YES play Tokyo, 2019
This was the final concert of their 2019 tour, which had taken them to Nagoya and Osaka. They had played here in Tokyo on Friday, Saturday, & now tonight, Sunday, February 24. The venue was Tokyo Dome City Hall (which seats about 3,000), which is a smaller arena adjacent to the mammoth Tokyo Dome (which seats about 50,000). Tokyo Dome City Hall is immeasurably better in terms of sound and intimacy. We saw Bob Dylan here a few years back and the venue couldn't have been better. Tonight was no exception. We had forgotten to bring binoculars, but the faces of the players were easy to see. I'm sure the band appreciated the closeness with the audience.
While we’re talking numbers, here’s one more. This tour celebrates 50 years of YES, hence the funny logo.
While we’re talking numbers, here’s one more. This tour celebrates 50 years of YES, hence the funny logo.
Lineup
Steve Howe, guitars
Geoff Downes, keyboards
Jon Davison, vocals
Billy Sherwood, bass
Jay Schellen, drums
YES were also joined by two special guests: their original keyboardist, Tony Kaye (who played on a number of songs), and their original drummer Alan White (who played only on one or two)
Geoff Downes, keyboards
Jon Davison, vocals
Billy Sherwood, bass
Jay Schellen, drums
YES were also joined by two special guests: their original keyboardist, Tony Kaye (who played on a number of songs), and their original drummer Alan White (who played only on one or two)
Songlists
First set, from about 5pm to 6-
Close to the Edge
Nine Voices (Longwalker)
Parallels
Madrigal
Fly From Here Pt I - We Can Fly
Sweet Dreams
Heart of the Sunrise
[Break for about twenty minutes. Next set lasted about an hour]
Second set (the third album, The Yes Album)
Yours Is No Disgrace
The Clap
Starship Trooper
I've Seen All Good People
A Venture
Perpetual Change
Encore:
No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed
Roundabout
Close to the Edge
Nine Voices (Longwalker)
Parallels
Madrigal
Fly From Here Pt I - We Can Fly
Sweet Dreams
Heart of the Sunrise
[Break for about twenty minutes. Next set lasted about an hour]
Second set (the third album, The Yes Album)
Yours Is No Disgrace
The Clap
Starship Trooper
I've Seen All Good People
A Venture
Perpetual Change
Encore:
No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed
Roundabout
Photos
Thanks to Twitter I have been able to amass a ton of good pictures from tonight’s YES gig. (Apologies for culling these pictures without permission. If anyone of the people who took them wishes, please drop me a line and I will credit you.)
Experiencing YES
I have been listening to YES since the early 70s and tonight is the first time I saw them play. I curse myself for not having seen them earlier when they came to Japan with Chris Squire. I mourn him. And of course I am sorry Jon Anderson is no longer their frontman singer. The guy who is, now, however, is excellent , so that’s a pretty good compensation. His voice is remarkably similar and his name is Jon, so you can’t complain about that! (Loved his long hair, too, which felt very '70s.) I feel immensely lucky and privileged to have seen them tonight. I was wondering, however, just how good it might be, considering the passage of time. Could this YES rise to the event? Could they play the music they created with similar passion and commitment? And adherence to their vision? Or had it become diluted?
Well, I can tell you that tears were rolling down my cheeks at times throughout the concert, if not continually (which might might make me look a tad too strange). It was a concert of immense beauty and significance. YES were amazing.
Steve Howe, in particular, stood out as a player of extraordinary skill, mastery, confidence (what woefully understated word to use in this context) and genius. YES music is some of the most involved and technically demanding music you will ever hear, even including Mozart, and yet Steve Howe, at his advanced age of 72, was not only on the ball with all the changes and elements and details which we YES fans have probably become aurally obsessive about, he was also having great fun with it all. Music is, after all, about fun (is it? ask the Scriabin fans, but yes, YES, I strongly think so). Steve was crinting. If you don’t know what that means then maybe you shouldn’t be reading this.
I’m a very lazy YES fan. Of course I haven’t see them before, but not only that, my main contact with them was through The Yes Album and Yessongs. That’s it. Those two albums burned their way into my consciousness and altered (or helped to create, more likely) my expectations of art and self-expression. Nothing could ever be the same again. But... There was so much other shit to listen to, including the Mahavishnu Orchestra, not to forget Steely Dan, John Martyn and Miles. These artists, and many others -yes including Chaka Khan and CSN, and Neil, Wings, whatever- are the reasons I cite for not exploring further (at that heady time) into the realm of YES. A case of ‘I’d heard enough’? Not at all. Just that the '70s was a time of immense musical genius from a number of quarters, making it always a difficult choice to know what not to listen to, never mind what the hell to listen to... But The Yes Album and Yessongs, and later, the odd song here and there, most notably, and strikingly (as in ‘like a thunderbolt’) Owner of a Lonely Heart, has done quite enough to impress me and alter me. Oh, I shouldn’t forget to add the name of Patrick Moraz, who was keyboardist with YES. His album, The Story of I, is very YES in feel and sound and vision, and it is still a massive favourite.
One more thing about YES. We can’t ignore the ‘packaging’. Roger Dean. His album sleeve artwork perfectly complemented the music, but it did more. It gave visual reality, or surreality, to the words and the sounds and it opened up vistas which inspired me to try my own Dean-like efforts. I was massively into creating my own art as a school kid. Roger Dean’s artwork for YES was part of the mix.
By the way, click here to get to Yes Official Site, Yesworld:
http://yesworld.com/
Well, I can tell you that tears were rolling down my cheeks at times throughout the concert, if not continually (which might might make me look a tad too strange). It was a concert of immense beauty and significance. YES were amazing.
Steve Howe, in particular, stood out as a player of extraordinary skill, mastery, confidence (what woefully understated word to use in this context) and genius. YES music is some of the most involved and technically demanding music you will ever hear, even including Mozart, and yet Steve Howe, at his advanced age of 72, was not only on the ball with all the changes and elements and details which we YES fans have probably become aurally obsessive about, he was also having great fun with it all. Music is, after all, about fun (is it? ask the Scriabin fans, but yes, YES, I strongly think so). Steve was crinting. If you don’t know what that means then maybe you shouldn’t be reading this.
I’m a very lazy YES fan. Of course I haven’t see them before, but not only that, my main contact with them was through The Yes Album and Yessongs. That’s it. Those two albums burned their way into my consciousness and altered (or helped to create, more likely) my expectations of art and self-expression. Nothing could ever be the same again. But... There was so much other shit to listen to, including the Mahavishnu Orchestra, not to forget Steely Dan, John Martyn and Miles. These artists, and many others -yes including Chaka Khan and CSN, and Neil, Wings, whatever- are the reasons I cite for not exploring further (at that heady time) into the realm of YES. A case of ‘I’d heard enough’? Not at all. Just that the '70s was a time of immense musical genius from a number of quarters, making it always a difficult choice to know what not to listen to, never mind what the hell to listen to... But The Yes Album and Yessongs, and later, the odd song here and there, most notably, and strikingly (as in ‘like a thunderbolt’) Owner of a Lonely Heart, has done quite enough to impress me and alter me. Oh, I shouldn’t forget to add the name of Patrick Moraz, who was keyboardist with YES. His album, The Story of I, is very YES in feel and sound and vision, and it is still a massive favourite.
One more thing about YES. We can’t ignore the ‘packaging’. Roger Dean. His album sleeve artwork perfectly complemented the music, but it did more. It gave visual reality, or surreality, to the words and the sounds and it opened up vistas which inspired me to try my own Dean-like efforts. I was massively into creating my own art as a school kid. Roger Dean’s artwork for YES was part of the mix.
By the way, click here to get to Yes Official Site, Yesworld:
http://yesworld.com/
THE YES ALBUM - LIVE !!!
Steve Howe was brilliant in capital letters. Ok, so that’s BRILLIANT! The rest of the band were brilliant in capital letters, too, but I gotta put Steve first. Tony Kaye, who was the original keyboardist and played on The Yes Album, was brilliant, especially in his organ work on Yours Is No Disgrace. Timeslip! Billy Sherwood's basswork was deep and resonate in the Squire-way. Geoff Downes was wonderful and his round keyboard arrangement recalled the Rick Wakeman image from the albums. Jay (& Alan) provided solid backup throughout, thundering the stage when need be and filling in lightly when that was the call. The songs were handled and delivered with panache and a beautiful yet lively adherence to the originals. The audience were appreciative. They were on their feet by the end, cheering loudly.
YES music involves sophistication because it is highly technical and demanding, for players and listeners, but is also contains elements which are rock and even popular, elements which help to make any YES concert a great rock experience for all. YES rock! The music of YES is dramatic. It symphonic. It is melodic. It is transformative. It is sweeping and embracing. Each song is a story. And each story contains movements. Each story conjures up a scene, a world, a universe which is both unfamiliar but known, if we allow the music to let us dig into our buried consciousness. The music of YES moves us, it sweeps us up. And while doing all of that it also rocks our socks off.
A little note on some songs:
(a) As a measure of the extent to which the band went to recreate the sound of the originals, note that in one of Steve Howe's solo in Yours Is No Disgrace the panning effect was noticeable, almost exactly as it was on the original. Where the guitar wah sound conspicuously and entrancingly flits from left to right ears. (b) Steve's solo on Sweet Dreams was so special and inventive I could hardly believe what he was doing. It was alternative rock 'n roll, it was underground blues, it was a testament to a player who is not satisfied unless he's wringing the last drop from a melody, and then on terms which no-one else had thought of. (c) A few of the songs, Sweet Dreams among them, but especially No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed recalled The Beatles. This, the first of the encore, was open and boppy and suffused with the kind of spring-in-your-step pop-inflected -and yet somehow intense!- feeling you get from later (and even earlier) Beatles. Hey, they're both British bands, and their members were born around the same time. (d) Jon Davison was a key member. His voice was uncannily similar to Jon Anderson's. He could hold a note or two, and he could, in his stage persona and actions -at one point sitting down on the endge of the stage, or by hand interactions with front-row very lucky audience members- he could hold each song and be a credible storyteller at the heart of each piece. And... that mane! (e) It might be noted that Steve & Geoff did backing vocals very often. Steve was really into that and sang his heart out. (f) While the stage seemed quite bare at the start, the three-segment digital display behind the players really added to the spectacle. As did the dry ice mist! Very seventies! I felt like I was tripping on occasion. (Did I just say that?!) (g) Here we are in 2019. Look at the Grammys. Look at what's popular music right now. Look at all of it carefully, and then listen to YES. This music towers above anything that has been lauded in recent memory. YES created music that is far in advance of what parades as popular or rock composition. And, hey, what, they were 'inducted' (no less) into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame only in 2017? Get the flock (of sheep) outta here! You have to be kidding?! YES will be listened to avidly in the 22nd century (where it likely comes from after all....)
They opened with a set we were not expecting. We thought it would just be as it was advertised: the third album set (or The Yes Album.) I knew from the start that plan didn’t seem to be happening when they didn’t open with Yours is No Disgrace. Indeed, they played no less than seven pieces, then they had a break. In other words, YES played their hearts out and gave us everything. And their fans are immensely appreciative, happily indebted to them forever.
Steve Howe used a variety of guitars throughout the event, and he thanks Gibson, Fender and Martin in the catalogue. His guitars are legendary and much written about. The songs being what they are, containing various sections requiring different tonal aspects, it was a task for Steve and his guitar men to make sure everything went smoothly. They’d set up an acoustic, on a stand for Steve to play as the electric guitar he’d been using and needed to return to ASAP. He’d reach over and play and then go back to the electric. Or he’d be handed his large bodied hollow-bodied Gibson after playing that bouzouki-like instrument that any proper YES fan could tell you all about [oh, i checked.... it's a 12-string Portuguese guitar, apparently). I love that Steve Howe maintains guitar continuity. I’m biased, being a lover of Gibson & Fender. (And called Martin!)
You know, of all things, Steve Howe’s guitar work is simply astounding. It always was. It’s intricate and delicate and demanding. But it also explodes too. The song shifts from some quiet contemplative mood to this glorious, mad, intense and rocky journey. I wondered how Steve could navigate all these given the passage of time. And yet what we heard was a loving re-playing of all, as in his solo stint on acoustic, playing The Clap. It was his stage and we watched in awe, and delight. Later, towards the end of the evening, Steve was living it up on stage. He was deliberately playing rugged and rough in some parts which were rocky and rolly. It was a delight to see. He was obviously playing up and the smile on his face was wide. This was a great and fitting end to a night of glorious music.
Steve Howe was brilliant in capital letters. Ok, so that’s BRILLIANT! The rest of the band were brilliant in capital letters, too, but I gotta put Steve first. Tony Kaye, who was the original keyboardist and played on The Yes Album, was brilliant, especially in his organ work on Yours Is No Disgrace. Timeslip! Billy Sherwood's basswork was deep and resonate in the Squire-way. Geoff Downes was wonderful and his round keyboard arrangement recalled the Rick Wakeman image from the albums. Jay (& Alan) provided solid backup throughout, thundering the stage when need be and filling in lightly when that was the call. The songs were handled and delivered with panache and a beautiful yet lively adherence to the originals. The audience were appreciative. They were on their feet by the end, cheering loudly.
YES music involves sophistication because it is highly technical and demanding, for players and listeners, but is also contains elements which are rock and even popular, elements which help to make any YES concert a great rock experience for all. YES rock! The music of YES is dramatic. It symphonic. It is melodic. It is transformative. It is sweeping and embracing. Each song is a story. And each story contains movements. Each story conjures up a scene, a world, a universe which is both unfamiliar but known, if we allow the music to let us dig into our buried consciousness. The music of YES moves us, it sweeps us up. And while doing all of that it also rocks our socks off.
A little note on some songs:
(a) As a measure of the extent to which the band went to recreate the sound of the originals, note that in one of Steve Howe's solo in Yours Is No Disgrace the panning effect was noticeable, almost exactly as it was on the original. Where the guitar wah sound conspicuously and entrancingly flits from left to right ears. (b) Steve's solo on Sweet Dreams was so special and inventive I could hardly believe what he was doing. It was alternative rock 'n roll, it was underground blues, it was a testament to a player who is not satisfied unless he's wringing the last drop from a melody, and then on terms which no-one else had thought of. (c) A few of the songs, Sweet Dreams among them, but especially No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed recalled The Beatles. This, the first of the encore, was open and boppy and suffused with the kind of spring-in-your-step pop-inflected -and yet somehow intense!- feeling you get from later (and even earlier) Beatles. Hey, they're both British bands, and their members were born around the same time. (d) Jon Davison was a key member. His voice was uncannily similar to Jon Anderson's. He could hold a note or two, and he could, in his stage persona and actions -at one point sitting down on the endge of the stage, or by hand interactions with front-row very lucky audience members- he could hold each song and be a credible storyteller at the heart of each piece. And... that mane! (e) It might be noted that Steve & Geoff did backing vocals very often. Steve was really into that and sang his heart out. (f) While the stage seemed quite bare at the start, the three-segment digital display behind the players really added to the spectacle. As did the dry ice mist! Very seventies! I felt like I was tripping on occasion. (Did I just say that?!) (g) Here we are in 2019. Look at the Grammys. Look at what's popular music right now. Look at all of it carefully, and then listen to YES. This music towers above anything that has been lauded in recent memory. YES created music that is far in advance of what parades as popular or rock composition. And, hey, what, they were 'inducted' (no less) into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame only in 2017? Get the flock (of sheep) outta here! You have to be kidding?! YES will be listened to avidly in the 22nd century (where it likely comes from after all....)
They opened with a set we were not expecting. We thought it would just be as it was advertised: the third album set (or The Yes Album.) I knew from the start that plan didn’t seem to be happening when they didn’t open with Yours is No Disgrace. Indeed, they played no less than seven pieces, then they had a break. In other words, YES played their hearts out and gave us everything. And their fans are immensely appreciative, happily indebted to them forever.
Steve Howe used a variety of guitars throughout the event, and he thanks Gibson, Fender and Martin in the catalogue. His guitars are legendary and much written about. The songs being what they are, containing various sections requiring different tonal aspects, it was a task for Steve and his guitar men to make sure everything went smoothly. They’d set up an acoustic, on a stand for Steve to play as the electric guitar he’d been using and needed to return to ASAP. He’d reach over and play and then go back to the electric. Or he’d be handed his large bodied hollow-bodied Gibson after playing that bouzouki-like instrument that any proper YES fan could tell you all about [oh, i checked.... it's a 12-string Portuguese guitar, apparently). I love that Steve Howe maintains guitar continuity. I’m biased, being a lover of Gibson & Fender. (And called Martin!)
You know, of all things, Steve Howe’s guitar work is simply astounding. It always was. It’s intricate and delicate and demanding. But it also explodes too. The song shifts from some quiet contemplative mood to this glorious, mad, intense and rocky journey. I wondered how Steve could navigate all these given the passage of time. And yet what we heard was a loving re-playing of all, as in his solo stint on acoustic, playing The Clap. It was his stage and we watched in awe, and delight. Later, towards the end of the evening, Steve was living it up on stage. He was deliberately playing rugged and rough in some parts which were rocky and rolly. It was a delight to see. He was obviously playing up and the smile on his face was wide. This was a great and fitting end to a night of glorious music.