----------------------------------------------------- OCTOBER 30, 2002 ----------------------------------------------------- Source: Columbus Dispatch Tour servings not as tasty reheated By Curtis Schieber The reunion tour by 1970s British art-rock band Yes, which visited Value City Arena on Monday night, prompts three thoughts: The guys need the money. The venture is part of the steady, reliable process of rock revisionism that has made fashionable again the work of prog-rock groups ostracized by the punk upheaval. The band's still-faithful audience, admittedly meager (about 2,000 attended), represents an underserved population that is finally getting attention. Judging by the weak, blurred images projected onto the glorified bedsheets that served as the stage set, the organization doesn't appear as financially hardy as it once was. And the group's light show was more impressive in the early days. Though the catalogs of "kraut-rock'' groups such as Can have recently received new life, Yes was never an outsider band and, as such, is a poor candidate for revisionism. In fact, its sometimes pompous artfulness was surely an inspiration for the film Spinal Tap. Monday's show included several Spinal Tap moments. Lines such as "Battleships confide in me / And tell me where you are'' and the vocal mantra "I get up / I get down'' are as loopy as ever without hinting at the mystical truths they once did. Singer Jon Anderson, who was decked out in loose-fitting, green and yellow pastels, looked like an aging guru. Bassist Chris Squire stood before a fan, presumably so it could dramatically blow his graying locks. Solo features included guitarist Steve Howe's technically dazzling but soulless blues riffing and keyboardist Rick Wakeman's easy, ersatz Bach and Andrew Lloyd Webber-isms. Yes, however, frequently served an audience that ranged from fevered to casual fans, newly converted youngsters to older listeners who had moved on musically. Of the many musicians who have been Yes members through the years, this tour includes the five who created the recordings that many fans believe best defined the group's sound: Squire, Anderson, Howe, Wakeman and drummer Alan White. Plus, the band concentrated on the trio of albums from its prime -- The Yes Album, Fragile and Close to the Edge. Some of it didn't ring as it did in the early 1970s. Starship Trouper lumbered in comparison, many of the intricate harmonies lost; the dreamy midsection of Close to the Edge felt less like surfing Roger Dean's album cover images and more like merely passing time. But the lovely melody of Close survived, as did the muscular beat of several songs and the enchantment of tunes such as Heart of the Sunrise and Siberian Khatru. And the lyrics of Yours Is No Disgrace, goofy as they are, sounded comfortable and unbelievably familiar. At those times, the underserved listeners were served anew. London's Porcupine Tree opened the concert with a short set that at its best reminded one of Pink Floyd's middle period and the music's doped, hypnotic quality Close Window YesInThePress.com For site comments, problems, corrections, or additions, contact YesinthePress@aol.com