----------------------------------------------------- AUGUST 2, 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: Toronto Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com (abbreviated link text) Yes fans revel in a flashback to the seventies By Alan Niester When a band has been on the road for nearly 35 years, no matter how dedicated its audience, it needs a few gimmicks to keep things interesting. And Yes, that most progressive of progressive rock bands, has been a master at putting a fresh face on the same old repertoire. Last year, for instance, we had the symphonic tour, in which the five-piece rock band all but drowned out 35 people who were sawing quietly away at violins in the background. In 1991, we had the hilarious Union tour, in which virtually every player who had ever been in this revolving door of a band crowded onto the stage at the same time -- with predictable results. We've had surround-sound tours, funny-name tours (Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe performing "classic Yes songs" -- that one being the result of a dispute of rightful ownership of the band's name), all of this simply a way of keeping songs like Roundabout in circulation. On Wednesday night at the Molson Amphitheatre, the latest twist in the ongoing Yes saga involved the return of Rick Wakeman, the still flaxen-haired keyboard player whose moderately successful solo career had negated the need for him to tour with the band. Thus, the show boasted what many fans would consider the classic Yes lineup -- long-time stalwarts Jon Anderson (vocals), Chris Squire (bass), Steve Howe (guitar), joined by drummer Alan White and Wakeman. The result was a show that, for the most part, seemed like it could have happened in about 1975. It was as if all those crappy eighties and nineties albums, all those in-again, out-again sidemen, never existed. And, as a result, it was probably the performance many stalwart fans had been waiting for for decades. Not surprisingly, the nearly three-hour performance focused on the classic seventies material that defined the band at its peak, with much of it taken from the 1972 breakthrough album Fragile. That album was nearly presented in its entirety, with Roundabout being augmented by takes of Heart of the Sunrise (nice), Southside of the Sky (ponderous) and Squire's bass solo opportunity The Fish. Newer material (and there's been lots of it) was given short shrift. Fans sat patiently through numbers like last year's tedious Magnification in the hope of getting something from such seventies fare as Close to the Edge or Tales from Topographic Oceans.They weren't disappointed, as the band tripped its way through such classics as Siberian Khatru (which seems to have become the standard opening, whatever the tour) and The Revealing Science of God/Dance of the Dawn, which was as musically ponderous as its title suggests. The return of Wakeman did indeed add some lustre to the proceedings. Draped in a floor-length coat/gown, which may well have been made of tinfoil, Wakeman's one-hand-on-this-keyboard, one-hand-on-that-keyboard approach actually gave the band a fuller sound than all those symphonic players from last year's tour. For vintage Yes fans (and there are still plenty of them -- about 8,000 showed up for this steamy and uncomfortable affair), this was nearly as good as it could get. A few favourite songs went missing (And You and I, Starship Trooper), but they'll probably be resurrected for next year's "Songs We Didn't Play Last Year" tour. Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com