![]() Bassist and co-founder Chris Squire and guitarist Steve Howe, a member of Yes beginning in their classic years, anchored the band. What magnificent works they are and beautifully performed. But they decided to throw in the third album anyway playing Close to the Edge, Going for the One and The Yes Album. Since this was a festival, Yes was slated to play only two albums straight through instead of the three they’re performing on their solo tour. By the time they hit the “Total Mass Retain” section of Close to the Edge, no one was missing Jon Anderson and no one was thinking Davison was a substitute. The singer for the American symphonic prog group Glass Hammer, he sounds like a clone of Anderson, except a clone who hits all the notes, sings with passion and ties the band together with his stage presence. Anderson’s replacement, (his second actually), Jon Davison, is frighteningly good. Uh, I was wrong, which was something that about 5500 people at the Yestival in the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ already knew. This was just a touring paycheck machine. ![]() ![]() This couldn’t be the Yes of Fragile or Close To The Edge. With the absence of signpost members like drummer Bill Bruford and keyboardist Rick Wakeman, I felt like I was seeing a shadow of this band, no more credible than the Genesis tribute band, The Musical Box, who opened. But Anderson was effectively booted from the band in 2008, due to a combination of illness and apparent lack of commitment. This band always had trouble holding its personnel together, but there was always at least one constant, the signature voice and lyrics of Jon Anderson. I found myself in a similar place this past Saturday night at the Yestival, a one day festival of progressive rock headed by the latest iteration of Yes, and the most controversial. I walked out a fan, and would have to wait for the Lark’s Tongue edition of Krimson for them to catch up. But Yes, this night anyway, wiped them off the stage with a combination of charisma, impeccable musical virtuosity and Jon Anderson’s choirboy yearning. I mean, they had actual hits with “Roundabout” and “I’ve Seen All Good People.” Krimson gave a good performance, although this was the least interesting edition of the band. Yes, of course, were just too pop for me. Being too hip for the room, I was there to see the Islands edition of Crimson. In 1971 I went to the Orpheum Theater in Boston for a double bill of Yes and King Crimson. Listen to Echoes on WXPN Mon-Thursday evenings from 11PM-1AM. This review of the Yestival by John Diliberto, host and producer of Echoes, originally appeared in The Echoes Blog. Steve Howe photo by John Diliberto of Echoes
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