----------------------------------------------------- JULY 29, 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: Chicago Tribune http://metromix.com/top/1,1419,M-Metromix-CriticsReviews-X!ArticleDetail-17686,00.html Rock review, YES at the Chicago Theatre By Michael Parrish  Rock band Yes has been through innumerable changes in personnel since it was first founded by bassist Chris Squire and vocalist Jon Anderson in the late 1960s. Most fans and critics agree, however, that the early 1970s version of the group featuring guitarist Steve Howe, keyboardist Rick Wakeman and either Bill Bruford or Alan White (who is with Yes on the current tour) on drums, was the strongest lineup of the band's career, the progressive rock equivalent of the Jordan-Rodman Bulls. At a sold-out show at the Chicago Theatre Friday night, the Yes dream team reunited for a powerful display of the enduring virtues of their musicianship and of their songwriting. The band's 3-hour show focused mostly on material recorded prior to 1974, including such epics as "The Revealing Science of God," which took up an entire side of their Tales of Topographic Oceans album. The defining elements of the Yes sound remain Anderson's plaintive vocals, Squire's thundering lead bass and Howe's fluid, expressive guitar textures. Anderson may have lost a bit of his high register, but he, Squire, and Howe can still muster those exquisite high harmonies that sometimes sound (in a good way) like an angelic choir of chipmunks. The rail-thin, bookish Howe kept his guitar technician running throughout the entire show as he worked through a veritable closet full of acoustic, electric and lap steel guitars, sometimes playing two or three instruments during a single song. A superb technician, Howe, whose specialty is pastiches of chords strung together by impossibly bent notes, took even the most familiar material into uncharted, and intriguing, melodic territory. Squire, looking every bit the British rock star in knee-length coat, mullet cut and mutton chops, kept the band consistently energized with his cascading flurries of notes and extroverted mugging. (In a true Spinal Tap moment, Squire staggered back onstage from the wings after donning what looked like an impossibly heavy three-necked bass for the set closing "Awakening.") White's athletic and precise drumming was essential to the band's sound, but he generally avoided the limelight, even the showboat percussion solos that were a familiar fixture of shows of their golden era. Wakeman, who has been in and out of Yes more times than Michael Jordan has retired from and returned to basketball, was the glue that held this particular incarnation of Yes together. Surrounded by a bank of nine electronic keyboards, Wakeman added crucial musical substance and seasonings, but mainly left definition of the tunes to Squire and Howe. One of the show's magical moments occurred midway through Anderson's solo rendition of "Show Me," a tune he wrote just a few days ago, when Wakeman quietly took the stage and joined in with some subtle electronic piano support. A bit later, they also joined forces for a spare, airy rendition of the beautiful ballad, "And You and I." Buoyed by fans who rewarded each tune with a standing ovation, the members of Yes delivered a virtuoso performance that demonstrated that they remain as passionate about their material and with playing together, as they did during their heyday nearly 30 years ago. Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com