Christmas: The Musical” (Dec. 21). For additional details, visit SouthMilwaukeePAC.org.

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