On Sunday the 6th of September, I saw my fourth Yes concert at the Greek Theater. Believe it or not, out of all those four times, three of those concerts have taken place at the Greek, one other taking place at the Orpheum, a venue that has become a favorite of mine over the years. This was my 32nd concert, my fourth time seeing Yes, my third time seeing them at the Greek and, of course, my first time seeing them without the late great Chris Squire. This tour was shared with the band Toto. Since my Dad and I are not really into Toto, our original plan was to arrive at the venue after their performance, which began at 19:30. However, ultimately, we decided to stay for the entire night and give Toto a chance. Back in 2011, when we saw Yes for the first time, they toured with Styx. We remembered being very impressed with Styx's set so it made sense for us to see if Toto would leave us feeling the same way.
Toto started right on time, with the song "Running Out of Time." There were a total of nine people on stage. Believe it or not, that's not the most people I've seen on stage at once. That record goes to Arcade Fire, who had a total of ten people on stage when I saw them at the Forum in 2014, including touring musicians. While I could see the talent that existed in each person on that stage, I have to say that I wasn't as impressed with them as I was with Styx. Throughout the set, I actually found myself becoming somewhat bored by some of their extended jams, which is saying quite a bit, considering that I generally love extended jams. As a guitar player, I found myself a bit lost with some of the longer guitar solos. They didn't really take me on a musical journey the way Steve Howe would or David Gilmour would. The goal of those guitar solos seemed to be to play as many notes as possible in the shortest amount of time just to impress the crowd, something I really don't find pleasing to my ears. I managed to tough it out through the rest of the set, which ended at about 21:00 with "Africa." Sorry, Toto. I gave you what I think was a fair chance, but you still don't do much for me.
Yes came on at exactly 21:30. However, before they entered the stage, they played a sweet tribute video in memory of Chris on the screen with the song "Onward" playing. I think the audience took that as an opportunity to share a moment of silence for a lost prog hero, because for the most part, no one made a sound. During the tribute, I couldn't help but think of the note Rick Wakeman had written shortly after Chris' death. Rick's tribute was just one of tens of tributes posted by many of my favorite musicians in the days following Chris' death, but I think his words stood out to me more than the words of anyone else: "Although Chris is no longer with us in human form, his music has not gone with him and that will be around long after all who read this will also have departed this mortal coil. That’s the great gift of music. That gift can be passed on with what has been created and so Chris will always live on." (http://www.rwcc.com/notice_chrissquire.asp)
It's true that none of us are getting any younger, especially these prog legends. I know that, eventually, they will leave too, so that is why every one of these concerts is important to me. To live out the rest of my days knowing that I got to see (and even meet!) artists like Yes, King Crimson, Rush, Greg Lake, Roger Waters and, next March, David Gilmour, means more than I can express in words. While I enjoy just about any kind of concert, there is really nothing quite like a prog concert. I really feel like everyone is connected to the music and to the artists. It keeps me believing that music truly has no boundaries and is limitless.
King Crimson inspired me to, like they would say, "embrace the moment," and enjoy the concert for what it is, so I have no photos to share from the evening, but I do have my memory to refer back to. Following the tribute to Chris, Yes made their usual entrance with Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite" playing. This lineup consisted of Jon Davison on vocals, Alan White on drums, Geoff Downes on keyboards, Steve Howe on guitars and, in place of Chris, Billy Sherwood on bass. From my understanding, they are doing exactly what Chris wanted them to do: keep Yes going, regardless of what happens. However, I know that there are many Yes fans out there who don't want that, and wish that the band would just hang up their gear and call it quits, since there has never been a Yes without Chris until now. I, on the other hand, am open to different lineups. To me, it doesn't really matter who's on vocals, or bass, or whatever (unless Steve leaves), as long as they play well. :)
They began their set with a very unusual opening song: "Don't Kill the Whale" from Tormato. That made for a very low-energy entrance, to be honest. The second song they played was the song that I think would have been a better start: "Tempus Fugit" from Drama. One problem that jumped out at me almost instantly was that, from our seats (North Terrace), I could hardly hear what Steve was playing, and Steve is pretty much the main reason I'm interested in seeing Yes in concert. The next song they payed was one I had not heard them play live before: their version of the Simon and Garfunkel song "America." I always enjoyed listening to that cover so it was a nice addition to the set. Even though I like to pay attention to all the musicians on stage whenever I got to a concert, in this case, I found myself observing Billy Sherwood more than anyone else. I admire him for filling in for such a vital member of the band and covering Chris' complex bass riffs. From my understanding, he was actually Chris' first choice in finding someone to replace him. He didn't quite have the same large stage presence as Chris, but I wasn't exactly expecting that. Next, they played another favorite of mine: the title track from their album Going for the One. After hearing this song live several times, it has become one of my favorites to watch Steve play on. I'm always fascinated by his ability to play just about anything that has strings on it. It blows me away when I see how underrated he is in the guitar world.
The next song was another one I was hearing live for the first time: the title track off their album Time and a Word. I have established that, of all the singers that have replaced Jon Anderson over the years, Jon Davison has been the best. He really did sound great on this song. his voice probably resembles Jon Anderson's the closest, not that I'm expecting him to sound just like Anderson. They then played "Siberian Khatru," from my favorite Yes album, Close to the Edge. I'm always happy to hear that song live, let's just leave it at that. However, next came one of the songs that they pretty much have to play, but I would rather not hear: "Owner of a Lonely Heart." While 90125 is a good album overall, that song has never done anything special for me. I like the guitar solo, and that's about it. The second time I saw Yes was in 2013, when they did their 3-album tour. Part of why that was the best Yes concert I have been to was because they did not play that song, if you want the truth. They closed their set with two more must-play songs: "Roundabout" and "Starship Trooper."
I noticed a trend. I've seen Yes four times, twice alone and twice with another band. The two times I've seen them with another band, they displayed far less energy than they did when I saw them by themselves. There just didn't seem to be as much excitement or motivation from them. Of course, on this tour, part of the reason may be because they are grieving for the loss of Chris, which is totally understandable, but it is still a trend that I have noticed. While this was a good set overall, it could have been better. I think I will give them one more chance but, in the future, I think I will also avoid seeing them if they do another two-headliner tour. If I go to a Yes-only concert and find that they are still lacking in energy, I may have to retire from seeing live Yes shows. That's the truth. Well, at least that's the truth for now. I have a tendency to change my mind about things sometimes. ;)
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