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This year, Yes is playing a few shows, here and there. And they're playing a cruise in a couple of weeks. One of their stops was at The Venue in the Horseshoe Casino, Hammond Indiana. I had wanted to see the band with a semblance of the original lineup, and this lineup included Howe, Squire and White. Hammond isn't very close, so I wasn't sure I wanted to go, but the set included three albums straight through - Close to the Edge, Going for the One and The Yes Album. It was totally worth it.Two tickets are $40, plus a tank of gas? Still a cheap show.
The Venue is a big box sort of theater. Seats fanned out in a 90 degree arc, most rising up the slope, with a high balcony area. But there weren't really any walls or ceiling near enough to the stage to reflect any sound, so I think the acoustics were decent. The Venue's main problem is that it's within the maze of the casino, and which is not smoke-free. Just walking through it twice left the smell in my clothes. Our seats were most of the way to the back, on the far right end of our row. We could still see the whole stage, and there were the usual big video screens, so we could see fingers on fretboards - occasionally, when the videographers would allow it.
The band consisted of original bassist Chris Squire, nearly-original guitarist Steve Howe, longtime drummer Alan White, occasional keyboardist Geoff Downes, and new singer Jon Davison (recruited last month, to replace ailing Benoît David). Davison was great. His voice was very similar to Jon Anderon's, but a little smoother.
The show started out with Close to the Edge. That was great! It's a fantastic album. "Close to the Edge," "And You and I," and "Siberian Khatru." I loved being able to watch the band play. There's so much going on in the music, so seeing them play gives it clarity. Or at least helps my geek side home in on who's playing what. I actually saw a few times, that a different instrument was playing something than I thought, guitar versus keyboards versus bass. Squire played a Rickenbacker through the whole album.
As with most concerts, the sound wasn't perfected until about ten minutes into it, which was only halfway through the first song. Davison's vocals were always very high in the mix, as were Howe's guitars when Davison wasn't singing. The drums sounded good - never overpowering, but always audible. I was disappointed that the bass was sometimes buried in the mix. And keyboards were often inaudible.
I found the video to be very annoying. It switched back and forth between Howe and Davison, sometimes on Downes, and only occasionally on Squire. Even less on White. For Siberian Khatru," I really wanted to get a closeup of Squire, so I could see what he was doing, but the cameras did not oblige. Nor did they for the entire next album. One of the camera was mounted on the rigging on stage left. Once, while showing Howe playing his lap steel guitar, Downes bass sound was so low and loud, it caused the rigging to vibrate, and Howe went out of focus.
Second was the underrated Going for the One. My favorites were "Wondrous Stories" and "Awaken". There were a few points where the music differed slightly from the studio versions. Some of this is just natural variation, but "Awaken" included a bit of an extended interlude in the middle. Also, at some point (I don't recall which song), Squire played harmonica.
After a twenty minute break, they returned to play The Yes Album. Another classic, one of the great prog albums. I was very disappointed that the sound was off during its opening, "Yours Is No Disgrace". That's one of my favorite Yes tracks. It was the worst sound of the night. Howe killed 'em with "The Clap", of course. The guy is just amazing. "Starship Troopers" was awesome. After that, it was kinda downhill - "I've Seen All Good People", "A Venture" and "Perpetual Change". I think they should have switched the two sides, and started with "All Good People" and ended with "Starship Troopers." That song was meant to be a show closer. It rocks! Some people would have been scratching their heads, but I think it would have worked better.
After that stellar set, they returned with "Roundabout" as their encore. Another totally awesome song. I really wanted to get up and dance, but I was concentrating on what Howe and Squire were playing. :-)
Best show I've seen in a few years.
Then we were out of there, and got home in just under two hours.
The Venue is a big box sort of theater. Seats fanned out in a 90 degree arc, most rising up the slope, with a high balcony area. But there weren't really any walls or ceiling near enough to the stage to reflect any sound, so I think the acoustics were decent. The Venue's main problem is that it's within the maze of the casino, and which is not smoke-free. Just walking through it twice left the smell in my clothes. Our seats were most of the way to the back, on the far right end of our row. We could still see the whole stage, and there were the usual big video screens, so we could see fingers on fretboards - occasionally, when the videographers would allow it.
The band consisted of original bassist Chris Squire, nearly-original guitarist Steve Howe, longtime drummer Alan White, occasional keyboardist Geoff Downes, and new singer Jon Davison (recruited last month, to replace ailing Benoît David). Davison was great. His voice was very similar to Jon Anderon's, but a little smoother.
The show started out with Close to the Edge. That was great! It's a fantastic album. "Close to the Edge," "And You and I," and "Siberian Khatru." I loved being able to watch the band play. There's so much going on in the music, so seeing them play gives it clarity. Or at least helps my geek side home in on who's playing what. I actually saw a few times, that a different instrument was playing something than I thought, guitar versus keyboards versus bass. Squire played a Rickenbacker through the whole album.
As with most concerts, the sound wasn't perfected until about ten minutes into it, which was only halfway through the first song. Davison's vocals were always very high in the mix, as were Howe's guitars when Davison wasn't singing. The drums sounded good - never overpowering, but always audible. I was disappointed that the bass was sometimes buried in the mix. And keyboards were often inaudible.
I found the video to be very annoying. It switched back and forth between Howe and Davison, sometimes on Downes, and only occasionally on Squire. Even less on White. For Siberian Khatru," I really wanted to get a closeup of Squire, so I could see what he was doing, but the cameras did not oblige. Nor did they for the entire next album. One of the camera was mounted on the rigging on stage left. Once, while showing Howe playing his lap steel guitar, Downes bass sound was so low and loud, it caused the rigging to vibrate, and Howe went out of focus.
Second was the underrated Going for the One. My favorites were "Wondrous Stories" and "Awaken". There were a few points where the music differed slightly from the studio versions. Some of this is just natural variation, but "Awaken" included a bit of an extended interlude in the middle. Also, at some point (I don't recall which song), Squire played harmonica.
After a twenty minute break, they returned to play The Yes Album. Another classic, one of the great prog albums. I was very disappointed that the sound was off during its opening, "Yours Is No Disgrace". That's one of my favorite Yes tracks. It was the worst sound of the night. Howe killed 'em with "The Clap", of course. The guy is just amazing. "Starship Troopers" was awesome. After that, it was kinda downhill - "I've Seen All Good People", "A Venture" and "Perpetual Change". I think they should have switched the two sides, and started with "All Good People" and ended with "Starship Troopers." That song was meant to be a show closer. It rocks! Some people would have been scratching their heads, but I think it would have worked better.
After that stellar set, they returned with "Roundabout" as their encore. Another totally awesome song. I really wanted to get up and dance, but I was concentrating on what Howe and Squire were playing. :-)
Best show I've seen in a few years.
Then we were out of there, and got home in just under two hours.
