------------------------------------------------- AUGUST 16, 2001 ------------------------------------------------- Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel http://www.jsonline.com/onwisconsin/music/aug01/yes16081601.asp Yes just a bloated dinosaur By Dave Tianen So. Who was it that told Yes, "You know, you guys could be really good if you just had a little more bombast. What you really need is about a 30- or 40-piece string section so you don't sound so underproduced." They probably didn't need too much persuasion. The core operating musical premise of Yes has always been too much is never enough. Yes is back on tour, and Wednesday they showed up at the Riverside Theatre with enough people to colonize distant galaxies. Keyboardist Rick Wakeman has decided to sit this dance out, so Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White concluded that what they needed to replace Wakeman was a symphony orchestra. Hence we have the Yessymphonic Tour. Measured over the arch of a 30-plus year career, Yes has always seemed like the most inflated and over-the-top supersaurus in the prog-rock fossil garden. For one thing, they really only have a rock sensibility at all when Squire is laying down one of his monster bass solos, as on "Roundabout" or "Starship Trooper." Their musical sensibility is really a blend of classical song forms with a smattering of English folk and pop influences. Their songs are overambitious and undisciplined even by progressive rock standards. Many of them last longer than most Third World governments. Where they become truly comical is when all those instrumental layers and miles of meandering exposition are laid on top of a trivial or inconsequential lyrics like "Get Up/Get Down," which front man Jon Anderson then delivers with all the import of a bulletin from the Burning Bush. The lyrical reach of Yes almost never equals its musical ambition. Beyond that, I find Anderson and his preening falsetto to be a deeply twerpy presence. There may never have been a more fey personality to front a major rock band. One of his favorite stage moves is to stretch out his arms and wiggle his little pinkies at the crowd. How weird is that? Wednesday, Anderson showed up in a loose red tunic and purple Zouave pants with little sparkles. He looked like he'd raided the closet of a colorblind jester. The present tour is largely taken from the band's early '70s heyday, songs like "Close to the Edge," "Wonderous Stories," "And You And I" and, their best tune and one of their few actual hits - "Roundabout." Wednesday's show drew in the neighborhood of 2,000 enthusiastic fans, many of whom seem to regard Howe as a minor deity. He's certainly an accomplished player, but as a writer he's clearly prone to the kind of overkill that tends to make Yes such an exhausting experience. Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com