You know you're with a real Yes crowd when they cheer more loudly for 10-minute rock epic "Machine Messiah" off the lesser-known 1980 album Drama than for the 1983 pop hit "Owner of a Lonely Heart."
In fact, one of the rare moments of crowd interaction came after "Lonely Heart" got a cool response (undeservedly, I think) from the seated crowd at the Uptown. The crowd remained seated after the song's conclusion, despite having jumped to its feet to applaud the preceding number: a six-minute acoustic guitar solo recital by founder and bona fide Progthuselah Steve Howe.
In the moment of interaction, brand-new replacement singer Benoit David (who took over for an ill Jon Anderson last year), gauged the audience's disfavor with '83 Yes and said, "Are you ready for some more rock and roll?" The audience, who, for the most part, was white and aged 35 and up, gave a cheer. Before the band launched into "Messiah," a British gentlemen seated behind me said, "I want to hear 'Heart of the Sunrise.'"
Toward the end of the hour-and-45-minute set, the bloke would get his wish.
If you're not already familiar with the story of Benoit David, in a nutshell, it is this: Original singer Jon Anderson developed respiratory ailments in time for Yes's 40th anniversary tour. Rather than wait for him to recover, the rest of the band hired French-Candian Yes tribute band singer and uncanny Anderson singalike David, who, when not rocking Montreal bars in Close to the Edge, ran a business repairing the interiors of cars and boats. Anderson was not entirely pleased by this vocal changeling operation.
No cries of organ rejection were heard last night as David shimmied modestly in a Neil Diamond-collared white puffy shirt, tight white jeans and gold vest (later to be replaced with black sequins) and bent back and belted out a spot-on mimic of Anderson, right down to the vocal timbre.
Next to the other members of Yes -- haggard, mystic originals Howe, bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White, plus tall, elfin Oliver Wakeman, youngish son of original keyboardist Rick Wakeman -- David's short-haired, regular-guy presence created an odd but intriguing contrast: the Kenneth Branagh version of Shakespeare's Tales from Topographic Oceans.
The show stealer, however, was master Squire. Dwarfing his other band mates in stature (until, at least, the curtain call, when Wakeman emerged from his keyboard array to stand 7'8" to Squire's 8') and thwapping and wrenching preternaturally bright and hot tones from his Rickenbacker, Squire thumped into my rock-god pantheon as a blond-haired angelic nemesis to Lemmy Kilmister. When Squire dished out the famous "Roundabout" bassline at the beginning of a three-song finale that included "Sunrise" and encored with "Starship Trooper," you realized nobody else could've composed that riff. I also didn't realize how much singing Squire did in the band -- and I didn't realize that Howe sang at all. But there they were, all tall and wispy-haired and wizened, keeping right apace with David's lofty tenor.
Yes played hard and fought well, despite a visually stiff crowd -- with the exception of a misplaced, buff, shirtless prog-brah probably on Ecstasy who stood repeatedly down front, holding aloft his empty beer bottle and carrying the full weight of communal expression on his shapely shoulders -- and not-great sound. The Uptown's system was especially boomy last night, and things got pretty muddled during Yes's intricate, sixteenth-note jams. There were a few times when the band seemed to flub notes or not lock in, but I refuse to believe those mishaps were due to anything that happened between any Yes member's brain and his instrument.
These men are giants, wizards. They are the immortal progenitors of prog rock. They do not mess around.
Set list
Firebird Suite
Siberian Khatru
I've Seen All Good People
Tempus Fugit
Astral Traveler
And You and I
Steve Howe guitar solo
Owner of a Lonely Heart
Machine Messiah
Roundabout
Heart of the Sunrise
encore
Starship Trooper
A note on the opener: Asia was, as it has always been, underwhelming in the face of its all-star membership. The incarnation that played here last night consists of Steve Howe (guitar), John Wetton of King Crimson, Uriah Heep and others (bass, lead vocals), Geoff Downes of '80s Yes (nine keyboards, including a keytar) and Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake and Palmer (drums). This is not to be confused with Asia featuring John Payne, which exists as an inevitable byproduct of this group being the halfway home for orphaned British proggers in the dismal '80s.
Asia did all right as opener, playing a few vaguely recognizable originals and covers, including, oddly "Video Killed the Radio Star" and, awesomely "In the Court of the Crimson King," which was a thrill for me because the only reason I think twice about Asia is because Wetton was the bassist and frontman of mid-'70s King Crimson, which recorded the most greatest and bestest prog albums of all time -- Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black and Red. Though I should note that "In the Court..." was on the Crim's '69 debut, on which Wetton did not play. NERD ALERT.
Anyway, Asia did its thing for an hour before wrapping it up with their one big hit, "In the Heat of the Moment." I have no beef with that song -- hell, it's one of my earliest pop memories. But I couldn't help but look at Wetton and think, Is this the man who sang "One More Red Nightmare?"
A note on the merch: Given rock fans' love for retro, it's wise of Yes and Asia to stick with their original Roger Dean logos and graphics. But $35 for a T-shirt? No thanks.
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Interesting take on this, like a sailor I'm usually keen to understand more about boating.
Whether fans of Yes vinyl or CD era fans there have been two other vocalists besides Jon Anderson. Trevor Rabin and Trevor Horn. The 1980 "Buggles" installment was an attempt to change direction. Same with the Trevor Rabin era and it almost happened again with Billy Sherwood. Chris Squire as defacto bandleader has always wanted new blood and talent in order to give the outfit new writing. I think the best thing bands like this can do is get younger players into the mix. Who cares if it was Youtube that help recruit the singer as the new guy is phenomenal at recreating the vinyl era of Yes. Notice how I say recreating as this is not about creating new music but mastering live performance. Everything I've seen and heard so far has shown the collaboration to be inspired and a resounding success.
YES....Spinal Tap is alive and well.
Was waiting for the Stonehenge to drop and dwarf to dance.
To Jason - Yeah, I admit a harsh tone to my review. Prog rock, in general, probably draws a crowd that appreciates musicianship more. My tastes lean more toward classic rock in general and I'm looking for more show (and, frankly, am often underwhelmed by shows I go to). I got too much from Benoit and not enough from Howe. As far as your review, it isn't like I thought, "this guy was at a different show than me." Your opening comment about "Machine Messiah" getting a better crowd reception than "Owner of a Lonely Heart" beautifully captured that this show was much more for Yes loyalists than casual fans.
@Dave 10:06: I guess I just assumed. My mistake.
@Dave 10:29: SEE!
@Dave Whitaker: Man, I love so much of what you just said, but I think you're a bit too harsh even for my tastes. Steve Howe is older than pharoah, dude! That's why I coined the term "progthuselah." Besides, this is a genre in which musicians are famous for not moving: i.e., Robert Fripp and Steve Hackett, who play guitar sitting down. I was kind of bummed that Benoit moved as much as he did. I was hoping there would be a break for tea, as well.
@Mouth & cafedrummer: I truly dig some of the 80s Crim, mainly because I'm a huge Tony Levin fan, but some of it is just too kooky to enjoy, too far away from anything that could be described as soulful: i.e. men in silk shirts with the top button buttoned playing slow tri-tone arpeggios in polyrhythms on clean electric and singing about ... what?
Let me correct something I just said: The only original member OF THIS VERSION of Yes is Chris Squire.
Mr. Harper should realize that the only original member (and the ONLY one to appear on every Yes album)is Chris Squire! Where does he get the idea that Steve Howe was an original Yes member? Peter Banks was the original guitarist! Maybe if he picked up the 1st 2 Yes albums, he'd realize this.
After watching Steve Howe & Co. perform for three hours at Kansas City�s Uptown Theater, I know two things � Steve Howe is neither the centerpiece of Asia nor Yes. He may have been the most technically proficient performer of the night � he certainly has the most impressive resume � but rather than trolling the stage like any good classic rock axeman should, he stood guard over a square foot patch left of center. He occasionally bent his knees or lifted a leg in the air; hell, I think he jumped in the air once; but mostly his frail frame looked in need of a walker to prop him up. I swear he was leaning against the wall during the encore.
Okay, okay, I shouldn�t go to an Asia and Yes concert if I�m looking for young, energetic performances. Oh, wait, there was that, too � however sadly out of place. Unfortunately, Yes� longtime frontman Jon Anderson was laid up by a respiratory illness and, in true dinosaur band fashion these days, the other members perused YouTube videos scouting out lead singers for Yes tribute bands until they found a guy young enough to date their granddaughters. In this case, Canadian Check out my full review at http://www.davesmusicdatabase....
Benoit David drew the lucky lottery ticket and figured if he pranced about enough on stage, the audience might forget he was a nobody. Let�s face it, though, other than Queen�s Freddie Mercury, no other rock singer has ever pulled off prancing. On top of that, David sported a mostly white outfit that certainly recalled the �70s � it just had the misfortunate of reminding one of Saturday Night Fever more than Yes� dinosaur prog-rock.
Based on my tirades against Howe and David, one might think that I was dragged to this show against my will. Not the case...
Check out the full review at http://www.davesmusicdatabase....
'80s Crim is also my favorite line-up.
Wish I would've caught the show last night. Drama is a truly underrated album.
I haven't heard much of Gilmour's solo stuff, I'll have to check it out.
Are you in to '80s Crim? That's my favorite era. You should review the Adrian Belew show coming up at the Beaumont.
My favorite aged-Brit-progger solo project in recent years: David Gilmour's album On an Island.
"[T]he only reason I think twice about Asia is because Wetton was the bassist and frontman of mid-'70s King Crimson, which recorded the most greatest and bestest prog albums of all time -- Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black and Red. Though I should note that 'In the Court...' was on the Crim's '69 debut, on which Wetton did not play. NERD ALERT."
WORD. I am perhaps the world's largest Crimson nerd and this sums up my thoughts on Asia pretty well.
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