YES – BRIGHTON CENTRE 21.3.18
I had initial misgivings about this evening’s Yes concert, with a lineup that was radically different from what would be classed as the ‘classic’ lineup. But my misgivings soon disappeared shortly into the opening number ‘Yours Is No Disgrace’ from ‘The Yes Album’, after the obligatory intro music of Stravinsky’s ‘Firebird Suite’.
Guitarist Steve Howe and drummer Alan White are the remaining two from that lineup, with White’s contribution limited to the final 20 minutes of the concert due to recent back surgery. Sadly, bassist Chris Squire passed away in 2015 and has been replaced by Billy Sherwood, a long time Yes collaborator, with Jay Schellen on drums and Jon Davison taking Jon Anderson’s place on lead vocals. Another long time Yes collaborator, Geoff Downes (of Buggles and Asia fame) handles the keyboards.
This version of Yes is on superb form, handling some of the band’s most complex material with consummate ease.
This evenings concert was split into two halves, with the first half of the show being what you could call the ‘greatest hits’ section, with a large chunk of material from ‘The Yes Album’, including Steve Howe’s ‘The Clap’ (note- he didn’t play ‘Mood For A Day’ like in Bristol). The set closed with ‘And You And I’ from ‘Close To The Edge’.
The second half consisted of about two-thirds of ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’, a brave move, as this album tends to polarise Yes fans. They played the whole of side one, ‘The Revealing Science Of God (Dance Of The Dawn)’, nothing from side two and then into the acoustic section of ‘The Ancient (Giants Under The Sun)’. ‘Ritual (Nous Sommes Du Soleil)’ marked the appearance of Alan White on drums and the finale of the second set, which had the audience on its feet.
The encore was as expected, with ‘Roundabout’ and ‘Starship Trooper’, played superbly. Anyone who thinks that this isn’t really Yes needs to think again.
The full Yes setlist for tonight’s concert reads:
Set 1:
(Intro Music) ‘The Firebird Suite’ (Igor Stravinsky) ‘Yours Is No Disgrace’, ‘I’ve Seen All Good People’, ‘Sweet Dreams’, ‘South Side of the Sky’, ‘Onward’, ‘Clap’, ‘Wonderous Stories’, ‘Parallels’, ‘And You and I’
Set 2: ‘The Revealing Science of God (Dance of the Dawn)’, ‘Leaves of Green’, ‘Ritual (Nous sommes du soleil)’, (encore) ‘Roundabout’, ‘Starship Trooper’.
For more information on Yes, visit their official website: http://yesworld.com/
