Just posted this to Ticketmaster's site, figured it would be equally if not more appreciated over here.
An Evening with YES @ Pantages Playhouse Theatre - Winnipeg, MB - Wed, Mar 26, 2014
Posted 03/29/2014
As
a longtime Yes fan who has never seen the band live before, I was very
much looking forward to this show, and it didn't disappoint. Granted,
some of the more recognizable names such as Jon Anderson and Rick
Wakeman were not with them, but this group did a solid job of convincing
me that it deserves to carry the Yes name, even if new singer Jon
Davison (also of Glass Hammer) does look a little odd next to his four
much older bandmates. Stalwarts Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White
are still present, with Howe being maybe my single biggest reason for
being a Yes fan. The current lineup is rounded out by keyboardist Geoff
Downes, probably best known for his role alongside Howe in prog-pop
supergroup Asia. As the answer to some trivia question somewhere, Downes
is also the only man to be a member of Yes for more than one studio
album without ever being bandmates with Anderson, having been in the
band for 1980's Drama and 2011's Fly From Here (and soon for Heaven And
Earth as well).
The
set consisted of complete play-throughs of three classic Yes albums -
1972's Close to the Edge, 1977's Going For The One, and 1971's The Yes
Album, in that (rather odd) order. A little disappointingly, the encore
was just one song, Roundabout. With the show coming just two days after
announcing that they had finished recording Heaven And Earth, I was
rather hoping for some small preview of the new material in addition to
this solid if predictable choice.
There wasn't much else to complain about, though.
Playing
the albums in the above order means opening with all 19 minutes of the
title track from Close to the Edge, which is a pretty ballsy way to
start a show; a bad or even only-okay performance of this piece would
trash the credibility of any band claiming to be Yes. Happily, what we
got was a solid, engaging performance that went ever-so-slightly beyond
the album version. I think it might have been a little strange for the
uninitiated, with its fusion-y opening and constantly shifting tempos -
one girl sitting near me, who was obviously there with her much more
Yes-acquainted boyfriend, looked kind of confused throughout - but the
rest of us pretty much rose to our feet as one as the piece reached its
triumphant conclusion.
As
for the remaining two songs from Close to the Edge, of *course* And You
And I was a highlight, but what pleasantly surprised me was Siberian
Khatru, Frankly, I've never been that big a fan of this track in its
studio incarnation - a straightforward rocker, by Yes standards - but
its relative simplicity and energetic pace turned out to be just what
the show needed after two long, somewhat mellow pieces. I think I left
with something of a new appreciation for this song, or at least for its
useful role in a concert setlist.
Going
for the One was a bit more of a mixed bag (which I'll be discussing out
of order by the way). The title track is decent but nothing special,
and while I know Wondrous Stories has its fans, I've never been that
impressed with it. Granted, it's kind of neat to see Steve on lute and
Jon on guitar for the latter. Parallels, on the other hand, is a great
little showpiece, for similar reasons to Siberian Khatru; actually, this
would have made a pretty awesome opener if the band had been willing to
juggle the running orders a little. It may be worth noting that the
girl I mentioned earlier was clearly into the show by this point,
smiling and head-bopping throughout.
Turn
of the Century might be my favourite song of all time. The rendition
here was nothing short of heart-rending, easily the most emotionally
engaging song Yes ever recorded in my book, with Steve Howe's
understated classical guitar perhaps exceeding the magic it works on the
studio version. I think Awaken might actually have been a bit shorter
than the original, with the slow instrumental section in the middle
compressed a bit (a mercy, as that might be the most boring four or five
minutes Yes ever recorded). Awaken is another long, complex piece with
lots of good bits, most of which were very well translated here, but
unfortunately in this case the finale failed to match the epic power of
the recorded version, on which Steve Howe channels David Gilmour while
Wakeman conjures up choirs of angels on a century-old pipe organ.
After
an intermission, the set resumed with The Yes Album. While there's not a
single song on either of the other albums played here that would be
surprising to see in a normal Yes concert setlist (the Keys to Ascension
set list, for example, contained all of Close to the Edge and most of
Going For The One), it's very nice to see A Venture get a bit of a day
in the sun; this little gem was another highlight, with Downes getting a
nice extended piano solo at the end. Still, this was the album where I
most wished the band had been willing to shuffle the order a bit. Even
"flipping the record" to do the original side 2 first would let the
second set open with I've Seen All Good People (a stronger start than
Yours Is No Disgrace) and close with Starship Trooper and more
specifically its epic final movement Wurm, rather than the plodding
Perpetual Change (of all the eight-minute-plus songs in this setlist,
the only one I'd actually describe as over-long).
Still,
The Yes Album has its share of highlights no matter what order you play
it in, even if I view it as the least interesting of the three albums
played on this tour. The crowd went especially crazy for Howe's
ragtime-ish solo piece Clap (hilariously mislabelled "The Clap" on the
original album, a mistake recent pressings have finally got around to
fixing), and of course Wurm was a highlight, even if I wished for
Wakeman to be there trading solos with Howe as he does on the Keys to
Ascension version.
I'm
giving five stars although if fractional ratings were allowed, it would
be four and a half - there were enough minor flaws and missed
opportunities that I can't pretend the show was perfect. But its best
moments were nothing short of magical, and even its worst, like the not
entirely successful battle to make a big end-of-set showpiece out of
Perpetual Change, still came out pretty decent. It would be even better
if Steve Howe would crack a smile once in a while, but you can't have
everything!
Favourite moment: And You And I, Siberian Khatru, Turn of the Century, Clap, Wurm (i.e. last third of Starship Trooper)
Setlist: Close
to the Edge, And You And I, Siberian Khatru, Going for the One, Turn of
the Century, Parallels, Wondrous Stories, Awaken, Yours is No Disgrace,
Clap, Starship Trooper, I've Seen All Good People, A Venture, Perpetual
Change, Roundabout
Opening act(s): none
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Yes in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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jeffh wrote: