Once again, I will officially be reviewing Yes featuring Anderson, Rabin, and Wakeman on October 11 at Ruth Eckerd Hall! This will be my second time seeing them and my first time reviewing them over here. I reviewed them for my school paper last year as a sophomore, but needless to say, nobody, even my journalism class director, didn’t really pick up on it. But I thought that perhaps you would. I walked in that venue thinking of Yes as sort of a mediocre band. But I walked out with them in my top 10. Barely edited for accuracy, this was the first concert review I ever wrote last year, following ARW’s first Ruth Eckerd (and second overall) show that I was invited to the night before it happened. And keep in mind that it was mainly directed towards stupid teenagers who probably hadn’t heard of Yes.
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In today’s generation, a typical teenager enjoys rap and autotune, and a lot of them don’t know of some amazing music of the past. I’m the only one without a silver head at the concerts I go to, because I have an odd taste in music. This year, with the passings of David Bowie, Glenn Frey of the Eagles, and Prince, a load of people, including myself, have learned to never take anybody for granted, and this is why now is the best time to see some rock legends live before they pass away. Friday night, however, in Ruth Eckerd Hall, stood three gentlemen, two in their 60s and one in his 70s, playing a reunion concert. And you know what? The gentlemen sounded just like they did since the beginning.
The former members of the progressive rock band YES, Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, and Rick Wakeman have embarked on a world tour as ARW. Anderson still has his truly soprano voice, Rabin still shreds out the guitar solos like a master, and Wakeman played more than five keyboards and a keytar that night, sometimes two at once. They decided to kick off the tour in Orlando on Wednesday night, and were scheduled to play a show in Hollywood, FL, but had to cancel because of Hurricane Matthew. Rabin and Wakeman opened with the iconic Cinema from Yes’ 1983 album, 90125, as Anderson came running out with his Mickey Mouse gloves. The new reunion band gave its audience of about 2,000 people an electric ride through songs such as Hold On and the classic Rhythm of Love. About three quarters of the way through, as Rabin walked offstage for about two minutes, Anderson and Wakeman played a four minute song from when they were a part of a different incarnation of former members of Yes in the late 80s, which featured both of them, as well as guitarist Steve Howe and original drummer Bill Bruford. The piano accompanied song, The Meeting, which was written “at midnight, under the stars” according to Anderson. The band wrapped up the evening with their nearly 20-minute epic, Awaken, from their 1977 album Going For The One, and perhaps their most iconic song, Owner of a Lonely Heart, along with an encore of Roundabout.
“You’ll never hear a finer show,” lifelong fan Rodney Wademan stated at the end of the show. Concerts are always amazing to attend, especially if they’re somebody who has aged and still has energy and talent, because thirty years from now, if the artist has passed on, you’d have a bit of a bragging right, because you will have experienced something that your children, and possibly even your peers, unfortunately, never will get to. But with the way that all three members of ARW look and sound, even after almost 50 years, they could stay alive for another 50.
Josh Bradley Live 