Yes in Dublin 26/11/09

What a splendid ‘evening of Yes music’ I had in Dublin on Thursday. For me the show started with Astral Traveler as it took me a while to adjust to the loudness of the band. I enjoyed Alan’s drum solo and he thoroughly deserved the Standing Ovation after it. They played Yours is no Disgrace brilliantly; Steve Howe was on fire and his extended solo made this rendition, in my opinion, better than the original. The crowd was on fire and the band received at least three standing ovations; the band seemed genuinely moved by the crowd and I even saw the usually serious Olive Wakeman smile as he received a huge round of applause as Chris announced the new members of the band. The crowd was a mixture of men and women both young and old and I will never forget the sight of seeing a man in his 60s playing air guitar during Steve Howe’s solos and the teenage girl rocking out to South Side of the Sky! Yes is truly a band that unites people of all ages. The band played each song with an energy I had not seen during their 2004 tour; Benoit and Olive have given Yes a huge shot of adrenalin though of course Jon was still sorely missed. Another of the many highlights was seeing Steve play Classical Gas alone while the rest of the band took a break; Steve may look old but he has the same energy as he had during Yes’s heyday. Heart of the Sunrise was spectacular and Chris received a huge round of applause as he delivered the iconic bass line. I was delighted to see two songs from Drama, a very underrated album in my opinion. Machine Messiah was a particular highlight as I had never seen or heard a live version of it. ‘I See All Good People’ and ‘Roundabout’ had a lot of the crowd on their feet dancing; two people high up in the boxes were dancing and grooving so ‘Close to the Edge’ that I thought they might fall over the edge!  Benoit had a great stage presence and had everyone clapping during Roundabout and made you feel you were part of the band. The band received a standing ovation at the end and Chris Squire saluted the crowd with his bass and looked delighted at the reception the band received. They came out and did Starship Trooper for the encore and I practically floated out of the Olympia Theatre due to the two and a half hours of bliss I had just witnessed. Steve Howe showed that he is one of the top 5 greatest guitarists of all time. Chris Squire showed that he is the master of the bass. Alan White stepped out of Bill Bruford's Shadow and played excellent all night. Olive Wakeman did his father proud as he played Yes’s complicated Keyboard melodies with ease. Benoit David had very big shoes to fill but he was up to the challenge and sang perfectly though you could easily tell that it wasn’t Jon. His youthful energy really rejuvenated the band and was warmly accepted into the Yes family by the crowd. The band survived without Jon in 1980 when they released the excellent Drama and I am convinced now after this concert that they can still survive without him. I wish Jon was still there but I am thankful that Yes are still delighting audiences after 40 years; I can’t wait for the new album!