YES Smokes Through 3 Albums at The Venue

As a prog rocker, the iconic band Yes has been one of my favorite groups, following them for over forty years. I had the good fortune to see them on their 35th Anniversary Tour in 2005, featuring the classic line-up of Anderson, Howe, Squire, Wakeman and White. I have always been a huge fan of Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson. As they were no longer with the band I was a bit concerned how the classic sound of Yes would be affected by their absence.

On this tour the band was performing three albums in their entirety, The Yes Album, Close to the Edge, and Going for the One. Wakeman was replaced on keyboards by Geoffrey Downes and the replacement for Jon Anderson (Benoit David as of late) on vocals was Jon Davison. Davison was in a band Sky Cries Mary and also had recorded a couple of albums for the prog rock band, Glass Hammer. To fill out the band there were long-time members Steve Howe on guitars, Alan White on drums, and Chris Squire on bass (the only band member who has played on every album).

The Venue at the Horse Shoe Casino was an apparent sell out. The lights dimmed, the strains of Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite” began (the traditional opening music for Yes), and the band walked onto the stage to a rousing ovation. There was a large video screen suspended at the rear of the stage and at the opening, vintage images of the band were shown. During the show, each album and song were displayed on the screen when they began, and various graphics were projected or live video of the band. In addition, two large video screens also flanked the stage projecting live video of the band. It was very nicely done.

The band opened with the album “Close to the Edge” and played the entire album in sequence. (My favorite Yes album) The opening song was the nearly 20 minute classic, “Close to the Edge.” Any qualms I had about the vocalist Davison instantly dissipated when he began to sing. His vocals were outstanding and he sounded just like a young Jon Anderson. The vocals on Yes songs are very high and difficult to sing, but Davison hit the high notes effortlessly, held them unwaveringly, and really took my breath away. My wife, who attended the concert with me (also a huge Jon Anderson fan), was equally impressed with the quality of Davison’s vocal performance. He seemed to channel Jon Anderson with his movements around the stage and had a great stage presence. He accompanied on percussion, guitar, and keyboards as well.

My other concern was the keyboards. I had seen Geoffrey Downes this fall when he was touring with Asia and developed a deep respect for his abilities on keyboards. However, Rick Wakeman is a god of the keyboards to me and his keyboards were iconic on so many of the Yes songs that I was afraid that there might be a significant difference in the sound of these songs. Once again, my fears were assuaged as soon as I heard the keyboards. Downes captured the classic sounds Wakeman produced on the keyboards and sounded wonderful. Interestingly, you could catch bits and pieces of a modern flair Downes added to the keyboard music, which actually enhanced the experience. Outstanding job. Downes seems to be one of the hardest working keyboard players around (touring with Asia and now Yes) and has proven to be one of the premier players in the world.

The rest of the band was tight and solid. Steve Howe showed his absolute mastery of the guitar with superlative work on all sorts of guitars all night long. His playing was spot on and he played with great enthusiasm which is a testimonial to his professionalism realizing that he has been playing this music for over 40 years. Chris Squire played a thundering bass, showing why he is regarded as one of rock’s best bassists and he too showed great energy, roaming all over the stage, gesturing, posing, seeming to be enjoying himself on stage immensely. Alan White, as per usual, was steady on drums providing the driving force for the band, coupled with Squire. I had interviewed White (also on rockchicago.net) and had asked him what keeps him going after all these years. He said the best part of the day is when he goes on stage and seeing the smiling/happy faces make him extremely satisfied. And smiling/happy faces there were, as the crowd absolutely was enthralled by the performance of the band.

At the completion of the song “Close to the Edge” the band received a standing ovation, which was pretty much a given at the end of each song all night long. The crowd loved the music; the band seemed to feel the love and gave it right back.

They continued through the album performing “And You and I” and “Siberian Khatru.”

Chris Squire then related that this was their first time in Hammond, Indiana. He continued by saying that this show they would be doing three albums in their entirety in sequence. He then introduced Steve Howe who introduced the next album. He said following the “Tales of the Topographic Ocean” they went to Switzerland, spent a few million dollars and did a kind of recollection album. It starts with some bloke….he then launched into the frenetic guitar opening of “Going for the One” from the same named album.

The following song on the album was one of my favorites, “Turn of the Century,” highlighted by the acoustic guitar of Steve Howe and the lovely vocals of Jon Davison. My one complaint is throughout the night there were ignorant people who kept talking….not so much of a problem on the louder songs, but very annoying on a song such as this…it really detracted from the magic on stage. At the end of the song Davison stood, outstretched his arms to the Heavens, and brought the audience right with him.

I would like to make another observation about Jon Davison. He REALLY seemed to be enjoying himself on stage. He was constantly smiling, acknowledging members of the crowd, and would occasionally clutch their outstretched hands. I attended the Meet and Greet after the show and I remarked to him what a superlative job he did. I also mentioned that he seemed to be having so much fun up there it had such a positive effect on the audience. He was flattered and happy that he conveyed that feeling, because that was the way he felt. I was definitely impressed with him, vocally, but also as a person, because he was very genuine and appreciative of the fans.

“Parallels” followed, a lesser known song from the album, but the advantage of performing entire albums as some of these chestnuts had rarely been performed in concert. When the band began “Wondrous Stories” the crowd joined in and sang along with great gusto. A definite highlight. The final song from “Going for the One” was the 15 minute “Awaken” which showcased the fine keyboard talents of Geoffrey Downes, who gave a majestic performance.

The final album was the album which really surged their popularity, “The Yes Album.” The opening track, “Yours is No Disgrace” was a tour de force for Steve Howe, who was an animal on guitar. Once again the audience joined in on vocals.

Jon Davison then introduced Steve Howe who performed “Clap” his acoustic solo piece, which was well-received by the crowd, who obviously clapped along!

Another iconic song from this album followed, “Starship Trooper” which the band attacked with fervor, Squire was playing with flair, mugging, went over and mugged with Steve Howe, and the audience was full-throatedly accompanying with their vocals. During the portion of the song entitled “Wurm,” a really driving section of the song, the crowd was standing and dancing. There was one audience member who was dancing uninhibitedly and Jon Davison pointed him out to the crowd and said, “Follow that man!”

The ensuing song was probably the favorite of most people in attendance as when the familiar strains were heard the crowd went nuts and began singing along to “I’ve Seen All Good People.” Steve Howe was on mandolin. Jon Davison was especially energized, smiling at the crowd, pointing at crowd members, saying “Let’s see those hands” encouraging the audience to clap along, which they did.

The final two songs were deep album cuts, “A Venture” and “Perpetual Change.” At the closing section of “Perpetual Change” there were two “cannons” which shot confetti all over the crowd ending the concert on a very festive and upbeat note. At the end of the song Davison was once again interacting with the crowd and shaking hands.

I am sure most everyone knew what the encore song was going to be and they were not disappointed, “Roundabout” from the album “Fragile.” It was enthusiastically performed; the audience was dancing and singing along. A superlative end to an outstanding concert experience.

This was one of the best concerts I have attended, it was a generous length, outstanding music and musicianship, by one of the greatest prog rock bands of all time, exemplified by their staying power on the music scene. But one of the superb attributes to this concert was the enthusiasm of the band members, who have (except Davison) been performing this music for over forty years, but the music sounded fresh and they played like it was new and exciting to them. I really appreciated that. Additionally, Geoffrey Downes and Jon Davison proved to be great additions to the band, proving my initial trepidation about the change in personnel to be unfounded.

One final comment about the Venue at the Horse Shoe Casino. This was our second concert event here and both have proved to be wonderful experiences. The sound in the Venue is top notch. The music is not too loud and sound is clear and crisp, catching all the nuances of the performance. We will definitely be back in the future…it was well worth the trip from north of Chicago!