Rick Wakeman Plays Concert for 150 Rescued Moon Bears In Vietnam: Watch

Former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman has performed a concert for 150 rescued moon bears in Vietnam. The performance was done to raise awareness for animals caged in bile farms often in cages so small they cannot turn around or even stand on all fours. The concert was performed on a Yamaha grand piano in Animals Asia’s bear sanctuary in Tam Dao national park with some new pieces written by Wakeman specifically for the event. According to The Guardian, Wakeman said when asked whether the bears would enjoy the show, “They’ve not got much choice, really. It’s a well-known fact that all animals react to music, especially gentle melodic music. So what I am going to do is piano music that is melodic, and I can only hope that they will come up to the perimeter of the sanctuary and have a listen.” The keyboardist has been sponsoring and supporting bear rescue causes since 2016. Speaking of a bear he recently adopted, he said, “He’s only 20 months old, a big fella, I went to see him today. He came out right to the edge and stood on his back legs and just stared at me, it was brilliant.” Bile farms, which exist to extract the fluid from bears for traditional medicine, constitute the fourth big...