Tonight’s show was another date in the current ‘Classic Tales Of Yes’ tour, a celebration of 50 plus years of Yessong with an emphasis on the band’s ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’ opus which turn 50 in 2023. You could argue that some of the current Yes line up have been in the band for 50 minutes, relatively speaking, rather than 50 years. However, what we had on stage tonight was 5 consummate musicians with a passion for all things prog recreating some of the best Yes classics. Better that than no Yes at all surely?

The mainstay and anchor of the current line up is guitarist Steve Howe. At the ripe old age of 77 you could forgive him for taking the easy route and hanging up his guitar. Tonight, however, he proved he is far from a spent force and his playing throughout the set was spot on.

The stage setting was minimal, and the band chose to let the music do the talking. Taking to the stage to rousing cheers and the ‘Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra’ blasting from the PA the guys kicked things off with ‘Machine Messiah’ from the band’s ‘Drama’ album. This 10 minute epic twists and turns with a very heavy edge in parts. ‘It Will Be A Good Day (The River)’ followed and kept the pace up, and things bubbling along nicely.

A pedal steel guitar being rolled on stage signaled a bit of a country music vibe with the classic ‘Going For The One’. At one point Steve Howe, mid solo, rolled the pedal steel to the side of the stage which gave the impression he was walking with a zimmer frame which made me laugh. Don’t think Steve is quite there yet!

Another crowd favourite was up next with ‘Seen All Good People’ which had the crowd singing along with frontman Jon Davison. He has been filling the Jon Anderson role for many years now and has made the centre spot his own. He then took a bit of a back seat as the band played an instrumental, rocked up, version of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘America’. The rhythm section of Billy Sherwood on bass and Jay Schellen on drums really showed their talents on this track.

‘Time And A Word’ took us back to 1970 and proved to be a timeless classic before Steve gave a bit of lecture on conservation which led into ‘Don’t Kill The Whale’. The first half was then rounded out with the acoustic led ‘Turn Of The Century’ which started with just Howe and Davison on stage before building to a rocking climax. A good end to an enjoyable first set then.

During the interval I went to stretch my legs in the foyer and bumped into a work colleague. Turned out his views on the first set were less complimentary than my own, just goes to show you can’t please everyone!

Settling back in for the second half, the lights dimmed and the sounds of thunder and lightening filled the air as the band started off with ‘South Side Of The Sky’. ‘Cut From The Stars’ followed before we got to the main part of the evening…

Condensing a two hour long album into a twenty minute piece was never going to be easy, however, the ‘Tales Of Topographic Oceans’ medley proved to be the highlight of the night. From ‘The Revealing Science Of God’ to ‘Ritual (Nous Sommes Du Soleil)’ the playing was superb and Geoff Downes did a great job of recreating the pomp keyboard sections of Rick Wakeman. This set went down a storm with the crowd and they left the stage to huge cheers.

The guys returned for two crowd pleasing encores starting with ‘Roundabout’ which then led into ‘Starship Trooper’ which finished off a great night of Yessong.

Tonight proved to be an excellent trip through the Yes back catalogue with a group of top notch musicians. Steve Howe looked in his element throughout proving there are no age barriers in rock, only the will to keep rocking! The hall may not have been filled to capacity tonight, but those in attendance witnessed something special.

Not too sure how much life there is left in Yes as a band, but they will leave one hell of a musical legacy as masterfully proved here tonight.

Review and photos by Dave Wilson

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

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Josh Taerk Summer 2024

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 26 May 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 10 June 2024

BASTION ROSE (Epictronic Records)
VOODOO RAMBLE Midnight Ride (indie)
BYWATER CALL As If (indie)
ESCAPE THE PARADIGM Cold (Curtain Call Records)
DEFENCES Gold In The Dark (indie)
BRAVE RIVAL Fairytale (indie)
MOJO ACES Old Crow (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 10 June 2024

09:00-12:00 NESTOR Teenage Rebel (Napalm Records)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 MIRACLE MILE East Of Ely (indie)

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