Footage here of the current version of Yes, in Glasgow on Wednesday night. But click through to the YouTube page and read the comments:
"This seems like an unintended pub tribute band playing at a uni refectory at times"
"I think that Yes should call it a day, this is very sad and empty. This is no longer Yes"
"Steve, please stop. Thank you"
"Sherwood does a decent job, but the rest of the tribute act - jeez"
"I just sold my ticket as I've seen the awful shows on you tube, bullet dodged "
" Doesn't sound very good does it"
To call this Yes is a travesty, I'm sorry to say. It's Steve Howe's tribute to Yes at most. It's no more Yes than Steve Hackett's band is Genesis. But more importantly than that, they're poor.
At least Steve Hackett isn't trading under the name of Genesis and what he does do he does very well indeed.
I never got to see Yes when they were properly in the affirmative and now they are a definite no.
Never saw them with Anderson but at least caught them when Chris Squire, Alan White and Steve Howe were still there.
Did they get a bigger changing room than the puppets?
Saw the 90125 lineup so this will be the first time to see Howe.
I saw Hackett a couple of years back and he was brilliant. I fear the concert next week in the same venue won't be as good
Those Youtube comments strike me as very ungenerous, based as they are on footage shot on a phone and probably played through another.
And they stand in stark contrast to the audience reaction at the end of clip.
I saw them in Manchester from the second row two nights after that Glasgow show. Their performance was masterful. Yet, as an entity Yes, it's fair to say, is not what it was - everyone knows that.
But still, while they have personnel that directly links the band to the glory days, and while they continue to record half-decent new material and play shows with a fair share of the classic stuff, they will - as miraculous as it seems - always be able to top-up the reservoirs of goodwill that gets them by.
In 2003 I was lucky enough to attend Yes's show during the Summer Pops gigs at King's Dock, Liverpool. From the fourth row, I saw the lineup of Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White give a performance that I later realised would never be touched by any permutation of subsequent Yes lineups.
So, I suppose it depends where an individual's threshold lies and what his or her demands and expectations of "Yes" are.
For me, the fact that nowadays I ensure I watch from Howe's side of the stage probably gives a clue where my line is.
Fist saw them live as ABWH in 1989 for 2 both nights at the Edinburgh Playhouse, fantastic shows !!
Last saw them on the 35th Anniversary Tour at the SECC, still excellent live back then !!
Don't think I could go and see them without Anderson singing.
I love Drama (the album, not being deliberately controversial 😉) and would have been delighted to have seen Yes when it was fronted by Trevor Horn.
Only saw them the once, on the Union Tour (so I got several versions of the band all at the same time!) and really enjoyed it but, you'll gather from that I'm not the biggest fan. Have seen several comments from last nights show at the RAH which were all very positive? Not for me though.
As far as Hackett goes he's very honest about his approach re Genesis and undoubtedly delivers exactly what it says on the tin, plus plenty of his own stuff of course. Terrific live and will be seeing him later in the year for the upteenth time down in Hastings.
Since this is a general purpose Yes thread, here's my own, personal and subjective guide to the important Yes albums.
The Yes Album
Close To The Edge
Going For The One
That's it!
I'm sure some fun can be had out of the other ones. I like quirky / avant garde music and I like jazz, but despite this I don't like Relayer. Although oddly, I did once.
Drama must have something going for it as a lot of people like it, but not me.
Fragile is the Yes A Farewell To Kings, a clunker between two masterpieces.
There are some nice bits on Topographic Oceans and with a bit of will power, discipline and judicious editing, it could have made a decent single album.
90125 is eminently listenable mostly, although I haven't for years. But it's a very different proposition.
Tormato was a massive disappointment to me. It's like the soundtrack of the New Wave sweeping away the past, and making it irrelevant. It's the sound of a band becoming middle-aged and flaccid overnight. It's got none of the art, the grace, the drama of the best of what came before it.
You've got that about right, IMHO
Yes not far off my take too. I do like the group pieces on Fragile though. Roundabout, Long Distant Runaround, Heart of the Sunrise and South Side of the Sky are worthy of Yes at their finest.
I bought Yesterdays a long time ago and that was a great compilation of their first 2 albums with a cover of Simon and Garfunkel's America thrown in. Well worth a listen.
Tormato was the nadir for me. I'm not a big fan of Relayer or Tales but at least you could see they were being inventive and creative. Tormato was Yes by numbers, almost a parody of the real thing.
I saw Yes once. That was enough. That isn't a joke. I did see them once (in Liverpool) - in the late 90's, or possibly early 00's. Whenever they were touring The Ladder.
I was bored after about half an hour.
Having said that, Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe (surely Yes in all but name?) remains to this day one of my favourite albums.
Some Yes I like, a lot I don't. Whilst I've always loved Geddy Lee's high-pitched singing I've never quite got to grips with Jon Anderson's. Weird that. I'd say Relayer is probably my favourite of theirs.
i love 90125 and large parts of Talk
"traditional" Yes leaves me cold though
Quote from: Red Lenses on June 22, 2022, 12:06:24 PMDon't think I could go and see them without Anderson singing.
I was absolutely dead against seeing Yes when it was clear Jon Anderson's time with them was done.
But a few years ago, when they announced they were playing most of Topographic Oceans in sequence, I succumbed to curiosity and gave them a chance (Manchester's excellent Bridgewater Hall was an influencing factor); despite myself, I was extremely impressed. And two-plus hours of watching Steve Howe play anything will always be a draw for me.
I'm not a guitarist, which is probably why I've never got the admiration for Steve Howe. He doesn't seem that 'fluid' to me and spends a lot of time imitating the sound of an aviary :-\
He's a blindingly capable and accomplished player and has been since he was in his early 20s, but - he does overplay, especially when he plays lead.
I couldn't fault him up until Tormato or so but from that point he seems to develop a very wiry, diaorrhetic style delivered with a starkly thin tone that isn't really to my taste.
His playing on The Yes Album though is flawless and peerless - there's nothing else like it in the entire rock music canon.
The Yes Album is a fantastic show case of his work, as is Going For the One. Really love his playing on Into The Lens from the Drama album. Until I saw this video, I didn't realise he was using 3 different instruments to get the sound. Not sure if that's more or less impressive...
He's an extremely versatile player - a Jack of all trades and master of some.
There's no doubt the early, classic Yes albums contain his best work - all that will always be extraordinary.
He's a significantly different player from our Alex, though for me they do have a similar ability to "think outside the box" and produce a lot of really great stuff that's kind of off-grid and non-intuitive; things that on paper shouldn't "fit", but somehow do perfectly.
Quote from: Jonners on June 23, 2022, 10:55:50 AMi love 90125 and large parts of Talk
"traditional" Yes leaves me cold though
That's exactly where I stand. I just don't get 'traditional' Yes
Quote from: pdw1 on June 23, 2022, 06:57:57 PMQuote from: Jonners on June 23, 2022, 10:55:50 AMi love 90125 and large parts of Talk
"traditional" Yes leaves me cold though
That's exactly where I stand. I just don't get 'traditional' Yes
Love them both. Thing is, the Rabin albums were really just that - Rabin albums. That's when Yes turned into the equivalent of, say, Hilton hotels (stay with me): franchises that might display the Hilton logo prominently on the outside, but once you go through the revolving door, you find they're independently run and not truly Hilton hotels in essence.
Quote from: Jonners on June 23, 2022, 10:55:50 AMi love 90125 and large parts of Talk
"traditional" Yes leaves me cold though
yes west is fantastic
Quote from: Matt2112 on June 23, 2022, 10:32:02 PMQuote from: pdw1 on June 23, 2022, 06:57:57 PMQuote from: Jonners on June 23, 2022, 10:55:50 AMi love 90125 and large parts of Talk
"traditional" Yes leaves me cold though
That's exactly where I stand. I just don't get 'traditional' Yes
Love them both. Thing is, the Rabin albums were really just that - Rabin albums. That's when Yes turned into the equivalent of, say, Hilton hotels (stay with me): franchises that might display the Hilton logo prominently on the outside, but once you go through the revolving door, you find they're independently run and not truly Hilton hotels in essence.
Rabin's yes are very different. I saw the ARW tour and Rabin was great.
Rabin's - Can't look away is a very good rock album.
Quote from: Rufus_the_dawg on June 24, 2022, 10:39:23 PMRabin's - Can't look away is a very good rock album.
Can't Look Away is saturated with keyboards. Wolf is Rabin's 'rock' album
Can't Look Away is an utterly sublime album.
Thanks for the tip, I'll have a listen
Quote from: Slim on June 25, 2022, 10:24:56 AMThanks for the tip, I'll have a listen
Not for me, that one.
The Roger Dean ' opening act' has cancelled due to illness for tomorrow's Dublin gig. Will I be missing much for anyone that went?
Quote from: dom on June 27, 2022, 05:23:15 PMThe Roger Dean ' opening act' has cancelled due to illness for tomorrow's Dublin gig. Will I be missing much for anyone that went?
I didn't see it; think it's just a 20-minute talk.
Quote from: dom on June 27, 2022, 05:23:15 PMThe Roger Dean ' opening act' has cancelled due to illness for tomorrow's Dublin gig. Will I be missing much for anyone that went?
He's no Bon Scott with a microphone, you'll not be too surprised to hear 😁
You should still be able to see his exhibition at the venue, I reckon 👍
As a fan of all eras of the band (although Heaven and Earth is a turkey), I really enjoyed the gig at the Liverpool Phil last Monday
I was originally gutted that Relayer wasn't being played as per my original ticket purchase, but there were enough interesting choices in the first set plus an excellent rendition of CttE to keep me happy
The pedal steel climax at the end of 'And You and I' remains one of rock music's premier spine-tingling moments 👌
I thought the whole band were on fine form but a bit of a shout-out for Billy Sherwood, his bass playing was exceptional and worthy of big Chris himself 👏
I believe the Relayer gigs are scheduled for next year.
Really enjoyed the gig last night. Steve seemed grumpy at times, gesticulating to the crew and even the audience every now and again but his playing is faultless. Amazing to think he's 75. He certainly looks it but if you close your eyes you'd have no idea.
Howe's grumpiness was in complete contrast to stand in drummer Jay Schellen's joy. His face was lit up throughout and he seemed to be having an absolute ball.
I thought Downes' keyboard setup was slightly odd meaning that a lot of the time he had his back to the audience, maybe the lack of keyboards facing to the front meant he could show off his foot pedal technique?
Jon Davison's voice was in fine fettle and did justice to Anderson's lyrics
As Ali mentioned, Sherwood's bass playing was immense. Like the long cloak he wore too, nice homage to Squire.
Talking of homages, the gig kicked off with one to Alan White with Turn of the Century being pumped through the speakers with a montage of the great drummer.
Great gig!
Excellent review, dom, which also reflects my experience of the Manchester show pretty much to perfection. :)
Quote from: Matt2112 on June 28, 2022, 11:55:35 PMI believe the Relayer gigs are scheduled for next year.
Relayer.. but not as we know it....
This was posted to YouTube yesterday. Don't think I ever heard Jon Anderson's band after he left Yes in 1980 but they were clearly very good. Didn't know that Clem Clempson, one of British rock music's unsung guitar heroes, played in this band. He plays the Steve Howe parts in the Yes material very nicely.
I can see how Clem Clempson would play Steve Howe's parts quite well
He's no Frank Marino though ;)
Quote from: Slim on October 11, 2022, 11:48:07 PMThis was posted to YouTube yesterday. Don't think I ever heard Jon Anderson's band after he left Yes in 1980 but they were clearly very good. Didn't know that Clem Clempson, one of British rock music's unsung guitar heroes, played in this band. He plays the Steve Howe parts in the Yes material very nicely.
Saw him at Glasgow Apollo in Dec 1980 with a band in support of his second solo album Song of Seven.. pretty sure Clem Clempson was there also Morris Pert and John Giblin.. great concert from what I remember. That was also the day I bought Permanent Waves.. that Saturday in December was a very good day indeed