Anderson & Wakeman in Southend 24/10/06

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   These guys could have a career as a comedy duo should they ever tire of the music business (which seems unlikely now after nearly 40 years). They had the crowd in fits of laughter on more than one occasion, and Jon Anderson was unable to start one song for a while as he couldn’t stop laughing. Rick didn’t help matters by playing “The Teddy Bear’s Picnic”!
Rick started it all off with his comments on his bottle of water (“2 million years to create, best before end December 2006”) and throughout the evening proved to be excellent as a stand-up comedian, particularly with his Henry VIII routine.

Ah, but what about the music, I hear you ask? Despite the information on the Cliffs web site and the tickets, there was no backing band and no special guests, just Rick on the grand piano and Jon on acoustic guitar. The music was a mixture of new songs and old Yes classics. Some of the Yes songs worked surprisingly well “unplugged” – Wonderous Stories, Turn of The Century, South Side of the Sky, And You And I, Sweet Dreams, Give Love Each Day - although the reggae version of “Time and a Word” was not quite so successful. The highlight of the evening was a stunning version of “Awaken”. They both decided before the tour that they would attempt the most complex and unlikely song in the Yes canon, but it worked really well. We were then told about their gardening exploits (runner beans, parsnips and other more dubious plants) before an excellent new song unsurprisingly called “The Garden”.

After an interval for “tea and biscuits” (although Rick said the real reason was “prostate”) Jon did a solo spot on the piano, which mainly showed that some of Yes’ lyrics sound (even more) ridiculous in the wrong context (i.e. the opening to “The Revealing Science of God”). Rick’s solo spot got one of the biggest cheers of the night for “The Nursery Rhyme Concerto”. They ended the evening with a few more Yes classics including “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and “Roundabout”.

The whole evening was a very relaxed and informal affair (so relaxed that the guy next to us fell asleep in the second half!) in the company of two giants of prog music. I will admit to occasionally wishing that the rest of Yes would come bounding onto the stage but it was still a very enjoyable evening. What a shame there was an empty seat next to me!

NB – I did overhear the sound engineer saying he was recording all the shows, so there is a possibility of a live CD or DVD!

Edited by chopper - October 25 2006 at 07:22