Rick Wakeman plays in Cuba
Campaign News | Thursday, 28 April 2005
Fans go wild at Havana concert
Havana April 26: Hundreds of Cuban rock fans went wild for the former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman at a concert in Havana.
Dressed in a gold-sequined cape, Wakeman and the New English Rock Ensemble played a two-hour set.
He devoted most of the concert to classic tunes from the 1970s, including songs from Journey to the Centre of the Earth and The Six Wives of Henry VIII.
The crowd roared with approval when he played Arthur - the theme song for a weekly cultural show on Cuban television called History of Cinema.
Wakeman traded the cape for a glittery purple jacket and a wizard's hat when he came down to play among the crowd, grabbing a Cuban girl to come onstage and hold his portable keyboard as he continued to play.
Asked about his first tour of Cuba, Wakeman said he hopes to return to the island to play alongside Cuban artists.
He added: "Cuba is known worldwide as one of the most musical countries in the world, so musicians want to come to it."
Though he declined to make any political remarks about communist Cuba, the rock star waved a huge Cuban flag on stage during his finale.
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