Well, after having seen them last night in Glasgow, I’m pleased to report (to TA and any others who may be interested) that Yes are alive and well, even without Chris Squire and Jon Anderson. They kicked off their latest tour yesterday and it includes all the songs from Fragile and Drama (in their correct album order) plus some surprises (no spoilers!). Drama sounded fantastic (it’s where I came in to Yes music) and although Fragile isn’t my favourite Yes album (too much solo filler IMO), I now appreciate it more for having heard it live.
It must be said that Steve Howe and Alan White (who inexplicably wore a ‘pork pie’ hat throughout) are looking quite elderly now but they can both play as well as ever. Geoff Downes was surrounded by 9 keyboards and a set of Moog Taurus bass pedals and he comfortably handled both his own keyboard parts from Drama and the challenging Wakeman parts on Fragile. Jon Davidson sounds impressively like ‘the other Jon’ (and I actually find him less irritating to watch than JA!).
However, the star of the night for me was Billy Sherwood. OK, I’ve long been a fan of his work and thought that if anyone could step into Chris Squire’s (rather large - in every sense) boots, it would be him. What I didn’t know is how the traditionalist Yes fans would take to him – after all, Chris was the only person to have been in every line-up of the band. In short, he totally nailed it, both in terms of the sound and the complex basslines. If anything, Billy has revived the band a bit, as the last time I saw them, it felt a little bit like some old men just playing the same old stuff without much passion. Tracks like Does It Really Happen?, Into the Lens, Tempus Fugit, Long Distance Runaround, and Heart of the Sunrise really showed just how good he is and his bass solo in The Fish earned him a standing ovation. Now that’s fan acceptance!
There were a couple of minor hiccups, as you’d expect on a first night, such as Billy being given a fretless bass a song too early, but, much to my surprise, I actually enjoyed last night’s gig the most of any Yes gig I’ve been to (although being 5 rows from the front helped).
In summary, if you are going to any of the forthcoming shows, the band's music is in safe hands and you should have a great time!
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I must have seen a different band then...) to whether it’ll be 5 albums and out - or not.
