Yes

Meadows Music Theatre - October 17, 1997

Jon Anderson

This past Friday Yes opened their tour at the Meadows in Hartford. They are touring in support of two new albums due out this fall, Keys To Ascension II and Open Your Eyes. The current lineup includes Jon Anderson (lead vocals and percussion), Steve Howe (lead guitar), Chris Squire (bass), Alan White (drums), and newcomers Billy Sherwood (rhythm guitar) and Igor Khoroshev (keyboards). They opened up with "Rhythm Of Love" followed by "Siberian Khatru" and "America". The show included three songs off the two new albums and the balance was from various records over their 30 year career. Jon Anderson commented that this new music and lineup was “taking Yes into the 21st century.”

Steve Howe was bursting with energy as he displayed his guitar prowess. We were treated to a menagerie of guitars from his vast collection including a steel lap guitar, a mandolin, and his trademark Gibson ES. Jon Anderson told a story about being in the studio in the seventies with then-producer Eddie Offord. He said that Steve Howe was warming up and he knew something magical was happening and asked Eddie to keep the tape rolling. What resulted was the ballad "And You And I" -- and the version we heard didn’t disappoint. Jon’s vocals were perfect and he played acoustic guitar during a couple of songs. He also handled percussion instruments including tamborine, wood block and rainstick.

Chris Squire and Alan White kept up a pounding rhythm section that was thunderous at times. Billy Sherwood added backing vocals and rhythm guitar while Igor Khoroshev performed strongly on keyboards, filling the shoes very nicely for the departed Rick Wakeman -- until he played over Howe's guitar solo at the end of "Roundabout". It was obvious that this was the first show of the tour because there was still many bugs to work out. Howe got tangled up with his guitar tech a number of times, there was a lot of feedback, and the sound was so loud and bassy that you felt it rumbling in your chest.

The major highlight of the show was "Soon" which led into "The Revealing Science Of God". It was 30 minutes of classic Yes. They never slowed down, playing solidly for two and a half hours to a nearly full house. The crowd was enthusiastic throughout the show especially when Jon mentioned that they’d be back next summer. There is also an unconfirmed appearance planned at the Oakdale on December 20th (see the Concert Calendar for more show dates).

Yes made a promise twenty years ago to reunite this year and they’ve done it. We look forward to the two new albums and future shows in the area.

Go to a picture of Steve Howe during the performance of "Siberian Khatru".

Set List:

Rhythm Of Love
Siberian Khatru
America
Open Your Eyes
And You And I
No Way We Can Lose
Owner Of A Lonely Heart
Steve Howe solo
Excerpt from The Ancient
Children Of Light
Long Distance Runaround/The Fish
Chris Squire solo
Alan White solo
Soon
The Revealing Science Of God
I’ve Seen All Good People

Encore

Roundabout
Starship Trooper

Photos by John Perry

Review by Stephanie Perry

Rock Notes On-Line - http://www.oocities.org/SunsetStrip/5014/