REVIEW: Great concert? Yes!
The band continued after intermission with the six long songs from the Yes Album getting an energetic run through. As many times as they have played these songs they still sound fresh. This genre-defining album contains some of the finest music in progressive rock – catchy melodies woven in and out of carefully arranged song structures. Steve Howe’s acoustic instrumental “Clap” and the a cappella segment in “All Good People” were perfect examples of their virtuosity segueing between the epics “Yours is No Disgrace” and “Starship Trooper”.
Three original members, or close enough – Howe, bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White – have about 40 years experience each in the band and performed at a musical level unapproachable by most in the music industry. Keyboardist Geoff Downes, himself not an original member, but having played with Howe in Asia, got the job done in workmanlike fashion: standing most of the evening with his back to the crowd. He had none of the showmanship of the band’s most well known keyboardist Rick Wakeman, but that didn’t seem to matter. Singer Jon Davison, who replaced Canadian Benoit David in the band’s vocal chair in 2011, is the Yes version of Arnel Pineda (current singer of Journey), aping the legendary former frontman Jon Anderson so successfully that he may as well be him. That he is singing Anderson era songs for Anderson era fans is no doubt the reason why he’s in the band. He went over well.
There are those who malign oldster rock acts who continue to trade on nostalgia to keep the income stream steady. Many of them, like KISS, are ready for the rock ‘n’ roll retirement home. But let’s allow Yes to continue to pad their billfolds by trotting out yesterdays successes. Not only did they show that their admittedly old art rock is still relevant, but they are damn good at pumping it out. For the sake of all that is good in rock music, let’s all hope they can keep doing it for a little while longer.
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