YES’s current tour consists of playing 3 albums in their entirety. Last night YES played Close To The Edge, Going For The One, and The YES album in that order at The Venue at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, IN. It was certainly worth the drive from Chicago. Of the current lineup Chris Squire (Bass) is the only member to have played on all 3. Although the members of the current lineup didn’t all play on each of those three albums there was no way of knowing by how they sounded. One common thing among Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, and Chris Squire was a lot of instruments. Howe played at least 8 guitars including a an acoustic, Line 6, Fender Stratocaster, Gibson Es-175, a Gibson Es-335, and a fender double neck pedal steel. Downes had 9 keyboards all triple stacked. White had a drum set consisting of 7 toms and 5 electronic pads. Squire played several basses including his signature Rickenbacker, Fender Jazz Bass, and a Wal custom triple neck bass. A YES show is not just a concert, but it is a musical journey. What’s great about seeing a band perform a whole album is getting to hear songs that may never have been played live before or rarely. For me it was getting to hear my favorite YES albums beginning to end. The show opened with an intro video showing pictures of the band over the last 40 years. YES took the stage and opened with the Close To The Edge the album and title song. After 40 years they still got it. With the complexity of the songs it is not an easy task to play them especially since many have not been performed in years, but every member was spot on the whole show. When it comes to progressive rock few bands have impacted it the way YES has. As YES transitioned between songs, the video screen had the name of the album and the song. After YES finished playing “Going For One” they took a 15 minute intermission and came back to play their self titled debut and an encore of “Roundabout” Each member individually is one of best on their instrument, and together they have sound that is easily recognizable. Steve Howe is certainly one of the most versatile guitarists. In one song he played 4 different guitars (pedal steel, acoustic, electric, and a mounted Line 6 electric. On another song Howe played solo acoustic. Chris Squire is considered one of the top 5 greatest bassists in Rock. Both Howe and Squire are great backing vocalists as well. For over 40 years Alan White has played drums many of YES’s greatest songs, and John Lennon’s Imagine album. Geoff Downes played on the most recent YES album Fly From Here, and had been the only constant member of Asia from the beginning and played on all their hits. Although Downes did not play on the three albums YES is performing this tour, he has every single part down note for note. Jon Davison is YES’s newest member and vocalist. Although there is only one Jon Anderson, Davison is the closest you can get and knows all parts and sings with the same passion as Anderson. Davison also ads keyboards and extra percussion. After seeing YES 4 times I would definitely see them next time they come to town. They always put on a great show.
Setlist:
1. Intro / Firebird Suite
(Igor Stravinsky)
Close to the Edge
1. Close to the Edge
2. And You and I
3. Siberian Khatru
Going For The One
4. Going for the One
5. Turn of the Century
6. Parallels
7. Wonderous Stories
8. Awaken
The Yes Album
9. Yours Is No Disgrace
10. Clap
11. Starship Trooper
12. I've Seen All Good People
13. A Venture
14. Perpetual Change
Encore:
15. Roundabout
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