Another gig at Tavistock Wharf. This time however it was no tribute band - it was Yes.
Now, none of this “not original band” blah blah blah, members come and go with all bands. Anyway Steve Howe has been with them for a very long time. For me this IS STILL Yes.
Two years ago I had never seen the prog giants, now I have twice - both times at the Wharf. Last time was the Close to the Edge tour. This time it was The Classic Tales of Yes tour.
I was joined by my Cousins Geoff who has joined me a few times recently at gigs, and Gavin who is a proper Yes fan and traveled from Norfolk to Devon for this one.
I was looking forward to this, the band have been practicing at the Wharf for their forthcoming tour, and this gig was the conclusion of that.
It started with Machine Messiah from the Drama album. Not a track I was familiar with, but really enjoyed it. We were off with a bang. Next came the lovely It Will Be a Good Day (The River), off the 1999 Ladder album. I really like this song and Jon Davison nailed the song.
Last time the band didn’t play Going for the One, one of my favourite tracks. I wasn’t to be disappointed, as the horizontal fender was rolled out, my cousin and I both said it the same time! The “classics” continued, with Your Move / All Good People from the Yes album, another favourite.
We were then treated to something different. It was an instrument version of America, the Simon and Garfunkel track. The full track features on Yesterdays, a compilation album - but this was a new arrangement. It really worked too.
The next two tracks were both well known, Time and a Word off the album of the same name and Don’t Kill the Whale off the much maligned Tormato album.
What was next was musical brilliance. Turn of the Century is off Going for the One, and was delivered perfectly. So that was two fifths of my favourite album performed. Very happy!
The classic Yes continued with South Side of the Sky off Fragile, another track I am fond of.
Things changed directionally at this point. We were treated to Cut from the Stars, from the latest album Mirror to the Sky. I haven’t heard the album yet, but enjoyed this track. I was particularly drawn to the bass line.
The set was completed by something different. Tales of Topographic was a double album released in 1973. It featured 4 tracks, one on each side. It has mixed opinions, however famously Rick Wakeman hated it and left the band over it. He famously ate curries on stage when they performed it live!
Anyway, I quite like the album especially the first track The Revealing Science of God: Dance of the Dawn. Basically the band did a melody consisting of parts of all four tracks. I thought it was quite good, however my cousin Gavin wasn’t impressed with it. To be fair he is a purist who has seen the band over 100 times, so entitled to his opinion.
The band quite rightly took the applause and exited. They returned a few minutes later for the encore. Steve Howe took a moment to introduce the band and then we had the opening notes of Roundabout, a definite firm favourite. The encore was completed with the wonderful Starship Trooper.
The band took their deserved applause and were done. What an absolutely brilliant night.
Hopefully same again in two years? Yes yes!