A quartet of musical titans assembled on Saturday night, Sept. 23, in Agoura Hills to commemorate the quarter-century anniversary of a landmark progressive-rock opus: the debut release by the supergroup known as Asia. Up close and personal for a sellout audience at the Canyon Club -Agoura, the original foursome delivered that 1981 album in its entirety, plus selections from each veteran musician’s glorious past. The show began on time at 9 p.m. and flowed briskly up to 11, with only a brief break midway through, leaving the crowd of baby-boomers and hipsters well-content with the harvest of hits and vintage nuggets that was delivered.

Singer-bassist John Wetton held the helm for the most part, with a jovial hail-fellow-well-met attitude that was aptly suited to his ruddy countenance and robust profile, contrasting amusingly with master guitarist Steve Howe’s wraithlike appearance, which was reminiscent of Christopher Lloyd’s “Doc” in the “Back to the Future” movies. Behind his coke-bottle glasses, Howe maintained a look of wide-eyed wonder and enthusiasm throughout the show, occasionally punctuating a particular riff or chord-change with an energetic, high-reaching kick. When legendary drummer, Carl Palmer took the mike for a couple of introductions, he looked and sounded as fit and frisky as a winning soccer player from industrial England. While off to the audience’s right, keyboard great Geoffrey Downes maintained the pop-star poise and confidence he’s always possessed, reigning in lush competence behind his imposing array of equipment.

Wetton was in fine vocal form throughout the show, which included a stellar rendition of the Yes classic “Roundabout.” Although Asia’s delivery was very faithful to the original, it was a pleasure to hear Howe add some tweaks here and there to his leads and fills, to keep the cut from being simply a carbon-copy cover. Howe’s mature self-control was evident at the beginning of the song, when an annoying buzz interfered briefly during the signature harmonics-laden opening, which Howe played on a specially-placed stand-held guitar while his trusty Gibson hung ’round his neck. The unwelcome static was a glitch which would have had many other musicians hopping and cursing, but Howe and the rest of the band simply soldiered through, and the audience’s approval was evident, everyone relieved that the noise didn’t ruin the rest of the song. Thankfully, no similar annoyances occurred when Howe sat down with his acoustic guitar to deliver “The Clap” to the faithful, a relic from the “Yes songs” years that’s still a crowd-pleaser, as the six-string maestro showed that he indeed knows how to “keep on pluckin’.”

“Ya wanna drum solo?” Wetton asked at one point, and the response was affirmative. True, that arena-rock staple may be a stale antique for many of today’s bands, but with a drummer of Carl Palmer’s pedigree and quality behind the skins, such a star turn would seem almost obligatory. Palmer’s session in the spotlight came during “The Heat Goes On,” and the crowd was treated to a mini-clinic in how a real percussion professional keeps the momentum and interest high while waltzing his way around the entire kit. And as an equal-opportunity counterpoint, the selection that was chosen to highlight the old Emerson, Lake and Palmer days, Aaron Copeland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” provided a tasty chance for all four players to give an alternate meaning to the term “classic rock,” for in this case the influences were truly classical, and these musicians were all abundantly able to handle the technical challenges faced when a composition transcends typical three-chord, four-four time standards.

But would you believe, in order to illuminate another corner of the band’s past, Asia chose to dredge up a certain novelty known as “Video Killed the Radio Star,” which was initially released when Geoffrey Downes was a member of the Brit-pop outfit The Buggles in the late 1970s. Downes donned a satin jacket and dark sunglasses for the number, and Wetton opened up by singing through a megaphone, much to the crowd’s amusement. Downes used a Roland VP-550 vocal and ensemble designer keyboard to expand the primary chorus phrasing, which he chose to express in a slightly less whiny voice than in the original. Happily, the whacky chestnut was well-received by the boomers in the audience, since it’s likely that many present remembered it as the very first video on MTV back in 1981, making the song as much a historical blast from the past as the first Asia album itself. Perhaps even better appreciated, though, was when the vigorous veterans executed a pristine prance through “Court of the Crimson King” to commemorate Wetton’s days in King Crimson. Why is that one heard so rarely these days on “classic rock” radio?

Staging was simple and none too flamboyant, permitting the musical virtuosity to command attention instead. A white backdrop was emblazoned with the Asia 25th Anniversary logo, lighting was kept simple for the most part, and there were no lasers or pyrotechnics. But no matter. What was witnessed in Agoura was a well-knit crew of four consummate musicians who remain at the peak of their powers, still able to stand and deliver a full issue of fine progressive rock. “Only Time Will Tell” if the band Asia will end up being the “Sole Survivor” of a bygone era, but with all four original band mates looking so happy to be together again, it wasn’t beyond anyone’s “Wildest Dreams” for those in attendance to confirm “Here Comes the Feeling,” and “Time and Time Again,” all were glad to be part of the “Heat of the Moment”!