Actually, I proposed Jon Davison as a replacement for Benoit David back in 2011 on PA!  Sometimes I wonder if this post & discussion didn't give them the idea? 

http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=78495" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=78495

I quite like Davison with Glass Hammer, and he's been a trooper with Yes.  However, I'm not at all enamored with Downes, and the rest of the band is slowing down and lacking drive.  

Not crazy about Davidson's voice--very high is the only good thing I can say about it--lacks the rich depth and complexity of Anderson or even Benoit (listen to the live album) for that matter--but it is what it is and Davidson seems an obvious good choice for the band but guess I will know for sure when I hear Heaven and Earth---I have mixed feelings about Downes---for shear artistic direction, Moraz would have been a more interesting choice--but Downes is a solid player if not the greatest soloist---my biggest complaint is he should forget the endless cheesy music he does with Asia and put it to rest and focus on Yes and that level of creativity. 

 Yeah, I was watching a bootleg DVD of the last tour and he really was butchering a lot of the Wakeman stuff. The piano intro to Awaken was embarrassing, for example. 

cool! im seeing them at the Warner Theatre in DC with my dad 4 days before that so that'll be exciting

You must have seen them at the end of their previous tour which started last spring.  I saw them play that live trio of albums in the US last April.  They just started a new tour in June (I think), which what what the OP is referring to.  They are playing CTTE, Fragile and a "greatest hits" set, which I'm guessing will be a new song or two (*shudder*), some Yes Album stuff and a cop out tune like "Owner of a Lonely Heart" or something.  It's odd that they decided to start a new tour cycle, considering they haven't really taken a break in 1.5 years.

I love Yes, and will always go see them, but they are on total autopilot at this point.  Going through the motions.  If they want to regain some integrity and get the wind back in their sails, they need to get Jon and Rick back.  That won't happen with their current label and/or management, as they seem to be contractually obligated to play a ton of concerts, and Jon can't keep up with that.  I think back to the "Yesstory" film that came out a while back (2004 or 2005?) in which Steve mentioned having the right members involved and start playing the music "with love again".  I don't think that's what they are doing right now, sadly.

the documentary was from 1991 actually, and i guess by that statement arguably the ONLY way to get at least Jon A. back (any others would be fine i guess *keyboardist*) is to get out of Frontier Records and try to get into a new one which can accommodate Jon's touring schedule (with Yes i mean without those problems from the early 2000's) while maybe even recording new material with them, album, EP, or whatever. 

http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=20405" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=20405

That's the documentary I was referring to, not the 1991 "Yesyears" documentary.  This one is really fantastic, and came out after the 2006.  Judging from the physical appearances of the boys I'm guessing it was filmed right around that time as well.  I've heard it referred to as "Yesstory".  I probably should have just called it "Classic Artists: Yes".

ohhhh ok, i saw it too on youtube along with other special interviews/features and from my memory i thought it was good. and one thing:

i saw these guys last night in DC and omfg i thought they were great!! performed Fragile in whole first which was near perfect with some hits and misses here and there but i can't describe it well (which is why i can't review well unless its in my head lol). it was followed by To Ascend and The Game from Heaven & Earth (*GASP!!) they were alright i guess, prefering the latter over the former for now. next up is Close to the Edge.... but backwards. iow, they played all 3 songs but started with Siberian Khatru and ended with the title track. and finally, "The Yes Album" encore; the minor hit I've Seen All Good People (in which steve wasn't i guess prepared as he got the guitar and not the mandolin first and had to get it before starting xD) and the personal fav Starship Trooper (we were about to leave before that song, good thing we didn't and i predicted that they would close the show with that as they did so in the past) it was all awesome and i loved it all anyway (said a 15 year old). MAN the warner theatre was cool, and it was the VIP package (for the venue, not the tour unfortunately) so we got to some sort of "lounge" between the lower and upper halves of the audience (if that makes sense). sooooo.....yeah. that's all i have to say.

yeah! i think they're fine myself and definitely have potential to go a long way. hell, maybe even a TV performance or two!! too bad its only for half an hour though.

well there's a few videos of that concert (some with the same song but from different seats) if you want to check out that, and im still patiently waiting for videos from the D.C. show that i went too!! having more trouble to find just one!! i just like to watch it again since i loved it so much. and usually the older guy (aka the dad) is the fan and not vice versa. a couple people we met were kind of surprised (shocker!) 

It was great to hear "Fragile" from beginning to end.  "Five per cent for Nothing" was kind of suspect, as it seemed a bit sloppy and not quite on the money, but it was fun to see nonetheless.  "Heart of the Sunrise" was a brilliant performance, with Davison really making the hairs stand up on my arms during the end of the song.

They played "To Ascend" and "The Game" from the new record, which I had no interest in.  They performed them well, but the diversity and excitement of classic material is not captured in this music.  The music feels like a contractual obligation, not a passion project.  It felt very "vanilla" being bookended by "Heart of the Sunrise" and "Close to the Edge".

The entire CttE album was performed flawlessly for the most part.  The vocal oriented midsection of CttE was beautiful.  "Siberian Khatru" was all but perfect, in comparison to the last time I saw them, when Howe seemed to lag a bit at times during the "main riff" of the song.

They closed with "I've seen all good people" and "Starship Trooper", which surprised no one, but were welcomed by all.  I was very pleased that they did not play "Owner of a Lonely Heart" as they had done for several earlier shows in this particular tour.  I have manufactured this idea in my mind that the reception to the song wasn't as strong as they had anticipated, considering they seemed to be playing to audiences full of prog fans.  In reality, the real reason is likely because they've started to incorporate a second song from the new album and didn't have time to play the aforementioned 90125 song.  I would rather hear an extra new song than something from 90125, which is really saying something.

I did not pay for the monumentally overpriced meet and greet/VIP package for this show.  Regardless, I got to meet all of them just as I did last year, as they stayed at the same hotel as my girlfriend and I (again, just as they did last year).  Chris Squire, Alan White and Geoff Downes came down to the hotel bar for a drink.  I got to have a brief chat with Chris and get a photo with him.  I was also able to show him my Roger Dean (particularly CttE inner gatefold) themed tattoo sleeve and joke that they should play Topographic Oceans on their next tour.  I actually had a much more in depth conversation with Alan White last year, but after taking up so much time with Chris, I didn't want to bother them any further, so I just opted for a handshake and "Great show, Mr. White".

Geoff Downes was very approachable and nice, and we even sat at the adjacent table to him at breakfast the following morning and had a brief chat.  Steve Howe sat at his own table and was unapproachable as usual.  If the man wants to be left alone, I can respect that, so instead of a loud and obnoxious bout of fan gushing, I opted for a gentle wave to get his attention and an Indian style bow and a "Thank you".  

I also see that they have been doing CttE first, and that they are playing it in reverse order.  I did see that they had done this from time to time prior to the show I saw.  I think I got a particularly lucky show, because I got Fragile first, followed by two new songs, followed by CttE in the album order, All Good People, and Starship Trooper.  

The next concert on my agenda isn't until November, when I'll be seeing Steve Hackett (with meet and greet).  I will be sure to report on that as well.

that was the same setlist they performed at the DC show the night before that my dad and i were at. and did they play the whole All Good People song cause they only performed the second part in concert?

They played the whole tune beginning to end exactly as it is on the album, from the "Your Move" section to the "I've seen all good people" section.

I've never seen them not play the whole song before.  What part did they chop off?

there's two parts in that song: Your Move and All Good People; they cut out the former.

AWESOME post, man! I live about 40 minutes from that venue, but didn't have the chance to see it! Thank you for this! 

It's not my intention to sound snarky or nit-picky, but I know there's two parts to the song; as mentioned in my previous post.

On topic:

I'm really surprised they shortened that song.  It's one of their most famous songs and it's not that long to begin with (by Yes standards).  Really odd.  They must have been running short on time for some reason.  Sorry you didn't get to hear "Your move".  The vocal harmonies are always a concert highlight.

The 2nd part you mean they cut "Ive seen all good people turn my head each day so satisfied i'm on my way..." NO! How could they cut that cool bit

I love it anyway

Glad they play all of Fragile! Such a classic, and CttE also! Gonna be a great concert with those treSURES

Still so grateful they played Starship TROOPER when I saw em in 2012 - i almost cried with joy.

ohhhhh no no no no no, they played the whole song in DC is what i meant to say, and sry i didn't notice you already know that (goddamnit all im ashamed of myself lol). Venue limitations for this type of setlist may be the cause of this imo.

and they still do... i hope (don't worry they'll play it, funny thing is that i almost left the show before the song played; my dad thought it was the end of the show at that moment xD )

would've loved to watch it, but its during my bedtime especially since that's when i start school (*gasp* I KNOW!!!!! )

SERIOUSLY!?!?! i can't wait till the weekend, maybe even before that!!!! 

UPDATE: HOWEVER, ill be skeptical until then because im unfamiliar with this Yahoo! Screen thing. but that's till the weekend of course lol.

Actually, *ahem,* I recommended Jon Davison as a replacement for Benoit David in 2011!!  

http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=78495" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=78495

It took them long enough, but they finally got my memo.  Squire owes me a bottle of cognac!  

and now that news update is put on their website. im less skeptical than i was before as well. but still, goddamnit school!!! 

This kind of event is rare because prog bands don't come out here and they are hardly mentioned alongside crap like T-Swifty or KISS

he said that well, and i might as well go along with that until it changes and so on.