Protest at Yesshows!

Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes will be having the logo for their upcoming late fall 2010 tour designed by long-time Yes graphic designer Roger Dean, at a cost of one... billion... dollars.

"I'm being as generous as I can," says Dean, "it works out to only fifty dollars a letter. It's a lot of letters".

Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes expect to be able to pay off their logo by the year 2021 if they perform a large-venue concert every day of the calendar year between now and then, which is expected to coincide nicely with Dean's projected date of 2020 for completion of the complicated logo, leaving them free to release the first Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes album anytime after.

Prices for 2010 Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes tickets are expected to start at $475 in order to pay for the extra paper required to be able to print the artists' name on the tickets, or even higher if the band ultimately decides to attempt to recoup any of the losses from playing the smaller and less lucrative venues associated with the use of the less recognizable name.

Many fans are happy about the decision to refrain from the use of the Yes name as a gesture of respect to ailing Yes singer Jon Anderson or to the Yes legacy itself, or as an honest and up-front way of making it clear that Anderson will not be performing - but other fans are somewhat confused.

"If I go to this show, will I be able to say that I finally saw a Yes concert? Or not? And if they make an album do I shelve it chronologically after the latest Yes album or alphabetically before the first Yes album? And would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? And if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?," asks one especially confused Yes fan, who is currently writing this satirical piece.

"So, they got criticised when we thought they were going to go out as Yes, and now they're being criticised for going out not as Yes," writes Yes news reporter Henry Potts, who recently used over five trillion characters of text explaining how being able to use the much shorter and much more familiar name Yes could help the band avoid further financial hardships.

Of course, there has traditionally been someone to criticise the band for virtually everything they do, including trading in original guitarist Peter Banks for versatile axebender Steve Howe, and for originally acquiring their diminutive trademark singer Anderson, whose soaring alto tenor voice has often been described in the music press over the years with such phrases as "like a Hobbit on helium" and "sounds like someone castrated a eunich the second time".

Anderson's spiritual life has also served as a lightning rod for criticism, with his spiritual advisor often taking blame for his protracted hiatus, and at one point being sharply criticised for his association with what he refers to as "the elf culture": "Jon thinks he's an elf. What complete rubbish! Everyone knows elves are taller".

"No one in 'Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes' actually thought of the name 'Yes' and they really have no right to say they're from the band 'Yes' without Peter Banks and Tony Kaye in the band anyway," says one fan.

"So now I suppose there is no Yes," says another fan. "Well you can't just do that, 'No Yes' is an oxymoron, isn't it?"

The decision to bill themselves as Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes has also caused some dismay with understudy vocalist Benoit David and keyboardist Oliver Wakeman, son of the classic Yes line-up's Rick Wakeman.

"All these years my dad's said to me, 'When you've been in a big-name group like Yes, like I have, that's when I'll stop giving you advice'," says the younger Wakeman. "I was this close. Now I suppose he'll never bloody shut up."

"If any new Yes tribute bands form after this," asks former Yes tribute singer Benoit David, "Will they be Yes tribute bands, or will they be Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes tribute bands? Apparently there's a difference.
This could have consequences for tribute artists everywhere."

But Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes, well-known for being eager to please fans, are ready to do whatever that requires.

Says drummer Alan White, "In order to try and keep everyone happy, our name will be written as 'Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White of Yes' but it will actually be pronounced, 'Yes.'"

"In a way we really haven't much choice," says White - "'HSW' or 'SHCSAWY,' I don't know how you'd pronounce those anyway. Husow? Hushoe, maybe? I dunno, sounds kind of like a sneeze or something."

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Edited by tamijo - February 26 2010 at 02:27

More quotes (apparently) from full-of-himself Steve Howe:

Edited by JLocke - February 27 2010 at 23:38

^ Pretty classy of Jon to just laugh it off and go on with his life. Funny . . . he doesn't seem like the egotistical jerk Steve Howe made him out to be. Projecting a bit, there, Steve?

JLocke wrote: More quotes (apparently) from full-of-himself Steve Howe: '' . . . the ''classic line-up'' isn't working anymore. And the fact that Jon won't sing anything from Drama and some other songs is really pathetic. You'd think at his age he would be able to park the ego. The future of the band is now Benoit and Oliver. They both bring new energy to the band and will probably keep the longevity of the band going for a few more years.''   Ermm Source ^ The user ''Bobby'' is quoting him without any direct links to the said interview, so if anybody can confirm whether that's an actually Steve quote, it would be appreciated. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if he did in fact say it.

All that Howe said was that the classic lineup wasn't working anymore, note that user Bobby's post is actually:

"... Steve said in an interview that the "classic line-up" wasn't working anymore. And the fact that Jon won't sing anything from Drama and some other songs is really pathetic..."

So, he was just paraphrasing the part about the lineup not working, what followed was just Bobby's opinion...

FWIW, I've seen this lineup three times, and they have been fantastic - I only got to see Yes with Jon Anderson twice before, many years apart, and I must sheepishly admit that I miss Rick Wakeman more than Jon! Oliver is somewhat bland, but I think his job is more to convey the material as-recorded rather than become a new identity, but maybe that will change after their new album. I am very happy that there is an actively touring lineup of Yes...If anyone is standing on the sidelines and missing these shows because of the controversy, do yourself a favor - go see them. I am sure I didn't imagine the three standing ovations the last time I saw them....

JLocke wrote: I've already said that the guy was paraphrasing, and that he didn't even give a link to the actual interview. Also, there is no punctuation to clearly mark where the quote ends. But if I did misunderstand where the quote ended and the opinion began, I'm willing to take back my original reaction. I'm still not buying it until I find the actual interview where Steve mentions the line-up not working anymore. Then I'll know for sure what he did or didn't say. I don't care how many glazey-eyed sheep follow this forgery around and give standing ovations at shows; I've seen footage of this new Yes in action, and it's not enjoyable for me. I don't understand how anybody can support this move by Steve, Alan and Chris when you take into consideration how close Jon is to Yes, and how he nearly died of health issues, during which time none of the guys in the band even bothered to check in to see how he was doing. Nah . . . keep your standing ovations and all that jazz. I'm not condemning you for enjoying it, but I don't have to like them for behaving this way. I would expect anybody who actually gives a damn about what Yes was truly about would also feel the way I do, but perhaps now I'm just getting cheeky.

Oops, sorry, I had no idea that this was so heated, I would have commented differently - I was just sharing my personal experience with this lineup and I was curious about the possible Howe comment...

Band lineups can have special meanings to people, I understand...I had no interest in Page/Plant due to John Paul Jones' absence (I always felt he was the secret ingredient that set Zeppelin apart)...

jplanet wrote: JLocke wrote: I've already said that the guy was paraphrasing, and that he didn't even give a link to the actual interview. Also, there is no punctuation to clearly mark where the quote ends. But if I did misunderstand where the quote ended and the opinion began, I'm willing to take back my original reaction. I'm still not buying it until I find the actual interview where Steve mentions the line-up not working anymore. Then I'll know for sure what he did or didn't say. I don't care how many glazey-eyed sheep follow this forgery around and give standing ovations at shows; I've seen footage of this new Yes in action, and it's not enjoyable for me. I don't understand how anybody can support this move by Steve, Alan and Chris when you take into consideration how close Jon is to Yes, and how he nearly died of health issues, during which time none of the guys in the band even bothered to check in to see how he was doing. Nah . . . keep your standing ovations and all that jazz. I'm not condemning you for enjoying it, but I don't have to like them for behaving this way. I would expect anybody who actually gives a damn about what Yes was truly about would also feel the way I do, but perhaps now I'm just getting cheeky.  Oops, sorry, I had no idea that this was so heated, I would have commented differently - I was just sharing my personal experience with this lineup and I was curious about the possible Howe comment... Band lineups can have special meanings to people, I understand...I had no interest in Page/Plant due to John Paul Jones' absence (I always felt he was the secret ingredient that set Zeppelin apart)...

Edited by JLocke - February 28 2010 at 18:42

Good thing we didn't go to see them (lost over $100 in tickets anyway), or we might have seen ourselves called 'glazey-eyed sheep' for applauding the band if we happened to like them in spite of everything. I've been called many things in my life, and not a lot of them complimentary, but sheep was never one of them. 

^ Raff, I don't believe you could EVER be a sheep in any situation. You're much to bright for that. 

JLocke wrote: That picture isn't loading for me.