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Yes
Royal Albert Hall, London
21st June 2022
It’s the summer solstice and Simon Reed is in the company of a band so synonymous with spiritual mysticism that it’s had a minor planet named after it. He battles the somewhat less spiritual roads of West London during a tube and rail strike and heads for the Royal Albert Hall to experience the spectacle of Yes.
In the history of rock music there can surely be no other band that has a back story as turbulent as Yes. Nineteen full-time members have been through the prog behemoth’s revolving door. In their 48 active years, it’s had more spins than a Las Vegas casino and they’ve experienced more splits than Simone Biles.
Tonight, at the Royal Albert Hall I’m seeing the current, ‘official’ version of Yes. They don’t really need the ‘official’ title any more as at the time of writing this is the only version of Yes that exists, but given the history… well, I can see why they keep it.
This version doesn’t, sadly, have Jon Anderson, who following the demise of his own version of Yes, ‘Yes Featuring Anderson, Rabin, Wakeman’, is currently performing Yes standards with students of the Paul Green Rock Academy in the US. Wearing Anderson’s shoes (and tonight’s shoes are a lovely sparkly blue affair) in official Yes is another Jon; Davison, who has been with the band since 2012. Both Jon’s are alto tenors and as such Davison is perfectly placed to perform the extremely demanding vocal parts made famous by his namesake. Is he a replacement for Anderson? If I’m being brutally honest; no, he isn’t – but then nobody ever could be. Davison is 90% though and has carved and made the role his own. To even follow in Anderson’s wake is a feat worthy of admiration.
The glue which sticks it all together is Steve Howe, who has been there on and off virtually from the beginning. Critically, Yes also retained founder member Chris Squire, whose pounding basslines characterised much of the early sound and somehow managed to always cut through what was invariably a highly complex and multi-layered mix. Squire of course passed away with leukaemia in 2015 and his place was permanently taken by American multi-instrumentalist Billy Sherwood. Sherwood had previously performed at various times with Yes for years and had a close working relationship and personal friendship with the former bass man.
Geoff Downes plays keys these days and it’s another tricky spot to fill, given the associations the slot has with Rick Wakeman, surely just about the most charismatic keyboard player on Earth. Following a very brief period with the band in the 1980s, Downes has been back with Yes since 2011 having taken over from Oliver Wakeman, Rick’s son, who also had a place in the group. You still with me?
Drummer Alan White had been with Yes nearly as long as Howe and was in the latest incarnation since its inception in 2010, though poor health in later years had diminished his involvement with the band. Very sadly, White passed away shortly before the tour commenced, though it was already known he would not be able to participate. A moving video tribute to White was played shortly before the band came out. Jay Schellen is playing drums on the tour and is a fitting deputy, for he was a personal friend of White’s and also has a long-established link to Yes, having previously performed with Squire, Sherwood and Downes as well as with Tony Kaye, the original keyboard player in the band. You still with me?
This is a Yes show in two halves – the former being a rather pleasant wander through the back catalogue and the latter a full performance of the 1972 classic album Close To The Edge as a mark of its 50th anniversary. The band kick off with a truncated and reworked version of On The Silent Wings Of Freedom, a cut from 1978’s Tormato, and one which is seldom heard live. It certainly is a surprise, though it’s a shame it misses the instrumental opening of the studio version which really kicks ass and which featured some classic Squire bass pyrotechnics. I’ve no doubt a consummate player such as Sherwood could have delivered this in spades so it’s a curious omission.
Still, you only get what you’re given and next we are given a nice take on Yours Is No Disgrace, the first Yes tune I ever heard apart from Owner Of A Lonely Heart and it’s a real personal favourite. Like so much of Yes, it meanders through many varied landscapes before it finally rediscovers where it came in and resolves; it’s a fine way to spend ten minutes of anybody’s time.
It’s hard to believe that a band which brought as much imagination and complexity to their song writing as Yes occasionally used to stick cover versions on their records. But they did, and tonight we find Richie Havens’ No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed. It goes way back to Time And A Word, recorded in the winter of 1969bh (Before Howe). Except this is Yes, so it features Jerome Moross’ expansive orchestral theme from The Big Country western courtesy of Downes, and Sherwood drops a bassline into it that sounds like an InterCity125 barrelling through a tunnel.
Does It Really Happen? comes next. It’s another personal favourite from Drama, an album which doesn’t seem to get a lot of love primarily because by 1980, Anderson and Wakeman were gone (for now) and replaced by Downes and Trevor Horn of The Buggles fame. What on earth did a pair of tie wearing pop guys responsible for Video Killed The Radio Star think they were doing in a prog rock band? Well, they were helping knock out rather excellent tunes like this. It’s another featuring one of Squire’s majestic spleen shattering basslines that Sherwood deliverers with aplomb.
There’s time now for some introductions, the last of which is for Howe as the remaining members of the band exit stage left. If there’s going to be a solo spot tonight, it’s fitting that it comes in the shape of the veteran guitarist and his rendition of Clap, a live cut that appeared on The Yes Album in 1971.
On the sleeve it was erroneously and rather awkwardly listed as ‘The Clap’, an error that is continued on streaming sites to this day. I’ve loved this piece since the day I first heard it, when a good school friend who was, and remains, a prodigiously talented guitarist played it note perfectly in a Sixth Form production around 35 years ago. We all had the hots for a girl who was working back stage and he dedicated it to her.
It must surely have been the first and only time a young suitor has ever chosen an audience of several hundred bemused parents in which to woo a potential partner, using just the music of Steve Howe and an unfortunate implication that his love interest might be carrying an STI. He never got the girl, but then none of us did. I can’t help but smile when I hear it again now.
The first half closes with a nice mix of old and new. Wonderous Stories from Going For The One is sweet but for the first time tonight Davison sounds a little exposed with the chiming vocal peaking above such a stripped, acoustic arrangement. He comes back in fine form though for The Ice Bridge, the first of a pair of tracks played tonight from the latest Yes studio release The Quest. This one really was delivered with style, the band supremely comfortable in the surroundings of exclusively their own work.
There’s just time for one more classic old tune, Heart Of the Sunrise. Once again, Billy Sherwood delights with some of Chris Squire’s finest work, which by now really is giving the ornate plasterwork in the Royal Albert Hall something to think about. At times, Davison is on the edge again with the main vocal, but when the duties are shared out with Howe and Sherwood in the three-part harmonies it sounds every inch the Yes of old.
There’s a well-deserved standing ovation at the end and the band take a break before they embark on Close To The Edge. There’s time for me to chat to my neighbours in the audience. Steve to my right is from Berkeley, California and is in the UK primarily for the live music it seems. He’s a huge fan and has loved what he’s seen so far. His enthusiasm is infectious and I warm greatly to him, not least because he keeps offering to buy me pints of Stella Artois. In front of us are a lovely couple from Colombia. They could easily be the youngest people here; they came because they’d been advised to do so by a parent, which warms the heart. My parents liked the James Last Orchestra. Oh dear, oh dear.
The taped sound effect intro to Close To The Edge plays out for a good couple of minutes before Yes return to the stage. And when they do and the music really gets going, the audience goes as nuts as it’s possible for an audience of a certain age to get. There’s impromptu conducting in the front rows and Berkeley Steve is somehow managing to play air guitar and drums simultaneously. At the close, there’s another standing ovation and Davison sinks to his knees.
And You And I is a much more mellow affair and my personal favourite from the trio of songs on Close To The Edge. There’s much stage dexterity on display as Howe alternates between a guitar hooked to a synth to generate the luscious acoustic textures in the intro and mid-parts, before then alternating between a standard electric and lap steel. Davison really excels in this one and there’s some lovely interplay between him and Howe. They obviously enjoy making music together.
Another standing ovation follows and then comes Siberian Khatru; with its riffs and motifs it’s a guitar players delight and Howe lets off some steam here. He doesn’t always look like he’s having a ball on stage but in the final throes he’s actually pulling a few staccato dance moves, Wilko Johnson style. Davison bangs some electric bongos as if toughening up his hands for a world title defence. They are completely inaudible, at least from my seat, but the spectacle helps build events to a climax before an inevitable, though richly deserved third consecutive standing ovation.
“I guess it’s been a difficult day for the train spotters” says Howe when the band come back out for the encore. A lack of public transport must have affected the turnout tonight, but looking around me I cannot see many empty seats. Classic prog fans are clearly hardy types. They are rewarded with a truly excellent blast of the classic from 1971’s Fragile album, Roundabout; Howe’s harmonics ringing clear whilst Billy Sherwood bangs out another shattering bassline that would have made Squire proud.
Yes, Davison isn’t Jon Anderson, and yes, he misses that final 10% but it really doesn’t matter here. The band deliver it with all the spirit of the original and there’s even some dancing in the aisles. Davison joins Jay Schellen on the drum riser, Berkeley Steve and the Colombians are going crazy and I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve enjoyed live music as much as this all year.
At the end there’s a further standing ovation, this time by proxy as nobody is sitting down any more. One final tune, Starship Trooper, another stalwart from The Yes Album, closes the show – the final movement, Würm, building and building and building until eventually Howe closes it down with a concluding solo and more of the staccato dancing.
I had a few questions going into this show that I wasn’t sure were going to be answered; but they emphatically were. Are Yes, in this incarnation, the spectacle they were in the 1970s? No, they’re not; but how could anybody realistically expect them to be some 50 years on? Are Yes, in this incarnation, still a live and recording act worthy of your attention? Based on latest album release The Quest and my two hours in the Royal Albert Hall, yes, they absolutely are.
As I say goodbye to my new friends and walk out among a myriad of smiling faces, I am, however, still left with one final and as yet, still unanswered question:
How the bloody hell am I going to get home?
More information on Yes and the current tour can be found on their website. Yes are on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Please note: Use of these images in any form without permission is illegal. If you wish to contact the photographer please email: simon@musicalpictures.co.uk
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All words and photos by Simon Reed. His website Musical Pictures is here and you can visit his author profile for Louder Than War here. He tweets as @musicalpix
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Grand review. ARW is disbanded, Jon Anderson is touring with students of Paul Green’s Rock Academy, yet plans a full band return with the Band Geeks, performing Yes songs as they are supposed to performed. Next year.
Thank you for that review, excellent, I couldn’t attend due to the rail chaos , bugger bugger,
Glad you enjoyed it mate and that’s what it all about, get a bit fed up of reading all these
” AHH but it’s not yes without….,…., It’s the music that counts, if you’ve enjoyed it that’s all that matters
It’s Colombia. Not “Columbia”.
Thank you!
This review was a pleasure to read. Thank you for your honest take on the current incarnation of my favorite band, 47 years on. I’m glad to hear that live Yes music is still able bring people together, young and old.
I just saw Steve Hackett’s Genesis Revisited in the states. Great show, and same as this. The guitarist that was there during the bands ‘classic’ period (thought not original member, or during the bands more pop period) put together a band to cover the classics. Hackett was enjoyable, as I am sure this was. But Hackett does not pretend you are seeing Genesis. Don’t make a mistake, this is not Yes, this is Steve Howe and friends performing Yes’ classic songs. I would have more respect for him if he called it Steve Howe’s Yes Revisited or something like that. (BTW, saw ARW a couple years ago, more real Yes then this band)
Agreed – this is a Steve Howe and friends band. The ARW breathed new life into old songs. Pity they never produced the promised new material. Davison is to shrill, too thin and overall it is time this farce came to an end. I would have to be paid to see this line up.
Sorry; but you are totally wrong. This band is Yes; you like it or not. Musically and legally is Yes in my opinion. Greetings
Yes totally agree I thoroughly enjoyed this line up with admittedly Squire and White in NZ way back when, how would I have ever lived with myself if I hadn’t.Luckily Jon turned up solo for two performances in Australia not long after so I feel complete now.
Nick Mason and chums are doing just that playing early Pink Floyd material. Great show.
Totally agree with you! ARW is much closer to Yes. I still watch ARW live at the Apollo I t is on YouTube). Apparently, Steve Howe hates Trevor Rabin.
Trevor Rabin is the better guitarist
Thanks for this review. Reviews of Howe’s Yes since Squire’s passing have been mixed, but it sounds like ithey are still worth the effort to see live.
Legally, Yes Featuring ARW was also an “official” Yes of sorts since Anderson has equal rights to use the name.
Great review. This could almost have come from the Nottingham gig last week, again standing ovations for each of the 3 CTTE numbers … as well as the end…and after the encore…
Great review. Saw the band the night after in York. Wonderful!!
I still cannot get used to this line up “Steve Howe with friends” as asterix2112 named it. The 1972 line up (Anderson Squire, Bruford, Howe and Wakeman) remains my favorite.
Great review! Only slight disappointment as with seeing Genesis in October – over 60 year old fans seem to need to constantly get up and down to go pee during the concert! Frustrating to say the least.
I saw the band in Liverpool on Monday 20/6/22 and agree with everything here. No it’s not Jon A. But Jon D. Is easily up to the job. Some of the tempi were a bit slower than before but we’re all not as young as we were right? I was equally impressed by the newer stuff and it was coherent and enjoyable. I saw the Buggles/Yes incarnation at the Rainbow in 1980 and happily found my self singing along with ‘Does it Really Happen’ so again very enjoyable. Seeing Mr Hackett again for the fifth time in October at the same venue so will review then but overall it’s great to still be alive, to be able to rock out to any extent without the need of a walking stick and to be part of the Prog Rock tribe…Long Live the Seventies…no idea how we’re going to enjoy life once all these guys have passed on so get out there and see them!!
Thoroughly agree with all said above having watched the show on Monday the night before. So Jon D is not Jon A but masterful and assured voice nonetheless. Some of the tempi were a bit slow in places but we’re all getting on a bit… Overall it’s great to still be alive, still hear and see such imaginative music and musicians and to be part of the Prog Rock family!
No Jon , no YES …
I think you are mistaken it’s Jon Anderson’s band……
It’s 100% with Jon , 0 without…
I wish Steve Howe realized the true genius of Jon Anderson then Yes would be Yes.
Saw them at the Albert Hall in 1970
The YES Album had just been released. DADA featuring Elkie Brooke’s and Robert Palmer. YES were the support to Iron Butterfly.
What a night never to be forgotten.
Steve was not there in the beginning but ok.
Honestly, it’s YES music but without the sole of Jon Anderson… it’s not YES.
Started a little differently, without Anderson’s spirit singing these songs, there meanings (and joy) disappear.
Great article. Couldnt agree more. I was there and was never disappointed. Saw them 50 years ago and again now. Best part of my trip to London. And yes the tube strike made getting there and back to the hotel a long walk!
How can they be yes with only ,one original member ,
They don’t have any original members.
Jon Davison doesn’t do justice to songs Jon Anderson originsted. Geoff Downes’ playing is rudementary compared to Rick Wakemsn or his son Oliver. Steve Howe requires slower tempos these days to keep up. Billy Sherwood is a fine bass player but he’s no Chris Squire (no one is) and his harmony vocals are abrasive and harsh, nothing like Squire’s beautiful voice. Jay Schellen is likewise a very good drummer but, like Squire, was a powerhouse almost no one can live up to. Not a single original member of Yes in the band and other than Howe nothing but a lineup of weak imitators. Jon Anderson voice is as fabulous as ever these days and his Yes featurung ARW was light years better than this band mearly posing as Yes. Their new album, The Quest, is a sad rehashing of previous Yes classics – a nice song or two but it doesn’t together as a whole. Anderson says he’ll be touring next year with the phenominal Band Geeks, so I plan to save my money for that instead of wasting it on a lame cover band. I’ve seen the real Yes many times and these guys are a joke.
Thanks for the review.
Regarding other comments about this incarnation being just Howe and friends: Downes first joined Yes in 1980 while Sherwood first collaborated with Squire in 1989, cowrote “The More We Live – Let Go” on Union, toured with Yes in 1994, and was a full fledged member from 1997-2000. This is the continuation of Squire’s vision for the band.
Having written that, Anderson is a poet while Benoît and Davidson lack his stage presence and the angelic quality in his voice. Horn couldn’t really replace Anderson in 1980 either. No one could.
Still, Yes has performed over 600 shows since Squire replaced Anderson (would’ve been over 700 had it not been for the pandemic). It’s doubtful Anderson would’ve committed to even half that many shows with Yes (for purposes of comparison, he did 111 with ARW).
Also, ARW was purely a nostalgia act. They worked on an album for ~8 years, but didn’t perform any of it live and appear to have abandoned the project (the Rabin-penned track, “Fragile”, was played on Steve Jones’ radio show in 2018).
The Squire/Howe led version of Yes is also mostly a nostalgia act, but they’ve released three studio albums and one EP since Anderson’s departure (“Fly From Here” was quite good, as is the song “The Ice Bridge”, though it’s mostly a cover of Francis Monkman’s “The Dawn of an Era”). The Squire/Howe set lists have a lot more variety from year to year too (lots of deep cuts with new/recent material sprinkled in).
Though I enjoyed seeing ARW a couple times, they played the same ~10 songs at every show, changing just a few songs between tours. The only songs of note during their tours were “The Meeting” in 2016 (from ABWH), and “I am Waiting” in 2017/2018 (from Talk). No surprises and nothing new (it’s really a shame they didn’t play “Endless Dream” or “The Calling”… I wouldn’t have minded a song from Rabin’s superb “Jacaranda” either).
So AWR was definitely more of a crowd pleaser for casual Yes fans. But given the choice between seeing them again or the Howe-led version of yes, I’d choose Howe’s.
Just back from the Dublin gig which was a joy to behold. It doesn’t matter what musicians stand on stage under the Yes name, surely it’s ‘Yes’ music that counts, music which has been the sound track of our lives, albeit in the 60’s and 70’s. Thank you guys for a brilliant night.
Are acdc allowed with just Angus? Would Jon Anderson alone be called Yes? Always tricky. But these guys have now got 2 or 3 new albums under their belts. Look at Tangerine Dream…more past members than the Philharmonic orchestra. Can’t people just accept it for what it is? Liverpool FC are still Liverpool FC without Steve Highway!