State Theatre, Sydney
Saturday November 15, 2014 :
A buzz of anticipation filled the grand old hall of the State Theatre in Sydney. As the house lights dimmed, a large screen at the rear of the main stage came to life with rapidly flashing images of the band, YES, one of the most well known and influential progressive rock bands of the last four decades.
Cheering and applause filled the 85 year old building as the band took their positions. It was a varied mix of old and new faces. Chris Squire on bass, who is the founding member and has remained a permanent member since the band’s inception in 1968, Steve Howe on guitar from back in the glory days of the 1970’s, also Alan White on drums who is the second longest running member. But to my surprise, a replacement for vocalist and front man, Jon Anderson. New vocalist, Jon Davison from American band, Glass Hammer, has found himself fronting the very English “YES” and really filling the shoes of his predecessor Jon Anderson, same high note hitting voice, same vocal style, all in all a fantastic replacement.
As the band launched into the beginning of the classic 1972 masterpiece, Close To The Edge, I realised they were about to play the entire album cover to cover. To my knowledge the album has not been played in its entirety for years or if ever here in Australia.
The band then went on to play a few new tunes from their newly released album, Heaven and Earth, with vocalist Jon Davison accompanied the band with his acoustic guitar as they delivered ‘Believe Again’. From the same album, ‘The Game’ was more up tempo, almost a pop song, with exceptional lead guitar work bringing it to life, although the famous pounding bass lines normally associated with bassist Chris Squire were surprisingly fairly subdued.
It was again time to settle back into the progressive classics that Yes are known for, this time the 1971 epic, Fragile. The diehard fans were clearly excited to hear ‘Roundabout’ live and witness the whole album played to perfection.
As the gig came to a close, it was hard to guess which tunes would make up the encores, as there were still so many songs from Yes’s career spanning 45years not yet played. It turns out we were treated to ‘I’ve Seen All Good People’ as an encore opener, though the many already ecstatic fans showed their absolute appreciation when the famous ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart’ come thundering from the stage.
There’s no doubt these guys are masters at what they do, great musicians, writing and performing great progressive rock and getting better with age.
Reviewer and Photographer: Terry Paull
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