[Elspode]

I apologize for not being clever enough to use the expedient of searching for "Concerts" before starting a new thread on this, so here it is, in it's proper place.


So...I got to take my mind off of the woeful state of our nation for a couple of hours last night. My friend Brenda and I saw Anderson, Rabin, Wakeman performing the music of Yes last night at the staggeringly awesome Fox Theater in St Louis. To say that it was a peak experience is to downplay the awesomeness considerably.

The Fox Theater itself is a historic and beautiful example of the early days of film palace excess. It is a huge venue, seating 4,500...a perfect size for acts such as ARW, who, being less than any full version of Yes (no longer possible with the death of Chris Squire last year), will no longer fill an arena. However, the opulence and history of the place makes it virtually a destination in and of itself. Trust me when I say that have *never* peed anywhere nicer.

Among the best amenities were the live theater organ performance serenading arrivals in the stunning lobby, and the thoroughly accommodating, polite, friendly and cheerful staff of ushers. There's even an elevator operator and a doorman - in full doorman dress uniform regalia - who held the door open for us, welcomed us to The Fox, and bade us have a good evening.

The performance itself will long be present in my memory. I was almost immediately transported to another plane, existing as eyes and ears only, absorbing the often otherworldly music of one of Progressive Rock's pinnacle acts...or a reasonable chunk of it, anyway. My primary reason for wanting to see this ensemble was that I am unlikely to have another opportunity to see the remarkable Rick Wakeman play huge banks of synthesizers while clad in his gold lame trousers, sweater, flowing gold cape, and straight long blonde hair.

As have many of us of advancing years, Mr. Wakeman has grown a bit of a paunch and is a bit more full of face - but his prodigious skills at the keyboards are undiminished. I am particularly enamoured of his mastery of the venerable Minimoog synthesizer, of which he is said to own *nine*. He uses two on this tour due to the frequency of their presence in the music of Yes, each needing to be played along with other keyboards in different locations at different times. Wakeman's style is distinctive and very much classically based, and any iteration of Yes in which he was not present was the poorer for it, IMHO. However, he completely nailed the Rabin-era Yes hits, even though Geoff Downes did those original honors.

At age 72, Jon Anderson still appears slightly elven, but he moves with the same flowing grace, sings with the same high register that any fan of Yes would recall. He apologized for having a cold and the likelihood that he would miss a few notes here and there, but they were very few, as it turned out. Given that there was a time not long ago when it was feared he would not sing again, his voice was able and capable. As frontman, he kept the patter very brief, allowing the maximum amount of music to be presented, something everyone seemed to appreciate a great deal. The crowd was most gratified when he invoked the memory of Yes' appearance at the now defunct Kiel Auditorium in 1970.

It can be reasonably argued that, had not Trevor Rabin come to Yes when he did, Yes might have wasted away into one of those bands that...well...wastes away. Instead, his presence gave a new and more vigorous, contemporary sound to the remaining roots of the classic band lineup (Anderson, Squire, White), and eventually led to a mass reunion of both major iterations of the band for an album entitled "Union" (not a great album) and a subsequent same-titled tour (a *great* tour). Since Wakeman did not play on "90125" and "Big Generator", the fact that they played so well together - numerous note for note parallel runs in various songs were a highlight of the night - is further tribute to the greatness of these artists. According to Wikipedia, this tour is the consummation of a project begun in 2010, and it has borne beautiful fruits.

While the above mentioned trio are the names and faces of this current effort, it could not be successful without the gentlemen who are sitting in for Bill Bruford/Alan White and the late Chris Squire. Lee Pomeroy, playing a pair of stunning - and sonically necessary to recreate the classic Yes sound - Rickenbacker basses, is a virtuoso player, not only replicating Squire's performances when necessary, but also bringing an energy and creativity all his own to the project. Drummer Lou Molino III may well be the tightest percussionist I have ever heard, bordering on human metronome...if the metronome was able to both tick sedately and buzz madly, depending on the need. Solid, expressive play coupled with an amazingly good drum mix put a perfect underpinning to the glory that soared above it.

Was this show superior to any classic Yes lineup shows I've seen in the past? No. However, as a thing judged upon it's own merits, it was glorious...mesmerizing...both familiar and new at the same time.

All in all, a brilliant alternative to dwelling upon politics.