------------------------------------------------------- AUGUST 12, 1977 ------------------------------------------------------- Source: Portland Press Herald Wakeman Rejoins 'Yes' At Civic Center By Walt Trott That's the big news for Maine fans who plan to catch Yes at the Cumberland County Civic Center Aug. 14. Wakeman is replacing rock organist Pat Moraz, a move that reunites him with Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, and Alan White. Considered by many rock music critics as one of the greatest keyboard artists, Wakeman says he decided to return after hitting it off with his old mates who invited him to perform on some tracks of 'Yes' new LP. "At the time, I wasn't sure. I had left the band because I didn't like the direction musically in which Yes was going. But when I went over to Switzerland, they played me some demos, and it was like back to "Fragile" and "Yessongs". It was songs and good playing." Since his departure, Wakeman has kept busy scoring movie soundtracks (more notably Ken Russell's "Lisztomania"), doing solo LP's and touring (he estimates his "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" tour, complete with a large orchestra, cost him $250,000). Wakeman also performed in Russell's movie "Tommy". His latest solo LP "White Rock" is probably his most ambitious project to date, he says. It is another soundtrack album, accompanying a movie about the Innsbruck Winter Olympics Games (1976). Wakeman says that the picture was scored in 12 parts, which were later spliced to form the whole soundtrack. Unlike many of his previous heavily orchestrated discs, he says this album is almost exclusively keyboards, "with a bit of percussion". Yes is noted for heavy metal trips complete with imaginative staging that has included plastic forms and shooting laser beams. The "practitioners of progressive rock" have produced some exciting LP's, musically and saleswise, including "Close to the Edge", and "Tales of Topographic Oceans." Wakeman says he's not concerned about losses on the group's current tour which will take them to South America, Canada, and Europe, after playdates in the U.S. are conducted. "Obviously where many bands have the problem and where I had the problem when I was touring alone, was that I didn't know how many people would show up." He says it is simpler to figure touring costs for the British troup because it is almost always assured of being a sellout wherever Yes performs. "On my solo tour, we would go out to L.A. and sell 25,000 tickets and then go someplace like St. Louis and sell only 3,000 tickets. But I knew that if we averaged 14,000 to 12,000 audiences on that tour, we would lose money." Wakeman says it was just too expensive an undertaking because the staging and production were too costly. "But people generally supported me on the tour, especially in America." Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, inquiries, corrections, or additions, contact yitp@yesservices.com