Prog masters bend the album show rules by being Yes
The evening might begin, as it rightly should, with a tribute to the late, great Chris Squire (this is the band’s first British tour since his untimely death last year), as a montage of photos from his life are shown on the big screen as the wonderful “Onward” plays, but it’s heart lies in something that guitarist Steve Howe says a little later on.
Stepping to the mic, he sums up Yes in 2016 in the neatest of nutshells. “This band will play anything, from any era of Yes,” he says. “Hopefully we’ll prove that to you over the next few years, if we haven’t already. Here’s another era for you….”
With that the unmistakable opening riff of “Owner Of A Lonely Heart” engulfs the Symphony Hall.
This is important because this was supposed to be an album show. That is to say, the band were here to play the 1980 album “Drama” and the 1971 effort “Fragile” this time around. It seems though, that as good as those shows are – and make no mistake the band are in rare form here – maybe that’s just a little too restrictive for men such as this.
So after “Drama” – and my how the likes of “Machine Messiah”, “Into The Lens” and “Tempus Fugit”, with its gleeful shouts of “Yes, Yes” have stood the test of time when so much of the music from that era sounds lumpen and dated – there’s some left turns, with “Time And A Word” a real highlight, as well as the anthemic “……Heart”.
The second half is a complete run through “Fragile” which proves the labyrinthine nature of its glorious sonic palette. “Roundabout” is great and great fun too boot, and each member of the band gets his little spot in the limelight. Keyboard man Geoff Downes looks like he really enjoyed “Cans And Brahms” while the interplay between Howe and Squire’s replacement Billy Sherwood on “The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)” is mighty fine and only surpassed by Howe’s acoustic slot “Mood For A Day”, indeed the guitarist seems to be revelling in his position as perhaps the heartbeat of the band in this new era.
Singer Jon Davison does – as he had a couple of years ago – a manful job of taking on these songs, and possesses a brilliant voice, really coming to the fore on “Heart Of The Sunrise” which ends things here.
There’s an encore, and for that the five go right back to the early years and “Starship Trooper” waves its psychedelic magic and the light show, that has been superb throughout, really hits its straps.
There are few bands – perhaps Iron Maiden are the closest – that look after their own back catalogue on their own terms quite so well. With Howe further promising to come back and play the controversial “Tales From The Topographic Ocean” record, this magnificent Renaissance is showing no signs of slowing down just yet. Yet again Yes proved that whatever the personnel and whatever they have to overcome, even after close on 50 years, they are basically unstoppable.
